The fact that there are twelve days of Christmas has been
made well known by the song that speaks of what your true love gave to you on
each of the 12 days. Yesterday, January
5th, was the twelfth day of Christmas, and so if you have a true
love, then you should have received 12 drummers drumming. Today, January 6th, closes out
this season of the Church Year with the festival of Epiphany.
The occasion that is commemorated by this holiday was
recounted for you in our Gospel reading this morning. Some sages from the east saw a new star in
the sky and somehow they knew that this meant a king had been born to the
Jews. And so they traveled to the land
of Judea, to Jerusalem, the capital and made inquiries there about where their
king was to be born. What they found out
was that the Scriptures prophesied that the king was going to be born in
David’s city, Bethlehem, and so they turn in that direction, and the star comes
to rest over where the child was. And so
they worship this child and give him expensive gifts—gold, frankincense, and
myrrh.
Among us this festival is not especially well known. Everybody, including the unbeliever, knows
what Christmas is about—that it is the birth of Jesus. Compare that to the awareness of
Epiphany. Most would not immediately
know what the festival was about. At
other times and among other Christians this festival was celebrated with much
more solemnity and fervency that it is today among us. The reason for this was that it was thought
that this was the first time in Jesus’s life where Gentiles—those who were not
Jewish—were given the gift of recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah.
That is why the festival has the name of Epiphany. When someone has had an epiphany it means
that they have suddenly realized something that was previously hidden to
them. The epiphany of the festival of
Epiphany was that the Gentiles suddenly became aware of the Christ. Instead of believing in magic or progress or
technology or philosophy or however else a person might make sense of their
life on this earth, these wise men bowed down and worshipped this boy who is
their Redeemer and Savior.
Having this “epiphany” is a part of the story in everyone’s
salvation. It was most certainly
necessary for our salvation that the Son of God should become incarnate in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, be born, suffer and die under Pontius Pilate, and on
the third day be raised from the dead together with all the other facts that
are conveyed to us in our creeds.
But it is also necessary that the Holy Spirit, the Lord and
Giver of Life, should bring about an epiphany for us so that we can follow the
Words and promises of the Scriptures to the Christ. Without this epiphany we remain in darkness
and in the shadow of death. We remain
devoted to the furtherance of our own fortunes or striving after our own
happiness according to our own ideas instead of being devoted to Jesus, the
center of the universe. We should not
take it lightly that this knowledge has been revealed to us.
In that regard perhaps we can learn from those other
Christians of other times who loved this festival. Their devotion was marked by both fear of God
and gratitude towards God. They were not
puffed up and proud and for good reason.
Gentiles are less than Jews. Way
back in history the Gentiles rejected God’s Word and promises and worshipped
the devil instead. Only Abraham and his
descendants believed and worshipped the true God. It was to him and his descendants that the
instructions and promises of the Scriptures were given. Meanwhile our ancient ancestors were
sacrificing their unwanted children to the devil in order to have a better
quality of life. They were devoted to
pornography and money and power and the other lusts of the flesh and cared
nothing for their Creator. There was no
fear, love, or trust in the true God. Only
among the Jews were those who were devout.
And so when God began to open up salvation to the Gentiles
as well, this was a stunning development.
It shocked both the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews were shocked that such filth could
be made equal with them. Those Gentiles
who believed were amazed that they were plucked from the fires of hell that
they knew they deserved so thoroughly.
Those Gentiles who believed thought that the epiphany of Jesus their
Savior was a great light that pulled them out of darkness and they marveled
that God should be so kind to choose them when they so obviously didn’t deserve
anything from him except temporal and eternal punishment. Those first converted Gentiles understood the
enormous importance of what was being made known to them in the Gospel. And so this story of Gentiles finding the
Christ child and worshipping him with great joy was important to them because
they saw also themselves in the actions of these eastern sages.
We do not have this zeal among us today. Part of the reason why we might not have any
special zeal or fervency for the story of Epiphany is that the Gospel is not as
new to us as it has been to the Christians of different times and places. The Gospel has been known among our people
for several hundreds of years. Are you
aware, even, that your ancestors a thousand years or so ago worshipped other
gods? That we are Christians and live
among Christians is more or less taken for granted.
Unfortunately this is how it always goes with the
Gospel. When people are first converted
and see the love that God has for them in Christ the crucified, they react
strongly like the seed that is sown upon the shallow soil. They are grateful and they want to learn and
grow as children of God. They speak of
the Gospel to their families and friends.
They support the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in the
congregation and in missions and with schools.
But as time goes on the love grows cold.
People return to the mentality that comes naturally to us ever since the
fall into sin. We quit thinking about
God and Christ and begin to think about how we can be happier and more
successful. There is less thankfulness,
less attentiveness to the Word of God.
Love for the neighbor dries up and everybody is looking out for numero
uno. Usually, meanwhile, the
machinery of the Church is usually still chugging along, but the people’s
hearts aren’t in it. Their hearts are in
other things.
The Bible has many examples of this very thing happening in
times of old. A decline is very
noticeable when the Israelites enter into the land of Canaan in the period of
the judges. You see a decline again in
the both the northern and southern kingdoms before God overthrows them with the
Assyrians and the Babylonians. You see the
decline at the time of Christ when the Gospel finally becomes repugnant to the
Jews and is received with joy by the Gentiles.
In all of these periods the people of God still thought of themselves as
his people, but it was more or less lip service. What they really cared about was their own
health, wealth, happiness, glory, legacy, and so on.
You see this decline and worldly mentality dressed up in
churchy clothes with the corrupt and bloated Jewish leadership of Jerusalem in
our Gospel reading today. The wise men
came to Jerusalem to find the newborn king since this was the capital. There were scholars of the Scriptures there
who were even able to help them find the Christ. They knew that he would be born in Bethlehem
and they tell them so. But why don’t
they go with this strangers from the East to worship the Christ as well? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but one likely
reason why they don’t go is because they are afraid. They might be afraid of Herod who was a
jealous maniac who killed anybody he thought might be a rival to his
ambitions. Our reading today doesn’t get
into this, but immediately following where our story ended today St. Matthew
tells how Herod sent troops to Bethlehem and killed all the baby boys who were
two years old and younger—trying to snuff out the newborn king before he could
be a threat. Certainly Herod was not
someone to be messed with, and so the Jewish leadership might have stayed away
for that reason.
They might also not have wanted to be known as some kind of
fanatic or nutjob. If they went in
search of the Christ—if they did something out of the ordinary—then people
might think they were crazy. So long as
church people do what is traditional and expected, then nobody complains too
much. But as soon as they start making
waves, talking and acting in unusual ways—then the name calling begins. These Jewish leaders saw themselves as being
faithful—even the cream of the crop—but their actions show that they are devoid
of faith. They play it safe in Jerusalem
and would not risk their life or reputation by going with the strangers from
the east to boldly worship the Savior Jesus.
This is how it is among us today too. Most of us think of ourselves as being
Christians. But are we willing to risk
the loss of reputation, or business, or friendships, or family, or life for the
joy of worshipping our Savior? We might
even be well versed in Scripture and in doctrine. We might know the right answers to even the
most important of questions, but are we willing to leave everything for Jesus’s
sake? This is a scary thing. Troubles and suffering are involved in this. But this is not unprecedented. Do you think it was a small thing for those
wise men to defy that murderous, powerful maniac, Herod? No, it required courage to go against the
grain.
But the wise men were blessed in what they did and so will
you if you leave behind earthly pleasures and insurances and follow after
Jesus. I won’t promise you money or
possessions or anything else that might outwardly increase your quality of
life. It’s possible even that following
after Jesus might decrease your quality of life outwardly. Remember, the devil, the prince of this
world, has a great deal of control over a person’s quality of life and like a
hot sun he will persecute those who follow Christ so that they will dry up and
wither away if possible. And so there is
nothing material or outward that I can promise you for following after
Jesus—although I can also say that you will never be forsaken and you will
always have enough.
But what I can promise you is that you will know God. In this life you will know him and grow in
your knowledge of him through his Word. In
the next you will see God and be welcomed by him. All people, of course, will finally see
God. King Herod will see God. But these are his enemies and
persecutors. They remain chained to the
devil like we all are by nature, but their unbelief will not allow them to be
set free. Therefore they get what they
deserve for who they are and how they’ve lived their lives—something that
should make every one of us tremble. Unless
you are a fool, then you should know full well that we deserve hell for the
wrongs that we have done.
But God makes known to you that in Bethlehem, the city of
David, a Savior was born for you. This
boy would grow to be a man, and he would suffer God’s wrath in your place for
the sins that you have committed. There
isn’t a sin that he did not suffer for and atone for in full. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the seed of
Eve who crushes the serpent’s head and sets us free to be children of God.
The Word that I speak to you is an epiphany. It reveals to you your Savior, and God wants
you to know it. And so do not be cold
and indifferent, remaining in the old ruts like the people of Jerusalem who
knew the truth, but would not go out to see him. Pay homage to your crucified and risen Lord.
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