Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord
Isaiah 60:1-6 + Matthew 2:1-12
You all know about the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem. You see it on both banners here in front of the sanctuary. What kind of miraculous star that was, we don’t know; we can only guess. But we’re going to focus this evening on how God used that star—and how He still uses other kinds of stars—to point people to His Son.
Who were the wise men who saw the star? All we know is that they were “in the East” when they saw it over the land of Judea. They were obviously keen observers of the sky and of the lights in it, the astronomers of their day and probably scholars in many fields of study. The likely conclusion is that they were from Babylon, where the Jews had been held in captivity some 500 years earlier. The fact that they connected that special star in the sky to the birth of the King of the Jews is clearly due to their knowledge of at least a portion of the Old Testament Scriptures, which the Jews had with them during their time of captivity. They probably focused on passages that mentioned “stars,” like Numbers 24, A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel. That prophecy connects a star with a scepter, or a King. Or there’s the passage you heard this evening from Isaiah 60 about a light rising upon the land of Israel to which the Gentiles would come. So the star didn’t point directly to Jesus. It pointed the wise men to the Scriptures they had access to.
But then, as they journeyed, the star disappeared. So they went to the place where you’d expect to find a king in Judah, to Jerusalem, to King Herod’s palace. And in their excitement, they asked, Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him. The reaction they got from King Herod and from the rest of Jerusalem is telling. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. It’s somewhat understandable that Herod was troubled, because he was, supposedly, the king of the Jews. There could be no other. And he had no understanding of the spiritual nature of the Messiah’s kingdom. But “all Jerusalem” was troubled with him. Not excited. Not thankful that they got to be around when the long-promised Messiah finally came. Not relieved that the Son of David had been born to be their Savior from sin. But troubled. The coming of Jesus messed up the status quo. It meant that things were going to change, had to change, although not at all in the way Herod imagined. Herod’s throne was safe, because the kingdom of Christ is not of this world. He didn’t come to remove kings from their earthly thrones. He did come to teach people about the true God, and to expose people’s sin—everyone’s sin—and then to pay for it with His life, and to bring people out of the devil’s kingdom and into His own. But that is troubling to people who wish to remain in their sin and who wish to maintain and to live for this earthly kingdom, for this earthly life.
Most people didn’t want the Christ then, and they don’t want Him now. But some do, just as some did back then.
Herod had his own wise men, his scholars, search the Scriptures to find where exactly the Christ was to be born. And they came up with the right answer, the same passage you heard on Christmas Eve from Micah 5: And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Again, it wasn’t the star, but the Holy Scriptures that pointed the wise men to Bethlehem, where Jesus was. And they rejoiced for the guidance of those Scriptures. As for everyone else in Jerusalem who had heard about this, including all those chief priests and scribes—no one was interested in accompanying the wise men. No one at all.
Have you ever displayed such apathy about the Christ? Such apathy about attending church? So that your friends and acquaintances see just how little it matters to you? If so, repent! Because the apathy of believers is a message to the world that Christ and His Word really don’t matter all that much, and that’s not the message Christians want to send.
But the wise men weren’t deterred by the apathy of the Jews. They started off on the short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and only then did the star reappear. God made sure that His Scriptures did most of the guiding. But the star still played a role and miraculously guided them to the very house where Jesus was. And when they had come into the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped him. And opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The wise men had found, not only the King of the Jews, but their own King, too, in whom the Gentiles would find acceptance and a home—an eternal home. And by their visit, and by their gifts, God made manifest, at least to those who knew about it, the divinity of His Son and His kingship over Jews and Gentiles alike. He will be your King, too, if you will have Him. If not, He will still be King, but those who reject Him will have no part in His kingdom.
Now, just as God used a star, or a special light in the sky, as a messenger to point to the Scriptures, to point to His Son, so He uses different kinds of stars to accomplish the same purpose still today. First there are the “stars” that we call pastors. Remember John’s vision in the book of Revelation: He had in His right hand seven stars…The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The stars John saw in Jesus’ right hand were the angels or “messengers” whom God had placed over each one of His precious lampstands, the churches that He had built in each place through the ministry of the stars, who were supposed to be overseeing the flocks that had been entrusted to their care, pointing them always to Christ—to His birth, to the visit of the wise men, to all His life, to all His teaching, including His teaching in both the Old Testament and the New Testament Scriptures, urging all men to repentance and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ Jesus. In that way, pastors or ministers are like that star God used to point the wise men to His Son.
But there’s another kind of star that God uses, too. What did Jesus say about all Christians? You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. And Paul writes to the Philippian Christians, Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world (sometimes translated, “as stars in the world”), holding fast the word of life.
Just as God placed that one star in the sky to point a few men to the Scriptures, and then to His Son, so He has placed each one of you in the world, exactly where He wants you, baptized believers in Christ. And He has called you lights or stars in the world. The world is dark, a “crooked and perverse generation.” But believers in Christ are not dark. We are light, not crooked, not perverse. Our deeds are not to be evil, but good, so that people can see them. Not so that that they can praise us for them, but so that, like the star of Bethlehem, we can point them to the Scriptures, which point them to Christ, which leads them to glorify God the Father for His goodness in sending His Son into the world to save sinners. And, like the Jews of Jerusalem, many people will simply be troubled by the message of Christ. But some will go on to find Him and to worship Him, and to offer Him their lives as an offering, more pleasing to God than any amount of gold or frankincense or myrrh.
So rejoice today in the star of Bethlehem, which was God’s messenger to point the wise men Scripture, and to His Son. Rejoice in the ministry that God has provided, that points you to Scripture, and to His Son. And remember that you are stars, too, placed exactly where God wants you in the world, not to hide your light under a bowl, but to set it on a stand for all to see, so that your words and your works may always be pointing people to Scripture, and pointing them to Christ. And may God bring many people to know His Son through you, whether they know Him and reject Him as the Jews did, or whether they know Him and worship Him as the wise men did, and as we now do. Amen.
