Epiphany – Christ in the Flesh
St. Matthew 2:1-12
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. Matthew 2:4-6, 11: When [King Herod] had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel’”… When [the Wise Men] had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… As we recall this great story from the Bible, we note two things. First, the shepherds were guided to the infant Jesus by the message of the angels – a message that was anchored in the Old Testament promises of the coming Messiah. Second, we note that the Wise Men were guided to the Child Jesus by the leading of a star, but also anchored in the Old Testament promises of the coming Messiah.
As Scripture reveals this wondrous mystery to us, we note a startling contrast between the Wise Men from the East and the religious leaders from Jerusalem. The chief priests and scribes knew exactly where the Christ was to be born, for they knew their Bibles. They knew, more than the Wise Men did, who and what this Child was to be, for they knew their Bibles. And yet they are content to stay at home in Jerusalem with their Bibles and not go with the Wise Men to worship Christ in the flesh just a few miles away.
The Magi, on the other hand, receive the Word of God as it is meant to be received. They receive it in such a way that they are compelled to seek out Christ in the flesh. The Magi rely on the written Word of God, but they are not content with the Bible for its own sake. They cling to it for the sake of Christ to whom it leads them. The Scriptures always point and lead to Christ in the flesh.
This startling contrast teaches us still today. There are Bible “experts” all over the world. Today there are television channels and radio stations and religious magazines that broadcast “Bible” teaching. I even heard of one television station that almost daily broadcasts a man doing mathematical calculations from the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel; there is no end to the “Bible” computations and the “Bible” predictions that he and others propose. And in the book stores of our nation the volumes that attempt to give “Bible” advice or “Bible” teaching are staggering – staggering in numbers and staggering in ignorance.
Embedded in this trend is the thought that if a person learns enough facts about the Bible, or learns enough morality from the Bible, then that person will have God as well. There is the thought that it is enough simply to stay at home with one’s own Bible and forsake the presence of Christ in the flesh in His gathered Church. This is, at best, unwise.
Indeed, there are those who search the Scriptures for these and other reasons. But like the Scribes and Pharisees, they do not find eternal life, because they do not allow themselves to be led by the Word to the Word-made-flesh For, as I said, the Scriptures always point and lead to Christ in the flesh.
This, dear friends, is what Epiphany announces to us still today: Jesus, the very light of God’s love, came in the flesh! The baby born in Bethlehem was a real live baby boy. By the time our reading for today takes place, He lived in a house and may even have been as old as one year. But He was not a ghost; He came in the flesh. God became true man for us. He took on flesh for us!
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They were spurred on in part by what they had heard from prophecy, for they called the Child they were seeking “the King of the Jews.” The star alone did not tell them His title; but the star, His star, was revealed to them in the East. Our reading indicates that it was no longer visible when they ended their travels in Jerusalem. They were expecting to find the newly-born king in royal Jerusalem.
But the Bible gave a different and unexpected word, for this King was not in the seat of power called Jerusalem. Rather, small and puny Bethlehem was the place where God was present in human flesh. Bethlehem, as you may know, means “house of bread.” The Wise Men traveled there to look upon Him who later said of Himself, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:51).
Outwardly the Wise Men saw only a simple house and a young mother with her small Child. Yet with trusting faith they refused to be turned aside by human reason. Following the word of the prophet and the witness of the star, they fell on their knees and worshiped Him. They opened their treasures to Him. And that was the wisdom of the Wise Men – they worshiped God in the flesh. They believed the witness of the Scriptures, and it led them to Christ in the flesh. Remember, the Scriptures always point and lead to Christ in the flesh.
The gifts the Wise Men brought were threefold in nature. Gold is a kingly gift. Incense is a gift fit for worship. Myrrh is a costly ointment used in preparing bodies for burial. Of course, we know of another gift of myrrh which Jesus received which was offered by another wise man about three decades later. His name was Nicodemus.
You will remember that it was Nicodemus who asked for the body of Jesus, and used myrrh to wrap it for burial on the day Christ was crucified (John 19:39). Already when He is a small child, the gift of myrrh brought by the Wise Men points us forward to the great sacrifice this Child came in the flesh to make for us. In the darkness of His tomb, heavy with the smell of incense and myrrh, was the very light of the world. No star marked His presence then, but even death’s darkness could not snuff out the light He came to bring to all people.
Dear friends, Christ is present to bring that light to you today. The Scriptures no longer tell you to look for Him in Bethlehem. But they do promise that you will find Him in the Holy Sacraments. They promise that the King is present here to give you His kingdom in water connected to His Word in Baptism. They promise that He is really, truly, and physically present on this altar in bread and wine which is His body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. To many these locations of Christ do not seem important or even logical. But Christ Himself is present where He said He will be, and He fills these gifts with His real forgiving and saving presence.
That, dear friends, is why Epiphany is such a wondrous blessing and gift for us! That is why we celebrate this day, for God’s riches in Christ are for all people! His riches are for you! The Scriptures still point and lead to Christ in the flesh. He is not in some other place where man might want to find Him; He is right here in your midst, right where He has promised to be.
And just as the Wise Men returned home safely by a different path, so you also are returning to your heavenly home by a different path. We left that home by the path of pride and rebellion and sin and self-seeking. We return to that home by Christ who Himself is the way and the truth and the life. We return feeding upon the bread of life, Christ Himself in the flesh.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come.”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
