- Psalmody: Liturgical Text; Psalm 72:1; Isaiah 60:6b, 1; Matthew 2:2b; Psalm 72:10–11; Matthew 2:2b
- Lection: Isaiah 60:1–6; Ephesians 3:2b-12; Matthew 2:1–12
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Epiphany, the showing forth or the appearing of Jesus the Christ, the One born King of the Jews, wasn’t something the Lord would keep contained in the days of Herod the king or any other day. There would be no denial of Who He was for it was impossible for Him to do so. For the magi, He gave a bright shining light that drew them close who were far off. They were drawn to the Light that cometh into the world. They were drawn to the Almighty Word Who leaped down from royal heavenly throne into the flesh whether the animals nearby at His birth liked it or not; whether Joseph’s family members agreed or not; whether King Herod was angry and jealous about it or not, or even if the Magi fully understood or not, the young Jesus was The Lord and The King, the Creator Himself. We need not understand everything about Christ in order to love Him or to be loved by Him. In His appearance in flesh and bone He remained worthy of the worship of all the nations and all peoples because he remained fully God while fully man among us, a blessed union of the divine and human natures that shall resound unto all eternity. The wise men sought Him as the King that He is and we here today have the blessèd opportunity to freely worship, to freely celebrate the Epiphany of our salvation, Who is Christ the Lord, for He has drawn us to Himself.
In the Introit, the Word of God shines forth about the Incarnate Lord and Ruler’s kingdom. The hope of the Jews strictly lay within their own borders, among their own people, among God’s chosen people. They were the ones through and to whom came the promise of the Eternal King. As the years passed by for the Old Testament people of God, the true beauty of what was prophesied and written faded away into the periphery of their self-focus even though Isaiah had said, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.” The Lord would gather for Himself the true sons and daughters of faith from beyond the genealogical limits of the tribes of Israel. God in His holy Word told the Jews that their king wasn’t coming for just them, but for them and the rest of the people who lived, were living and ever will live. The goyim, the Gentiles, the non-Jews as well shall come to His light. The Christ Child is the Savior for Whom the children of Israel were awaiting. They knew One was coming for them. God made it known that He was coming for the others, too, but many of his chosen people couldn’t see it because they were following their own hearts instead of where the heart of the Lord was extending out to. Those in the holy land became ethnic and spiritual elitists, shifting the credit of their Godly value to themselves. We as Lutherans should never do the same, especially given that we have in our very own Catechism: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. Though we are the true, visible Church, and proclaim the pure doctrine, we are not the spiritual elite, at least not by any reason or strength of our own. We know the truth, we believe the truth, because we are known by Him Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, that is, Jesus Christ our Lord.
But, no one of themselves truly likes Jesus as Lord and King, at least not all the time. He is a fitting King when we need heavenly power to intervene, but One Who imposes when we desire our own way or trust that what we have that is good has come by our strength and merit. We believe ourselves to be responsible for the clothes on our back and the warm home we’ll go to later. Not only do we take the credit where the Lord’s is due, we deprive ourselves of His help in treating Him like a part-time King. We become our own idols when we look to overcome our struggles on our own, be they the ones outside or inside. Our own minds and bodies are with us 24/7 and are the areas in which we need the Lord the most often. Our hope for life doesn’t lie within the borders of our own ability. Our hope for peace, for strength, for comfort, for joy, doesn’t lie within the borders of our blessings, bodies or minds. All that is there is struggle and war in which we are desperate for the Lord to come into, for without Him we will perish if left to our own. The fallen world was desperate for the Lord to come into it, and, alleluia, according to His grace, mercy, and promise He came, and wise men sought Him out.
The apostle Paul explained this mystery of Christ for the world. He wrote: when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel. We Gentiles aren’t low-class stowaways on the ship of God’s salvation of the spiritual nation of Israel. We should no longer consider ourselves to be Gentiles, for all who believe belong to the true Israel, Who was called out of Egypt by His Father that He might lead us all into the eternal Promised Land, which He has prepared. Gentiles are what we once were; spiritual gentiles outside the chosen of God, yet He, by the washing of regeneration and renewal, grafted us in, adopted us as beloved sons in His only-begotten Beloved Son. His light shines forth in the Gospel and He has circumcised our hearts in the waters of Holy Baptism when He made us part of the true, everlasting Israel. In Christ, our Brother, we have been made fellow heirs, equally-beloved children through God’s Son from Whom salvation appeared and shone into all the world.
The headliner of the account of the wise men from the east isn’t the group who traveled with riches on the backs of camels while following the light in the sky. Instead, we are thankful that our merciful Father saw it fit to gather all peoples, all nations, yea, even Gentiles, into his holy family. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise..
You have put on Him Who was born King of the Jews, Whom the wise men came to worship, Whom Herod sought to destroy. He is the one sent for all, to return all nations, Jew and Gentile alike, to God. He is the One into Whom you were baptized at the font and there isn’t a day that goes by in which you are not His baptized child. He is your life now. He is where you have life, in Him Who is Life. The holy font is as special a place as the altar, each sacrament with its own unique significance by which Christ comes to us and we to Him. At the font is where people dead in sin are made alive. At the font is where the Gentiles become the Chosen. At the font is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word; His Word that promises salvation for all who believe in His name, Jews and Gentiles alike, Who have followed the sign pointing us to where He and is Word of life are. Where is the King of the Jews that we may worship Him? He is here in these means of grace just as He has promised!
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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