Reflection on Matthew 2:1-12

 

Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;  

for from you shall come a ruler 

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,  “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

 

God sent a star.  Into a dark world where a ruler like King Herod would conspire to find and murder a baby, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a world where children are forced to leave their homes, take dangerous journeys with their parents, and find refuge in foreign lands the same way that Jesus was forced to flee with his family to Egypt, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a dark world where children two years and younger are killed because of the insecurities of adults, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a dark world that hopes beyond hope that God will finally step in and make things right; where God will finally send a savior to deliver them from the darkness, God sent light.  God sent a start.  Into a dark world that would condemn and exclude foreigners of a different race and religion, God sent light.  God sent a star.

Have you ever stopped and looked at what the Bible is trying to teach you about these magi…these wisemen?  Have you ever considered that God deliberatively chose to send a light, a star of hope, to these magi who were not Israelites and who did not follow the God of Israel.  These magi could rightly be considered a “them.” 

You know, “them.”  “They” are different from us.  “They” are not faithful like us.  “They” just might come and corrupt us.  “They” should be held at arm’s length, away from “us.”

We have all heard the religious people who are more than happy to condemn “them.”  So often, otherwise good and faithful people get fixated on how terrible “they” are; whoever “they” is.  And, these otherwise good and faithful people, who will normally give the shirt off of their backs, will go out of their way to make certain that “they,” the ungodly, the heathen, the sinner, have a rough time in life.  

But, what the Bible wants to make abundantly clear to us through the good news of Matthew is that in the heart of Jesus Christ there is no “they.”  If you read the beginning of Matthew, which many of you have already done since you are following along in the Bible with me as you undertake “A Year With Jesus;” if you read that long and boring genealogy at the beginning of Matthew you will see that Jesus’ ancestors, Jesus’ own family, includes a lot of ungodly people who are heathens and sinners.  Jesus’ family includes Tamar, who is forced into prostitution.  Jesus’ family includes Rahab who is a prostitute by trade.  Jesus’ family includes Ruth, an outsider who is not an Israelite.  Jesus’ family includes David who murders a good man in order to get a wife.  Jesus’ family includes Jechoniah, a failed king, a cursed man, whose downfall leads to the destruction of Judah and all the people he was sworn to protect.  Jesus’ own family includes all of these faulty and failed people, but somehow God uses each of these people to eventually bring to us Jesus, the savior of this dark world.  In the heart of Jesus Christ there is no “they.”

So, it should be no surprise that the Bible teaches us that some of the first people to give Jesus honor and praise and their own gifts are these unlikely outsiders.  To them, (the magi) God gives light.  To them, God gives a star.  And, if God shines a light on all of them and uses each and every one of these unlikely people in the Bible, then it seems that God will shine a light on you also, as faulty, failed, faithless, and dark as you might be.  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5 declares.  God sends a light.  God sends a star.

I do not know if you have ever seen this, but often one of the three wisemen is depicted in art as having dark skin.  Of course, the original text of the Bible does not specify the magi’s race, nor does it specify that their group only consisted of men, nor does it specify that there were three.  It just says that these magi, these astrologers, came to worship the newborn king, for God had sent to them a star.

I suppose none of this really matters, but to the kid whose skin matched the dark complexion of the Magi in the picture that he held in front of his eyes, it mattered.  You see, when he looked down at his skin, all he saw was what everyone else told him he should see: someone who is dark, someone who is to be feared, someone whose soul matches the darkness of his skin.  In his light skinned world, he was a “they.”  He was excluded.  He was not trusted.  And, anytime he slipped up in life, he seemed to prove the point to the world.  He was convinced that he was darkness.

But, when he stared at that picture, he saw that God had given that dark man a star.  God had given that dark man a holy task.  God had set that foreign man apart for a special and holy task.  And, the boy thought, “If God can send that man a star and give him a holy task, maybe God can send me a star too.  Maybe, God has a holy task for me also.”

The picture of that dark skinned wiseman following the star which led to Jesus, did the very thing that for that boy that it portrayed.  The boy saw the star in the picture, and it led him to Jesus.

You see, Jesus did not come into this world in order “to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might be welcomed as “us.”  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Jesus teaches. 

Jesus came into this world so that “they” might see the God’s light.  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might be wrapped in the love of his undying light.  A light that cannot even be snuffed out by a cross and grave.  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might find hope, and life, and purpose in Jesus Christ.  Jesus came into this world to shine a light on “them” and on “you.” 

God has shined a light of grace on you.  God has sent you a star, to give you hope, and life, and purpose, especially when you or your world is dark…especially when you or your world is dark. 

“They [the magi] set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy” (Matthew 2:9-10).

The Lord shine his light on you and shine his light on your dark places; the Lord lead you to Jesus by the guiding of a star; and like the magi, the Lord overwhelm you with joy.