Sermon – Coming to Jesus: Magi – Matthew 2:1-12

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Coming to Jesus: Magi – Matthew 2:1-12
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Church
December 5, 2010

I am continuing today with a series of Christmas sermons on the theme of coming to Jesus. Last week we started with Joseph and saw that sometimes coming to Jesus begins with God interrupting our lives and us taking a bold step into a new life that God has created for us. Today we will be journeying with some Wise Men from the East as they travel to pay homage and worship a new king. We will find that to be wise means to bless and not curse others. But before beginning all of this please pray with me.

Father in heaven, in anticipation of the shalom Christ brings to all people we come now before your throne of grace to give your our praise and thanksgiving. Amen. (adapted from When We Gather p.3)

Matthew 2:1-12 NIV Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

This is the familiar story of the Magi. Some traditions say that these were kings bringing treasure. Some traditions say that since there are three gifts there must be three kings. Other traditions say that there were twelve kings. Some traditions call these “wise men”. The NIV translation that I just read simply transliterates the Greek word “ma,goi” into “Magi” from which we get the English word “magic” or “magician”. The text from Matthew tells us little about the Magi, except that they came from the east with gifts following a star and looking for a new king. Why would they do such a curious thing?

I think that the answer for this question lies in a odd story found in the Old Testament book of Numbers. In Chapters 22-24 of Numbers we find story of a wise man living east of the Jordan River in the land of Moab. His name was Balaam. Balaam was a wise man. He lived alone, probably high in the mountains. From there he could observe the world around him. He watched the heavens and saw the patterns of the rising and setting of the sun, and thus could tell the farmers when to plant and when to harvest. He measured rainfall and attempted to predict the weather. He taught young men to be wise. And he learned to write so that his observations of the world and his wisdom could be preserved for future generation.

The story in Number about Balaam goes this way. The Israelites, who had been wondering in the wilderness for forty years, were ready to go into the Promised Land. They assembled on the east bank of the Jordan River and prepared to cross the river and occupy the land. As you might expect, the king of Moab, on the east side of the river,was more than a little concerned. If he wasn’t careful the Israelites might turn on him and his kingdom would be in jeopardy. So he sent his advisers to see the wise man, Balaam, to tell him to come to the king to pronounce a curse on the Israelites.

When the advisers of the king arrived, they told Balaam what the king had in mind. Balaam decided to sleep on it. And that night the Lord, God of Israel, spoke to him in a dream and told him not to go to see the king. So the next morning Balaam told the king’s advisers that he was not going anywhere and he sent them back to the king empty handed. The king of Moab was, as you would expect, not happy with Balaam’s response. So he sent the advisers back, this time with more men, with instructions that Balaam must obey the king’s command and come to curse the Israelites.

While Balaam was on his way down the narrow mountain path to see the king his donkey suddenly stopped. Balaam was so upset with the donkey he began beating him with a stick. And an extraordinary thing happened. The donkey began to talk. “Why are you hitting me, Balaam? I haven’t done anything to you. I carried you all the way here.” And then the usually observant Balaam saw something that he had missed. There in front of the donkey was a angel with a drawn sword blocking the way. And the angel told Balaam that he was not to obey the king of Moab, but should listen for and obey the word of God.

So Balaam made his way to the king who wanted the Israelites cursed. Balaam raised his arms and prayed a blessing not a curse. This infuriated the king who told him to pray again and curse the Israelites. But again Balaam raised his hands and blessed them. And then Balaam spoke on oracle that will be remembered for all time. He said, "The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly, the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who has knowledge from the Most High, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” (Numbers 24:15-17)

Centuries later a group of wise men east of the Jordan River saw a star rising over Judah. They consulted their ancient scrolls and found the oracle of Balaam. The star which they saw rising over Judah meant that a new king had been born. This king would be powerful enough to destroy Moab. So they decided to travel to this new king with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and to prostrate themselves before his throne. They made their way to Jerusalem for an audience with the king where they found out that the Wise Men of Israel were expecting a messiah, descended from David and born in Bethlehem. So the wise men continued on their way following the star and they came to a house in Bethlehem and a baby held by his mother, Mary. They prostrated themselves before the baby and presented him with their gifts. And this is the story of the wise men coming to Jesus.

We continue to have wise men and women today, wise people who are observant of the world around them, wise people who listen for God's word. Today’s wise people are the farmers who watch the calendar and measure the rainfall so they know when to plant and when to harvest. Today’s wise people teach students in our schools how to be wise. Today’s wise people pass on their wisdom to their children, grand children and great grand children. As we have seen one characteristic of a wise person is being receptive to what God is saying today.

One wise person we have today is Bill Gates. His development of Windows and other applications for the Personal Computer have revolutionized information flow around the world. Bill made billions of dollars and is one of the richest men in the world. Today he works full time blessing others as God has blessed him. He and his wife are giving their money away through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations. This foundation is guided by the wise principle that “every person deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life.” So they fund programs to improve the health and productivity of people throughout the world. A wise visionary who saw the impact that a computer on every desk on the productivity and well being of everyone on the planet is now putting his wisdom to work blessing people who need it the most.

So if you are a wise person, and I know that many of you are very wise, then I urge you during this Christmas season to watch and listen for what God is doing in the world. Use your powers of observation to see God at work in the world around us, and listen carefully to what God is saying to us and how God is guiding us into our future. Your wise ancestor, Balaam, did this and realized that God was calling him not as a curse to Moab’s enemies, but as a blessing for everyone. So this Christmas season be a blessing to others just as God has blessed you. Amen.