Epiphany 2: Audio Sermon (19-Jan-2014)

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Epiphany 2 [John 2:1-11] (19-Jan-2014)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (John 2:1-11)

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our Gospel reading today is a wonderful passage about a wonderful, happy miracle, where Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding. At the end of the reading it says: This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

This is first of Jesus’ miracles. It is not the first miraculous thing that happened to Jesus, and it is not the first miraculous thing that he did—already Jesus’ birth was miraculous, his childhood where he went to the temple as a young boy was miraculous, and also his baptism was a miracle. But now that Jesus has been baptised, his ministry has begun, and people have recognised him as the Messiah, and have begun to follow him. And since this has all happened, this is his first public miracle.

And we read: He manifested his glory. In John’s Gospel, in chapter 1, it says: The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. If the disciples are going to see Jesus’ glory, then Jesus also has to show it to them, he has to manifest it to them. So it says in our reading today: He manifested his glory.

So how does Jesus manifest his glory? How does he allow the disciples to see his glory?

We read: On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

It is a wonderful thing that Jesus was invited to a wedding, and it is a very significant thing. Today is a kind of time where pastors really need to take up just about any opportunity they can to talk about marriage—it’s a very big issue. Marriage is a wonderful thing, and it is a wonderful gift of God. And if there is one special thing that the church can really do to help people, it is to encourage people in this area. As you all know, marriage is not in a good state at the moment. Many people–both young and old—(tragically) are not getting married, but are choosing to live together outside of marriage. Some marriages have broken up. Many people are scared to enter into marriage, or avoid it at all possible costs. And also, we know that there is pressure all throughout the world at the moment, including in our own country, for governments to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex relationships, and in some countries—alas!—this has already happened. All these things are bad—they are bad for our society, our country, our world, and also for the church. Sexual sin is a serious sin, and it’s unique because, as St Paul says: Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Sexual sin is serious—and it’s certainly not a human right—but it’s not an unforgiveable sin. Let’s remember that. Jesus died for all sin.

There are many things that we can say about marriage. But this is not the focus of our Gospel reading today specifically. It’s easy to curse the darkness, but it’s another thing to light a candle. It’s a really wonderful message to speak the words from our gospel reading today: Jesus also was invited to the wedding. Jesus loves weddings, because he created marriage at the beginning of the world. It is a beautiful thing. And it is a great joy to be able to encourage married couples in married life together, to encourage young people to enter into engagement and prepare to get married, to encourage people in sexual purity, to pray for marriages, and so on. Jesus blesses marriage, because he is the one who created love, and in fact, he is the one, together with the Father, who knows what perfect love is, and shows it to us, even when we don’t show it to each other. He also blesses homes, just as he prepares us a room in his Father’s house. He also blesses families, because he loves children, and wants the little children to come to him, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. In fact, we, the church, are Christ’s bride. Sometimes nuns have been called “brides of Christ”—this is not biblical. The whole Christian church is Christ’s bride, and Jesus is our loving husband, who gave up his life for the church as a loving husband.

Now at this wedding we read particularly that the mother of Jesus was there. She had particularly been invited to the wedding. We get the impression that Jesus and his disciples were invited because they were connected to Mary. And also, we might also assume that Mary also was there as a member of the extended family to help with the food. In the “old days” in Australian country towns, often the local Country Women’s Association would cater for a wedding. This is probably also the kind of thing Mary was doing.

We read: When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

Where it says: the wine ran out, it is probably more accurate to translate “the wine was lacking” or “the wine was running short”. Mary had become aware of this fact, and wanted to tell Jesus about it, before it became a major embarrassment to the couple.

And Mary knows that Jesus had been recognised by people as the Messiah, and that he was calling together disciples and had begun his ministry. She knew about all the wonderful miracles that surrounded his birth, and had treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And so, when this problem presents itself, she goes to her son, Jesus, and she puts the problem to him: They have no wine.

Now, this is a wonderful example of prayer. Mary doesn’t try to solve the problem, but she knows who can solve the problem. She doesn’t know how he would solve the problem, but she simply tells him about it. And this is the sort of thing that Jesus is longing to hear from us all the time. He says: Come and tell me not how good you are, how successful, how pious, how holy you are—I know all that. Come and tell me what you need, what you lack, what you desire. Come and give me access to your heart and your needs.

So often we think that we have to kind of twist Jesus’ arm and manipulate him in prayer. We think that we are the ones who have to change Jesus’ mind by constant prayer, prayer in a certain way, with certain words, with a certain amount of effort. We treat Jesus as a government department when everything else doesn’t work—and if he doesn’t work the way we want him to work, we blame him.

But this is not the way prayer works. Jesus is already standing there, willing and ready to give us his gifts—and even a particular gift—and he then comes and knocks on the door of our hearts. As it says in Revelation: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if anyone opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.

Jesus knows full well what’s going on this wedding, and what the problem is. We all know that all marriages come with a cross that Jesus places on couples within their marriages, just like this couple at their wedding. But Mary simply opens the door for Jesus, and gives him access to the problem. Jesus doesn’t need Mary to give him access, but he wants to give Mary the impression that this was her idea. He wants to perform this miracle as an answer to her prayer, and to increase her joy when he does answer it. So prayer is the way in which we receive the gifts of Jesus that he already wants to give us. And so Mary says: They have no wine.

However, Jesus gives Mary a rather stern answer: Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.

Jesus speaks to Mary (his own mother!) in a kind of stern, dismissive way. He rebukes her for her prayer, even though the prayer was good. There’s nothing wrong with the words of the prayer. But Jesus wants to test and shape her heart.

It’s not Mary’s business, as his mother, to tell him when and where and how he should perform a miracle. And Mary has to learn this fact. Sure, as a mother, she has every right to tell her son when and where and how he should do something that is fitting for him to do as her son. So for example, the Virgin Mary had every right to tell Jesus to clean his bedroom like a good son, to dry the dishes, take out the bins, and all those kinds of things that parents ask their children to do. But when it comes to Jesus’ ministry—his work as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, the mediator between God and mankind—Mary has no special privileges.  She is simply, as Jesus calls her, a woman, like any other woman of prayer. Jesus says: Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.

Many, many Christians throughout the world—Christians in the two largest churches in the world, the Roman Catholic Church and eastern Orthodox Churches—pray to Mary. And it is common for these people to say, “Jesus is a busy man,” or “I’m not holy enough to pray directly to Jesus. I’ll talk to his mother to put in a good word for me.” Mary is certainly blessed among women because she bore the Son of God in her womb. But she has no special privileges in twisting Jesus’ arm on our behalf.

Jesus says: My hour has not yet come. Mary’s timing to fix the problem is not Jesus’ timing. Mary perhaps wants the couple not to know about this problem, so that they would not be embarrassed. But Jesus wants to manifest his glory. If Jesus is going to manifest his glory, he has to do it in his own time. We know that later many, many people heard about this wonderful miracle—this wouldn’t have happened if it had been done in such a way that nobody knew about it. Mary doesn’t want these people to have the reputation of being the ones who ran out of wine at their wedding. But Jesus actually does want them to have the reputation of running out of wine, but also of being particularly blessed by him in such a glorious way at their wedding that this blessing outshines all the embarrassment.

So Mary then does the right thing. She says to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. Mary doesn’t point to herself, but she points to her son. When the angel told her that she would conceive a son, she said: I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Here on this occasion, she says: I am the servant of the Lord. (Jesus is not my servant.) Let it be to me (and to all of us) according to your word. Let it be not according to my word, but to his word.

So we read about the miracle: There were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to them, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

What a wonderful miracle this is! The amazing thing about this passage is that Jesus provides them with so much wine, that they have so much more than they would ever need!

Now—these verses are interesting, because there are some Christians—and sometimes for good reasons, in parts of the world where there is a lot of drunkenness—who forbid the drinking of alcohol. There’s nothing wrong with being a tee-totaller, if you want. But there are a lot of Christians who say that drinking alcoholic drinks and wine is inherently sinful, and even go so far as to change the Lord’s Supper to fit this opinion so that they use unfermented grape juice as a substitute for wine. This is completely wrong, and is an example of Christians elevating their own opinions above the example and the words of Jesus himself.

On the other hand, there are a number of passages in the New Testament which prohibit drunkenness, and drunkenness is a sin. There is no way that Jesus in this passage is promoting the people attending the wedding to limp and flop home down the street, completely sozzled and legless! We have a lot of problems in our country surrounding drunkenness—a young man has been buried in Australia this week who was a victim from alcohol-related violence—and the Lutheran Church should never have the reputation for being “the drunk church”.

But at the same time, Jesus doesn’t forbid the drinking of alcohol, but here creates wine for the people’s enjoyment! The passage about drinking the good wine first, and so on, makes no sense unless the grape juice is fermented into wine. Jesus always turns grape juice into fine wines, all throughout the world, all year round! Here, he does it in a few seconds, and creates the finest wine, the best wine, the most superb vintage—and he makes so much of it, so that people can come from all throughout the town and the surrounding area and taste it for themselves.

So what a wonderful passage this reading is! There are so many things to glean from this reading, so many left over grapes to go and pick up from God’s wonderful vineyard! And what a wonderful and happy and occasion and celebration it is when Jesus manifests his glory! Jesus turns the water into wine, because he wants to make people happy, and show that he is the source of happiness! Jesus is the one who really wants to make us happy, not in a fleshly way where the happiness runs out and eventually turns into even more sadness and despair, but in a truly heavenly way, where the happiness, the wine, never runs out.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your great gift to this couple at their wedding at Cana. Teach us to pray through the leading and guidance of your Holy Spirit, so that we may also receive the wonderful gifts that you are so eager to pour out on us and shower over us. Amen.

Baptism of our Lord: Audio Sermon (12-Jan-2014)

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Baptism of our Lord [Matthew 3:13-17] (12-Jan-2014)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (10am, lay reading), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yarram (2pm) and St John's Lutheran Church, Sale (4pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Matthew 3:13-17)

John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In our Gospel reading today, we read about Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan. And this is a very significant event: The gospels of Matthew and Luke begin by teaching us about the birth of Jesus. But the gospels of Mark and John begin with the baptism of Jesus. This is because Jesus’ baptism is the beginning of his ministry. Before Jesus was baptised, he didn’t go around preaching and healing people yet—but he led a simple life of a humble carpenter in Nazareth.

We sometimes forget about the city of Nazareth. We talk about Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and Jerusalem, where he went to the temple and was later sentenced to death. But Nazareth—which was in the area called Galilee, north of Jerusalem—was the place where Jesus spent his childhood, his teenage years and his life as a young adult.

And at the beginning of our gospel reading today we read: Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him.

Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee all the way to the place at the River Jordan where John was. This was a long journey of about 125kms.

But this is not the first time Jesus had made a long journey to visit John. This had happened once before, when his mother Mary was still pregnant with him, and went to visit Elizabeth, when she was still pregnant with John! We know that Mary and Elizabeth were distantly related in some way. And when pregnant Mary came to visit pregnant Elizabeth, the baby John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb.

Here in our Gospel reading today, we read about where Jesus and John meet each other again, but 30 years later as grown men.

Many people in the early church also believed that John was in the wilderness right from when he was a boy. In Luke it says about John: And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the days of his public appearance in Israel.

We often assume that he grew up into a man first and then went out into the wilderness, but it is also quite likely that John went there very early in his life. Remember that his parents were both old when he was born, and could have died early in his life. Also, remember that John ended up being dressed in clothes in which any mother would have been embarrassed to send their child outside, and eating certain food that seems as though he wasn’t been looked after properly. We read: John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. John seems like a pretty wild character! His mother and father are probably quite long dead and are not making sure his hair is combed and teeth are cleaned!

So what exactly was John doing?

We read that he was preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We also read many people were going out to him, and they were baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John’s baptism had a particular character to it. John was a voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. And in order to prepare, the people were coming to John to be baptised, and to confess their sins.

John’s baptism is slightly different from Christian baptism: Christian baptism is not preparing for Christ’s coming, but happens after Christ has already come in the flesh, and has already suffered, died and rose. As baptised Christians, we are not waiting for Christ to come the first time, but we are waiting for him at the end of the world.

When John baptises people, people come confessing their sins. Everyone who comes to be washed by John is a sinner. Someone who is clean doesn’t need to be washed. Only people who are dirty—not physically dirty, but spiritually dirty—need to be washed.

Now before Jesus arrived, we read that some of the Sadducees and Pharisees came to be baptised too. These people were the Jewish religious teachers at the time, and they fiercely disagreed about many points of theology. But they were self-righteous, and trusted in their own works and their family trees in order to be saved. They wanted to be righteous, but they just wanted to be baptised just so that they could add another feather to their spiritual caps, and sew another spiritual badge onto their hat.

But John won’t allow this sort of hypocrisy. So he preaches a very strong sermon against them: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

John’s sermon is a very harsh one, a very strong one! He preaches against their hypocrisy, and their trust in their family tree. What’s the point of being part of God’s family, if you act like you’re part of the devil’s family? God doesn’t want pretend sinners coming for baptism, he wants real sinners coming for baptism, sinners that know they have nothing to give God, nothing to show for their lives, no brownie points. And so this is what John preaches about.

So we can see the sort of work that John has been doing: baptizing, preaching, calling people to repentance, hearing the confessions of sin that people were making before God.

And now Jesus comes. And John recognises that Jesus is the only person he has met so far that has absolutely no need for this baptism whatsoever.

We read: John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”

John recognises that his ministry has its limits. He recognises that if Jesus himself baptised people, it would be a different kind of baptism altogether—not simply a pouring out of water, but a pouring out of the Holy Spirit! John is simply preparing the way for the Lord, but Jesus is the Lord himself! And John recognises that this is the kind of baptism that he needs!

He knows that Jesus doesn’t need his baptism, because Jesus isn’t a sinner. He has no sin to confess, and he has no need to repent. Also, why would Jesus want John’s baptism? Think of all the people who have come to John to be baptised: all those sinners – isn’t Jesus giving the impression that he’s a sinner too?

But this is precisely what Jesus does. Jesus is happy to be counted as a sinner, and to be mistaken for a sinner! He comes to be baptised just like all the other sinners, and joins in with them.

But Jesus is not a sinner – so what’s going on? The book of Hebrews says: that Jesus was tempted as we are, yet without sin. On the other hand, Jesus takes upon himself our sin—he takes the weight of it all upon his shoulders. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. And this is the precise reason why Jesus came—to die for sinners, and to carry and bear their sin.

And so Jesus is happy to dive into the Jordan, without hestitation. And he says to John: Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.

Here Jesus fulfils all righteousness. He wants to take our sin upon himself, and share his righteousness with us. He wants to go into the water and take every piece of sinful human filth into his own hands and die for it, so that we can share in every drop of divine eternal joy and live forever.

St Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5: For our sake [God the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And so we read that John consented.

But just imagine if you were an onlooker and bystander on this occasion: you would have thought that Jesus was simply another sinner just like you! And if that were the case, he would never be able to die for your sin, because it would be an imperfect sacrifice, one that was tainted, and not holy and pure. Jesus needs to be a lamb without blemish.

And so, just at the time when Jesus is baptised—just when Jesus could give the wrong impression that he is actually a sinner—God himself intervenes, and makes sure that all the bystanders and eyewitnesses and all people throughout history won’t make that mistake. So we read: When Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

God the Father sits on his judgment throne, and he reveals himself to the whole world before the eyes of all. God reveals himself as the Father, speaking from heaven, as God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, with whom his Father is well pleased in the water, and he reveals himself as the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove.

And so, when Jesus ascends into heaven and sends out his disciples to baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, promising to be with them always, we know that when we are baptised too that we are adopted as God’s beloved children, his sons and his daughters, together with Jesus, praying to his Father together with him. We know that we are made the brothers and sisters of Jesus and are with him always. We know that the Holy Spirit is poured out on us, and the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given to us. The door of heaven is opened to us and we can walk in together with Jesus.

And this wonderful manifestation of the Holy Trinity—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is given at the very same time when Jesus identifies himself and joins himself with sinners. This happened again later in his life, when Jesus was happy to be mistaken for a criminal, in fact, dying the worst kind of criminal’s death on a cross. He even was happy to be mistaken for a dead, buried failure. But God does not desire that Jesus’ death should be thought of in this way—and he does not keep silent, but raises him from the dead, to show us that what Jesus did on Good Friday was not a failure, but a perfect, holy, acceptable sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

So also, at Jesus’ baptism, God does not keep silent, but opens up the heavens, and speaks his own voice, so that we would not mistake Jesus for any old sinner like us, but that we would trust in him as our Saviour, God’s beloved Son, filled with the Holy Spirit, to save us and rescue us and bring us to eternal life with him.

And just as Jesus is happy to let himself be mistaken for a sinner, so also he is happy to let us sinners be mistaken for a child of God. But Jesus does not make mistakes—he knows who he baptises, he knows to whom he preaches, and he knows each person to whom he gives his body and blood. And it’s no mistake that we are beloved children of God—because Jesus forgives us. He cancels our debt, wipes our slate clean, and presents us pure and holy and perfect before God, taking all our sin and guilt and punishment that we deserve upon himself. This is no mistake! It is a true and living fact: it is the way that Jesus fulfils all righteousness.

And so, what John says is true: I need to be baptised by you. What a wonderful gift it is to be baptised, not simply by a pastor in the church, but at the same time by the living hands and voice of Jesus Christ himself! Yes, Jesus, I need to be baptised by you, and yes, I have been baptised by you, washed with water and your holy and precious word.

Amen.

Lord God, heavenly Father, thank you for the precious gift of baptism, and for making us your beloved children together with your Son Jesus Christ. We thank you for adopting us as children completely freely through baptism. Send us your Holy Spirit continually, that we may always trust in the precious gifts that you have poured out on us through the water and the Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Epiphany: Audio Sermon (5-Jan-2014)

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Epiphany [Matthew 2:1-12] (5-Jan-2014)

This sermon was preached at St Paul's Lutheran Church, Darnum (9am), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Traralgon (11am) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bairnsdale (3pm).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text: (Matthew 2:1-12)

And behold, the star that they had seem when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

In our Gospel reading today, St Matthew tells us about an event which many of us know well, where the wise men come to visit the baby Jesus. We are not told how many wise men there were – we often talk about the three wise men, but the number three only comes from the number of gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. People have assumed that there were only three wise men who came, each one with a gift. However, there may have been more wise men.

And who exactly are these men? In Greek, it calls these wise men “magi”. And “magi” usually refers to a certain group of educated philosophers from Persia, which is modern-day Iran. It’s quite possible that these wise men came from there.

So maybe these wise men weren’t from Persia. Even though “magi” were normally from Persia, maybe St Matthew used the word to mean any wise person from faraway Eastern lands.

These men might have been from Babylon, or maybe they were from even further in the East than Persia.

In the history of the church, there have been many different opinions about who these men were. And also, there have been many different opinions about when they arrived to come and visit Jesus. Some people have thought they came 2 years later, or soon after the birth before the family went to Jerusalem for Jesus’ presentation, or maybe soon after. Nobody is really quite sure.  And this makes the whole business all the more mysterious: the gospels tells us about these nameless men, from a nameless country, with their exotic gifts, and then the bible never mentions them again.

So let’s meditate on exactly what the bible does say about them.

We read: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

Now at Christmas we celebrated this wonderful birth of Jesus. Jesus was born in a humble stable in Bethlehem, and his baby-bed, his cradle, his bassinette was the animals’ feed trough, a manger. But we also know that this is not just any baby: this is the Word of God who has become flesh and now dwells among us. This little baby is the true God of heaven and earth who has taken on human flesh. He is our Immanuel, God with us. He created the animals who are looking at him.

And we also see the great humility of Jesus—he doesn’t promote himself. You don’t need to promote yourself on earth if you’re true God! And so Jesus is happy to be surrounded by those animals, amongst the hay and bad smells—he is happy to spend some time with them, before he goes on to give his life for the whole human race, who were not simply created by him like the animals, but are also created in his image: in the image of God.

So, this is what is going on in Bethlehem. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, about 10kms away, there are these strange men, these “magi”, the wise men, who are visiting Jerusalem.

And the wise men are asking: Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

Now what the wise men say is quite amazing! They say: we saw his star in the east. How did the wise men know that this star was “his star”? What was it about this particular star that made them get up and travel to Jerusalem? Once again, we don’t know—and different Christians have had different opinions about it. Some people have thought that there was a special comet, or constellation of stars, or converging of planets that happened at that time. Some people think that it have been something quite supernatural, which God appointed for this particular purpose. Once again, we don’t know.

Maybe the wise men also didn’t realise the full meaning of what they were saying. All we know is that they came to King Herod, and asked: Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

What a great miracle that the wise men should follow this star, recognise it as belonging to the King of the Jews and come to worship him! Let us also think about Jesus in all his helplessness and weakness and go to worship him!

Think also about Jesus on the cross, how Pontius Pilate put a sign on the cross reading: This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews! At the time of the crucifixion there wasn’t a star over Jesus, but complete and total darkness for three hours. Here on Good Friday, just as at Christmas, Jesus is there as the King of Jews. Let’s also remember Jesus on the cross and like the wise men come to worship him. It’s this same Jesus from the weakness of the manger, the same Jesus we know from the weakness of the cross who comes to meet us in all our weakness, to forgive our sins and encourage us with his Holy Spirit.

It says in our reading: When Herod the king heard [what the wise men said], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Now why was Herod troubled? Because he was the king, and the King of the Jews that the wise men were looking for was not being born in his house. Just imagine if King Herod had said to the wise men: “the baby’s upstairs in the bedroom with my wife! I’ll have one of my bodyguards take you there straight away!”

No—the wise men asked: Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? Notice the word: born. Jesus was the rightful king by birth. But King Herod was not from the family of King David, and he was not the rightful king. He was the king of the Jews, but he wasn’t born King of the Jews. And he knew it. So he was afraid.

So assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

When the wise men come to Jerusalem asking the place to find Jesus, where does the answer come from? The answer comes from the Scripture. King Herod consults the priests and scribes and they give the answer “Bethlehem” from the Scripture, from the prophet Micah.

This is an amazing thing! The same goes for people today. We have no idea how the wise men got to Jerusalem and what they knew about the promised King of the Jews. But if they want to find the baby, they need to consult the Scripture.

The same goes for us: don’t you want to find Jesus? Well, look in the Scripture! The Scripture shows you where Jesus is to be found, and it shows you where he isn’t going to be found!

Sometimes people say: If Jesus were alive today, he would do things differently. Well, he is alive today, and we know what he already did and what he is still doing from the Scripture. If we look somewhere else, in our ideas and opinions and works, then we are looking for a different Jesus.

Also, see how the Jewish priests and scribes also know that the Christ will be born in Bethlehem. See how the bible is clear even though the chief priests and the scribes and even King Herod never believed in Jesus and went to worship him.

We read: And [King Herod] sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

King Herod had things completely wrong—he thought that finding Jesus would require a diligent search. He thought that Jesus’ desire was to make it difficult to find him!

In fact, the opposite happens: After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

What an amazing thing it is that the star should move from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, a star that moves such a short distance of 10kms, and even comes to rest over the place where Jesus was. It wasn’t just the town that they were led to, but the exact house, the place where the child was.

I don’t know much about star-gazing, and I probably wouldn’t know what to look for if I were in this situation. But the wise men knew that there was something so distinctive going on that they were led to the exact place where Jesus was.

And so we read: They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

There are a lot of people who are looking for Jesus. Some people are looking for something, but they don’t know that they are looking for Jesus. Some people know Jesus, but don’t know what he has done for them or that he saves them or how he saves them. Some people know Jesus, but always look for him in their own works and in their own hearts. Some people want Jesus, but find it hard to find him because they are always trying to make up for their past, and can only imagine him as a cruel judge, and a harsh taskmaster.

But it’s not hard to find Jesus—he’s there to be found in one place in and in one place alone: the preaching of Christ crucified. Jesus draws us to himself, through his word and through his sacraments. He calls us by his Holy Spirit through the gospel. He will coordinate all sorts of things to draw us to him: even the stars themselves. We can often look back at our lives and see how so many things happened in a certain order just so that we would meet Jesus.

Many people have written whole books about their spiritual journeys. And many of these people still haven’t found the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that are found in Jesus alone. As Jesus says: I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me.

But he’s here—where his word is taught and preached, where the free forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, where people are baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, where his body and blood are offered for Christians to eat and drink. It’s not hard to find Jesus—it’s human nature, sin, a guilty conscience, that makes it hard to find Jesus. Even later when King Herod kills all the babies in Bethlehem, he still can’t find Jesus, even after sending soldiers through every house in the town.

Jesus is the one who draws you to himself. He is the one who sends his Holy Spirit to work in you, who calls you through the Gospel, and enlightens you with his gifts, and sanctifies and keeps you in the true faith.

And so no wonder we read about the wise men: They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. What a joy it is to be led by Jesus, the creator of the stars, to meet him, himself! What an exceedingly great joy it is to join the wise men: And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

What a great joy it is to enter into the house where Jesus is, to enter into our churches, our houses of prayer, even our own homes where Jesus comes to dwell and live, and even in the places of our work, where Jesus places himself there for us to serve! What a joy it is to fall down and worship the same Jesus, and to offer him all our most precious treasures! Jesus is the most wonderful treasure in the world, and even gold looks quite worthless in comparison!

At the end of the reading, we read: And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. When we have met Jesus and heard his pure sweet gospel, we always go home a different way. We are warned not to return to our filth, like a dog returning to his vomit, as St Peter says so graphically, but we are returning to our daily life with new insights, new forgiveness, a new recognition of God’s hand of blessing resting on our lives, new strength and grace. Jesus and his word effects everything: our consciences, our imaginations, our intellect, our thinking, even our dreams. His word has power over all these things, and yet Jesus never exercises force over any of these things. Jesus warns the wise men, he doesn’t force them or manipulate them.

As we return to our homes today, at the beginning of a new year, we return to our daily lives but in a different way: with Jesus’ help, with his grace, with his Holy Spirit, with his life-giving word sown deep into the soil of our heart. What a wonderful joy-filled, joy-giving Saviour we have! May Jesus also fill us, our souls, our hearts, our bodies, our spirits, with exceedingly great joy!

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for leading the wise men to your family’s house in Bethlehem so that they could find you. Thank you for leading us to find you too, and may your word shine brightly in our midst and continually fill our hearts and point us continually back to you. Amen.