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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In tonight’s Gospel Reading about God’s leading the wise men, or magi, to the Christ Child, the Divinely-inspired St. Matthew mentions “worship” three times: first the magi describe their purpose in asking for the location of the newborn King of the Jews as coming to “worship” Him, second King Herod conceals his true purpose in directing the magi by saying that he wants to “worship” Him, and third St. Matthew describes what the magi did when they at last saw the Child with Mary His mother as “worship”. Worship is clearly an important part of the account! But, what was their worship all about? And, if we are to be as “wise” as the magi, what is our worship all about? Based solidly on the whole of Holy Scripture and our Lutheran Confessions, I suggest to you that their and our worship centers on seeking and receiving the forgiveness of sins. So, as we consider the Gospel Reading tonight, we direct our thoughts to the theme, “We who are wise worship Christ by seeking forgiveness”.
The Gospel Reading’s Greek verb that is translated as “worship” originally has to do with showing reverence, usually by falling to one’s knees or completely prostrate, acknowledging the superiority if not also the holiness of the one worshiped, and making supplication of that one, that is asking the one worshiped for something. In the New Testament such worship is of God, and, in St. Matthew’s account, such worship is of God as the Ruler of the world. Now, to be sure, St. Matthew does not tell us that the magi asked the Christ Child for anything, and so perhaps much less does St. Matthew tell us for what the magi asked the Christ Child. But, we know from the Old Testament that, when the people of Israel and the Gentiles came to where God was present on earth, one of the things for which they would ask Him was the forgiveness of sins (1 Kings 8:27-30, 41-43). Furthermore, one can hardly properly praise God without praising Him as the One Who saves His people from their sins, for God’s identity and His activity are linked (confer Beckwith, CLD III:174), and one’s praising God for saving His people from their sins also entails one’s in some sense confessing that one is a sinner.
In the Gospel Reading, St. Matthew says that, having fallen down, the magi worshiped the Christ Child. The magi’s having falling down seems to be distinct from their worship, such as by being a circumstance of their worship, its posture, perhaps, but, regardless, the falling down’s being distinct makes the worship something else, such as the magi’s seeking forgiveness of sins. The magi’s falling down shows that they know with Whom they were dealing (Greeven, TDNT 6:764), and so their worship by seeking forgiveness follows from that knowledge.
We might stand on our feet and look our equals straight in the eyes, but as sinners we fall before our Holy God and look down. Created by Him as perfect, humankind corrupted itself by sinning in the garden, and still today that corruption shows itself with all manner of actual sins: things that we think, say, and do that we should not, and things that we should think say, and do that we do not. Because of our sinful nature and all of our actual sin, we deserve to be punished, both on earth in time and in hell for eternity, but, out of His love, mercy, and grace for the sake of Jesus Christ, God calls and enables us to turn in sorrow from our sin, to trust Him to forgive our sin, and to want to stop sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives us, our sinful nature and all of our actual sin, regardless of what our actual sin is.
Whether or not the magi officially represented their own kings, as today’s Psalm and Old Testament Reading might suggest (Psalm 72:1-15; antiphon v.18; Isaiah 60:1-6), the apparently Gentile magi who came looking for the newborn Jewish King seem to have known from centuries old Old Testament Scriptures to watch for a star that would herald the birth of the Savior from sin (for example, Numbers 24:17). So closely connected are the star and the Savior that, in the Revelation to St. John, Jesus identified Himself as the bright morning star (Revelation 22:16), an identity that especially our Epiphany hymns make use of and elaborate on at length. In even the Child Jesus, the Divine and human natures are so personally united that His human nature may and must be worshiped as otherwise the Divine nature alone would deserve to be worshiped (Scaer, CLD VI:59). And, in the grown-up Man Jesus, the Divine and human natures work together in order that the Ruler Who comes from Bethlehem to shepherd God’s people Israel can be their peace by dying on the cross and rising from the grave (Micah 5:5). And, as the Divinely‑inspired St. Paul wrote in today’s Epistle Reading (Ephesians 3:1-12), Gentiles, people such as you and me, are also heirs with the Jews, partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel, having boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Having carried our sins to the cross, Jesus died for us, in our place, so that we do not have to be punished now or for eternity.
A popular saying to put up on Church signs for Epiphany says, “Wise men still seek Him”, but the details of how and where are usually left out. God arguably led the magi to the Christ Child by repeated uses of His Word and a miraculous star, and they, going into the house, saw the Child, and, having fallen down, they worshiped Him. Likewise, God reveals Himself to us by repeated uses of His Word and miraculous signs, and we, coming into His house, see Him in water, touch, and bread and wine, and, having fallen down, we worship Him, seeking and receiving the forgiveness of sins in the ways that He has promised to forgive us. So coming in repentance and faith to seek the forgiveness of sins from Christ is the highest way of worshiping Him (for example, Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV:154).
In the Gospel Reading, the magi’s worship is in some sense distinct from their offering the Christ Child their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, the traditional treasures of the east (Roehrs-Franzmann, ad loc Matthew 2:11, p.14). We do not idly speculate about what those gifts might mean (Kretzmann, ad loc Matthew 2:11b, p.10), but instead we note that those gifts flow not only from the magi’s faith in the Christ Child as God but also from their having been forgiven of their sins: those gifts flow as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. In fact, tonight’s Old Testament Reading mentions not only the bringing of gold and frankincense but also the bringing of good news, the praises of the Lord, or, in this case, thanksgiving to Him. As in the magi’s case, so also in ours: such gifts that we offer Christ do not purchase our redemption but flow from our redemption, likewise as a response of thanksgiving and praise. Though we do not see the same miraculous star, nevertheless we are miraculously led to our Savior, and so we also can rejoice exceedingly with great joy (confer Luke 2:10; Matthew 28:8; and Luke 24:52).
Though the magi and we are led to our Savior in different ways, we hardly should expect to worship Him in different ways. Rather, all “We who are wise worship Christ by seeking forgiveness”. With daily repentance and faith, we worship Him by seeking forgiveness not only this day of the Epiphany of Our Lord, not only all the days of the season of Epiphany, but also every day until He comes in glory to judge both the living and the dead and we, by His love, mercy, and grace, fully enjoy His Kingdom that will have no end.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +