Epiphany of Our Lord – 3 January
2016 – Year C
Grace to you and peace from our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is
written in the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew:
Verses 1 – 12.
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, wise men1
from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he
who has been born king
of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose2 and have come to worship him.” 3 When
Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and
assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In
Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “ ‘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.’ ”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained
from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he 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.” 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they
rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into
the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense
and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return
to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
I have no idea what you think of Woody Allen, but today’s Gospel reminds
me of something he said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your
plans.” - I believe the
original is an old Yiddish proverb “We plan, God laughs.” but you
get the idea. I don’t know if Woody knew it or not, but his
words agree with the Psalms: [Psalm
33:10] “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He
frustrates the plans of the peoples”.
The Epiphany account of the magi very much demonstrates the truth in
those words. You see, the account of the
visit of the magi shows God working very directly to change people’s plans.
I suppose we could take that all the way back to the visit that the
angel Gabriel paid to a young virgin named Mary. Mary did
plan to have children … someday … after
she married Joseph. God had other plans.
[Isaiah 7:14] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel”.
Then there is the place of the birth.
Did Mary plan to give birth to the child in Bethlehem? God did. [Micah
5:2] “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the
clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in
Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days”.
Then there are the magi. Who
knows what they had planned when they noticed that there was a new light in the
sky … a light unlike any light they had seen before … a light that caused them
to set out in search of a newborn king.
They planned to find the king in Jerusalem, but He wasn’t there.
King Herod told the magi to look for the king in Bethlehem, but when the
magi set out from Jerusalem, the star showed them the true location of the newborn
king. By now everyone expects the new
born king to be in Bethlehem, but if we read the account carefully, it doesn’t
really tell us where they found the child.
Maybe they found the child in Bethlehem, maybe they didn’t. The Bible doesn’t say.
The magi planned to worship the new born king and then return to Herod,
but God had other plans. An angel
appeared to them in a dream and warned them to return by another route.
Herod had plans. Herod planned to
rule indefinitely. Herod murdered
friend, family, and enemy alike in order to keep himself on the throne in
Jerusalem. He planned to murder the newborn
king. God had other plans. [Matthew 2:13] “An angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his
mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy him’.” Herod’s plan failed. Not only did he not murder the new born king,
but he also died … and when he died no one mourned.
Joseph planned to marry Mary
and then be the father of her children.
He didn’t plan to be the step
dad of a child conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He probably never planned to do any international traveling either …
much less to Egypt.
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans. The entire account of the visit of the magi …
indeed the entire historical content of the Bible constantly shows us that
God’s plans always come to pass while man’s plans are very much subject to
change.
Did Noah plan to build a floating zoo?
Did Joseph plan to get sold into slavery by his brothers and then become
Pharaoh’s right hand man? When Moses planned to deliver Israel from slavery,
God sent him out into the desert for forty years. Then, once Moses turned eighty and gave up on his plan to deliver Israel,
God came to him in a burning bush. Saul planned to travel to Damascus and
arrest Christians, but God struck him to the ground in a bright light so that
he became Paul the Apostle. These are
but a few examples of God changing people’s plans.
God inspired Isaiah to prophesy, [Isaiah
55:8–9] “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, declares the LORD. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.” We can
be very, very glad that God changes plans.
We can be very, very glad that God’s plans for us are not what we
expect.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought a curse on all of creation. They expected punishment. They ran and hid. They did not expect God to promise a seed who
would crush the serpent’s head. I would
have expected God to erase His creation and start over. He didn’t do that. He sent a saviour,
instead. Instead of punishing His
creation or erasing His creation, He redeemed His creation.
Even the way that the redeemer did the redeeming did not fit the
expectations of man. The people who had
God’s promises … the people who should have known better … even these people
expected a king of earthly power and glory.
Herod most certainly expected a king of power and glory. That is the reason he was troubled. If Herod had understood the true nature of
the new born king … that His kingdom is not of this world … Herod wouldn’t have
cared.
Man’s plans expect a redeemer who makes
laws, not one who lives under the
law, but the Bible tells us:[Galatians
4:4–5] “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born
of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that
we might receive adoption as sons”.
Man expects a redeemer of great power and wealth. Never the less, God’s Word says, [2 Corinthians 8:9] “you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he
became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich”.
Although the prophets foretold the suffering servant of God, even Jesus’
disciples did not expect Jesus to suffer and die. Even so God’s Word says, [Galatians 3:13] “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is
hanged on a tree.’”
The resurrection did not fit the plans of the Pharisees and the chief
priests for we read: [Matthew
27:62–64] “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief
priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how
that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will
rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be
made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and
tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse
than the first.”
The guards at Jesus’ tomb didn’t plan
to see an angel, but God changed their plans. [Matthew 28:2–6] “An angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his
clothing white as snow. And for fear of
him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said”.
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans. Pagan philosophers from a foreign land come
to worship the Christ child. At the same
time, the powerful in Jerusalem … the high priests … the scribes … the man on
the throne … they haven’t got a clue.
The account of the magi visiting the Christ child once again shows us
that our lives are subject to God’s plan … not ours. As the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write: [Philippians 2:13] “It is God who
works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”.
Fortunately for us, it is God’s good pleasure for us to spend eternity with
Him. His plan is to work our
salvation. As the Holy Spirit inspired
Paul to write: [Ephesians 1:4]
“He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and blameless before him”.
God’s plan of salvation for us has been in place since before He created
the world. It is that plan of salvation
that was at work as He revealed the Saviour to the magi by way of the
star. It is that plan of salvation that
is still at work in us as He reveals and gives that same salvation to us
through His blessed, holy word and sacraments.
It is that plan of salvation that will one day take us from this valley
of sorrows to live in His eternal presence in holiness and joy forever. Amen
The love and peace of our great Triune God that is beyond all human
understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment