✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
Psalm 72,1-2.10-11.19; 1. Chronicles 29,11.12 0817
Fest der Erscheinung des Herrn (Epiphanias) 013 transferred
Severin, Apostle of Noricum, ✠ 481
8. Januar 2017
1. O Son of God, who received from Sheba gold and frankincense; upon these magi the starlight of the gospel shined, likewise, arise and shine upon us Your Light and Glory so that we are blessed by Your gospel you. Amen. (Gradual).
2. Behold, now the Lord of lords arrives, and the reign, the power and the glory are in His hand. O God, give the king Your justice, and Your righteousness to the royal son! May He judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render Him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before Him, all nations serve Him! Blessed be His Glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His Glory! Amen and Amen!
3. On Friday the Church commemorated Epiphany and the arrival of the magi with their gifts for the Infant Jesus. 6. January brought to close the 12-day Christmas season we’ve been celebrating since 24. December. Christmas focused on the Jewishness of Jesus by telling us how His birth fulfilled the promises of God made to the patriarchs and prophets to save His fallen creation. Epiphany focuses on the Gentileness of Jesus by telling us that people from other nations longed for, watched for and worshiped His arrival. The magi are the first recorded Gentiles to visit Jesus and worship Him, but they would not be the last.
4. Who were these magi in the Gospel according to Matthew? The Magi were advisors to the kings and rulers of Mesopotamia and Babylon. They were similar to the men and women who make up the president’s staff and advise him on many different issues. The Magi were priests, astronomers, scholars and doctors who were men well-versed in several academic studies. We would call them Renaissance men who mastered different disciplines. We find these magi already in the Prophet Daniel. During the Babylonian Captivity, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon added those young Jewish men who showed an aptitude in learning arcane knowledge and wisdom. Among the young Jewish captives initiated into the Magi Caste were Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel 1,3-7). Daniel became so renowned in his studies and knowledge that the king eventually elevated him as the chief of the magi (Daniel 5,11). The magi who visited Jesus 600 years later may have received their information about the star from the the records left behind by Daniel for later magi to study. In these records, Daniel may have passed on to the magi a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and the prophecies of their messiah. This new knowledge would then be an studied and passed on to succeeding generations of magi.
5. There are several theories as to what exactly was this star that the magi had seen in the heavens. The Torah tells us that a star is a symbol of the Messiah: »A Star will arrive from Jacob. A Scepter will arise from Israel« (Numbers 24,17). Thus, Jewish tradition preserves a belief that the advent of the Messiah would be connected with some special star, comet or grouping of planets to form a conjunction. Abarbanel, a renowned rabbi in the Medieval Ages, believed that the Messiah would arrive in the same month (15.-22. Nissan; March/April) as the Exodus took place, and claimed that the Cup of Elijah in the annual Jewish Passover celebration preserves this tradition. He looked for Messiah to enter human history when Jupiter and Saturn conjoin in the constellation of Pisces; this happens every 805 years. Jewish tradition identified the planets of Jupiter and Saturn with the Justice of God that vindicates the righteous and punishes the guilty. Therefore, a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Pisces would be the sign of Messiah’s advent into human flesh. This very conjunction took place a short time before Christ’s birth. 17. century Lutheran German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, checking astronomical tables, found the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on 29. May, 29. September, and 4. December in 7 bc. This triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in one year’s time is extremely rare. The 4. December conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces put it over Bethlehem. Jerusalem is a mere 5.52 miles/8.89 km north of Bethlehem, and that is where the magi went since Jerusalem was the capital of King Herod the Great. A year later (every 806 years) Mars joins Jupiter and Saturn in a triple conjunction. Jupiter the King’s Planet approaches Saturn the Defender of Palestine: »You carried along the statues of the god Sikkuth as your king and the star-god Kiyyun, the gods you made for yourselves.« (Amos 5,26) and Mars signifies war, struggle or change. Thus, the star-gazing magi would interpret this conjunction as: a Messianic King is arriving in Palestine amid a time of great change or this King will bring about a great change. After this star appeared in the heavens, and the magi understood its significance, they began their trek to Jerusalem.
6. A lesser light heralded the Great Light’s appearance upon the Earth. This Great Light is Jesus. He is the promised Messiah of Israel and the Christ of the Gentiles. His Light illuminates those who cower in the darkness of their sin. The Light had waned, but not forever, for God had promised that the Light would wax again upon mankind.
7. »Behold, the Lord of Light shines forth, and the reign, the power and the glory are in His hand. He bears the gospel of justice and righteousness upon mankind! The kings of Tarshish render Him tribute, and the kings of Sheba and Seba bring Him gifts! May all kings fall down before Him, and may all nations serve Him!« The magi represented these mighty men of Tarshish, Sheba and Seba. They represented you and me as the first Gentiles to worship Jesus as the Christ. During His public ministry Greeks and Romans sought Jesus out; some of them even joined the Jews as His disciples. Later kings, queens and even emperors knelt down before Him. Pagans and barbarians received Him and forsook their religions. Christendom is a rich tapestry of nations and cultures that have sought the Christ and been enriched by Him.
8. All creation glorifies Christ Jesus. Fallen humans are stubborn in their hubris and at times do not receive Jesus as the Son of God and Lord of the universe; but the magi show the way. These learned men recognize Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords who is to be worshipped and adored above all others.
9. Today’s Introit reminds us: »Blessed be His Glorious Name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His Glory!« The winter solstice gives us days with longer sunlight; Epiphany teaches us that the light from the Son of God also shines forth with greater and longer brilliance. The season of Epiphany highlights a number of Jesus’ miraculous actions that bear light to His Divinity.
10. The Holy Scriptures enlighten us about Jesus’ life and the Light of Life and Salvation that only God can bring to the world. And bring it Jesus did, in all His Brilliant Glory, Christ, our Light who shines now and always driving the darkness into the abyss. The Scriptures call Him the Bright Morning Star who is the brightest star in the sky. He chases away the shades of night and is a portent of great heavenly things to arrive. All this the magi recognized in the Infant Jesus. Their testimony is verified by ours as well.
11. »Behold, the Lord of lords has arrived, and the reign, the power and the glory are His forever and ever.« May the Light of Christ illumine your soul with the assurance of His forgiveness. When you find others shrouded in darkness, share the Light of Christ so that their eyes may see hope and draw near to Jesus for assurance too. Amen and Amen.
12. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of all nations who is alone worthy to be praised; shine forth Your gospel upon us, so that we may laud You now and always. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Soli Deo Gloria
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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
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