This post serves as a follow up to my sermon, "The Epiphany Star" on Matthew 2:1-12, preached on January 10, 2021. These notes summarize and supplement the sermon.
- Who were the magi? They most likely came from Babylon. There is debate whether they were kings or counselors (wise men) of the king. Given that Matthew 2 fulfills of Isaiah 60, they must be royal figures of some sort. The magi are probably spiritual descendants of Daniel and those he converted when serving in Babylon. Daniel was a magi himself. Daniel probably taught them to look for a coming star/messiah from Jacob (Num. 24:7). They are God-fearers, Gentiles who trust Israel's God.
- The last time we saw the shekinah glory in Scripture was in Ezekiel. Ezekiel saw the shekinah glory leaving the temple because of the idolatry of the priests and people. The shekinah glory left the temple and moved eastward towards Babylon to prepare a place for the exiles who will follow not long thereafter (Ezek. 8-11). In Ezekiel's temple vision (in chapter 43), he sees the shekinah return to the temple, but when the temple was actually rebuilt there was no visible manifestation of God coming to dwell there, as there had been with Moses' tabernacle and Solomon's temple (cf. Ezra 6). Thus, it seems the glory was still in exile in the east even during the Restoration Era. This fits with Matthew's genealogy: the exile lasted "until the Christ" (1:17). The shekinah appears to the magi where it was last known to be -- in Babylon, in the east. This means the shekinah's return from the east is tied to the prophesied second exodus.
- How long did the star appear to the magi before they journeyed towards Jerusalem? It would create a neat symmetry if it appeared to them 9 months before their arrival in Judea. But we do not know for sure. It was certainly within a two year time frame, since Herod kills all the baby boys 2 years old and under in Bethlehem (it is likely Herod killed slightly older children than necessary, just to be on the safe side -- a tyrant cannot take chances when it comes to destroying a rival).
- Bethlehem, of course, was known as the City of David, but this did not overshadow the town's sordid past, as seen particularly in Genesis 35, Judges 19, and Ruth 1. Micah clealry foretells Betheleham as the city in which the Messiah would be born, but it also indicates this would be a surprise.
- Chronologically, because the star arrives in Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth, it belongs with Christmas. But thematically the star belong to Epiphany because it manifests Jesus' identity to the Gentiles.
- Matthew 2:9 uses the language of the star "going before" the magi and "standing over" the place where the child was. This same language is used of the shekinah in the OT: Ex. 13:21, 33:9; Num. 1:25, 14:14; Duet. 31:15, etc.
- If we connect Isaiah 60 with Matthew 2, as we should, we learn more about the magi. Isaiah suggests the magi came on camels, and there may been many more than just 3 of them. The coming of the magi with gifts to the glory of the Lord is obviously prophetic -- a firstfruits of a much larger harvest to come from the nations. Further, if the magi were familiar with Isaiah 60, they could have seen it as something of the first "Christmas shopping list" and would have known to bring at least gold and frankincense. There have been numerous attempts to connect the three gifts with other themes. In the sermon I connected them with the priest-king-prophet motif (though that is admittedly not a tight connection). Since the shekinah is connected with the temple, and Jesus is the new temple, it is possible all three gifts have priestly/temple significance (gold is found in the temple, especially in the Most Holy Place; incense is burned at the altar, symbolic of the prayers of the saints; and myrrh oil is used in anointing priests). Whatever the case, Jesus as the new Israel is "plundering" the magi in this exodus event.
- It is crucial to grasp the link between the star and angels. This a common link in Scripture (e.g., Job 38) and in hymnody. What do you put on top of your Christmas tree -- a star or an angel? Either one is fitting because they are so closely associated.
- The glory leads the magi to the glory -- the glory in the sky leads them to the glory in the manger. The light in the sky leads them to the light of the world. This is what Epiphany is all about.
- As I argued in the sermon, I think there all kinds of clues that the glory-star-angel that appeared to the magi also appeared to the shepherds (Luke 2), and thus these Gentile wise men and the Jewish shepherds probably visited and worshipped Jesus together on the night of his birth. He is already incorporating Jew and Gentile together into one worshipping community, from the very night of his birth.
- I didn't quite get to the punch line in the sermon. There are different responses to Jesus in the story, e.g., Herod is troubled/angry and the scribes seem indifferent. But the wise men show us the right response: Worship Jesus and bring him gifts. But there is more than that. The wise men are overjoyed (Matthew 2:10). Note the shepherds in Luke 2 have the exact same reaction: they worship with great joy (2:20). Jesus brings joy to those who worship him! This is the right response to the Savior: joyful worship and worshipful joy.
- Note that the events of Matthew 2 and Luke 2 must fit into a tight chronology. Both the shepherds and wise men visit baby Jesus in Bethlehem. After the presentation of Jesus at his 40th day, the family goes to live in Nazareth (Luke 2:39). This means the flight to Egypt (probably financed with with the gifts the magi brought since they offer the sacrifices of the poor in Luke 2:24) in Matthew 2:13ff must fit within the first 40 days of Jesus' life. There makes sense: Obviously Herod is not going to wait around to send his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill the baby boys there, and given how small the town was, the soldiers would be done with their bloody work very quickly (given what we know of Bethlehem's size at the time, it is likely less than 30 babies needed to be killed to fulfill Herod's decree). The gospel give us a great deal of information about the first 40 days of Jesus' life, then skip to an episode when he was 12 (Luke 2:41ff), and then skip ahead to when he is about 30. The gospel writers were obviously very selective.
- Note that the passage in Matthew 2 ends with the wise men being warned in a dream (another supernatural revelation) to disobey Herod and go home by another route. This is obviously a case of justified civil disobedience.