"Having and not having the truth," 1.6.13

Isaiah 60:1-6

¹   Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
²   For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
     but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.
³   Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴   Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
⁵   Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
     because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
⁶   A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.
     They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Matthew 2:1-12

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
⁶   ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
          are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
     for from you shall come a ruler
          who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

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Sometimes it’s easier to see the truth from the outside. That’s what this passage is about and it’s also one of the big lessons of Jesus’ ministry, the ministry of the early church and the continuing story of God’s people in the world.

            We don’t know much about these wise men from the east. We know they were men. We know they were wise, and we know they were from the East. We don’t know anything about their faith, their religious traditions, their political affiliation or anything else. All we know, is that these wise men saw a sign that God was giving Israel a new king, so they came to honor him. They came with the best gifts they could bring with them. Whatever they were might have expected, they were excited about what God was doing in that little town of Bethlehem.

            King Herod reacts to the news about a new king with fear rather than excitement. That’s not surprising. After all, he claims to be King of the Jews, of some of them, anyway, so the idea of another king is threatening. He’s in an awkward position to begin with since he is a puppet king ruling with Rome’s support and oversight. While he needs the support of his citizens, and probably uses biblical passages about kings to prop up that support, he also has to keep his Roman overlords happy. Since the thing many Jews wanted most was independence, there wasn’t any way for Herod to please everyone. There were powerful forces that could trip him up at any time.

            The best part of Herod probably felt like his leadership was the best hope for Jewish autonomy in the real world. Even though many people wanted freedom, the Jewish community didn’t have the strength to rebel against Rome. Herod may have felt like the compromises he made between his community and the Roman Empire were a lot better than raw domination, and maybe he was right about that.

Probably others Jewish leaders felt the same way, even if they didn’t like Herod. Caiaphas, the High Priest when Jesus was executed, worried that Jesus’ ministry will bring Rome’s wrath down on the Jews leading them to lose their temple, religious freedom and partial autonomy. The Jewish situation was fragile, so we should be sympathetic to their fear of shaking things up.

            The power-hungry, sinful part of Herod loved being in power regardless of what was right. Power is dangerous even for King David, who was clearly called by God to lead. How much more dangerous would that power be when it didn’t come from God as clearly, but was instead a crude imitation of the biblical kingdom?

            Herod tries to hold on to a kingdom that belongs to God as if it belongs to him. When he learns about a king from God he reacts with fear. When the wise men slip away, taking with them Herod’s hopes of finding the baby king easily, he moves quickly to plan B, which is mass murder of babies. He is willing to do whatever it takes to keep something that was never his.

            Herod was a generally bad guy. We don’t have much in common with Herod except that he was an insider in God’s story and so are we. As a member of the Jewish tradition, Herod was part of an unbreakable covenant with God. In that tradition, and especially with his office as a king, he had a duty to look for God’s leadership in his rule. Instead, he took his rule as a right and something to exploit rather than a responsibility to serve. When God approached the world in a new way, he saw that entirely as a threat.

            So now let’s talk about the church, our church here and the broader church. Like Herod and the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ time we are part of God’s people. We’re part of an organization that exists to express God’s love. We have a calling that is holy, to be the body of Jesus Christ in the world.