MATTHEW 2:1-12 Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden

these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. St. Paul wrote: Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? The holy evangelist St. Matthew shows us this truth when he tells us of the Magi, Gentile mystics who come to the newborn Jesus. While the King James Version calls them wise men, they were actually pagan magicians. Thats why the NIV calls them Magi, from which we get the English word magician. They were experts (if we can call them that) in astrology, mysticism, and pagan spirituality. Their wisdom was actually heathen folly, totally opposed to Gods Word. The Holy Spirit shows us the paradox of Christ: The pagan magicians of heathen lands come from afar, while Israel's scribes and priests, five miles away, remain in their temples and towers and refuse to show any interest. This is the contrast of Christ and his cross, for, as Simeon said in last week's Gospel, Jesus is the sign that will be spoken against. 2,000 years later, the world still follows astrology and spiritualism, sances and ghosts, instead of God's Word, which would lead them to Jesus, the worlds only Savior. But the Holy Spirit shows us that following the dark arts of Satan leads to dead ends. The Magi are alerted to Jesus' birth by a new star in the heavens; but the star stops shining until they have consulted with King Herod. Herod has no idea where Jesus is. He who calls himself the king of the Jews has no idea where the true King is. He must ask the peoples chief priests and teachers of the law. They know the answer from the Scriptures. At a time when the books of the Bible are written on individual scrolls, with no chapter divisions or verse numbers, they know exactly where to look to answer Herods question. They tell him, In Bethlehem in Judah, for this is what the prophet has written. We cannot find Jesus by our spiritual speculations. We cannot find Jesus by asking people who are knowledgeable in politics or world affairs for their guidance. We find Jesus only by looking into his inspired prophetic and apostolic Word. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures alone give the right information about where to find Jesus, for this is their purpose. Jesus himself says: These are the Scriptures that testify about me. When the Magi follow their guesses about where the King is to be found, they're wrong! They come to the place where they think they will find accurate information. They come to the place of royal pomp, Herod's palace. But no one there knows what they're talking about. Instead, they meet only a power-mad paranoiac who wants to kill the Christ Child. Their efforts to find Jesus based on their human efforts lead only to a deceiver bent on murder. Herod clings to the kingdom, which his demented mind convinces him belongs to him, though he is nothing but a puppet of Rome. His power is imaginary. All the while, this puny puppet seeks to kill the baby Jesus, who is the true King of heaven and earth. And so, dear Lord, it pleaseth Thee, to make this truth quite plain to me, that all the worlds wealth, honor, might, are naught and worthless in Thy sight. The star is no natural phenomenon, no unusual alignment of planets, no comet. Planets, stars and comets dont go ahead of people until they still directly over one particular house. And everyone is able to see planets, stars and comets. St. Matthew speaks as if only the Magi have seen the star. Herod hasnt seen it. No one else in Jerusalem has seen it. It was a special gift of God to the Magi. But even the star only aroused their curiosity and started them on their journey. They didnt find Jesus by their own searching. God led them to Jesus by the prophecy of Micah recorded in the Scriptures. And thats where we must look to learn the truth about Jesus. We wont learn the truth about Jesus from the wisdom of the world. That includes TV specials at Christmas and Easter that deny or doubt what Gods Word records. We wont learn the truth about Jesus by joining the churches recommended by

Hollywood celebrities, or by asking philosophers what to believe. Isaiah writes, To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Isaiah tells us in the Old Testament lesson today that the true light, Jesus Christ, can be found only by those who come to the Church. The Church is the Light of the world because she bears witness to Christ, the Light of the world. Just as the gracious qualities of a wife bring honor to her house and to her husband, so the Church bears witness to Jesus, her heavenly bridegroom. The Magi become the first of innumerable Gentiles to come to Christ. This is the meaning of this day, the Feast of the Epiphany. Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies, which declare that he comes not just to be the Savior of Israel, but also the Savior of all nations. Nations will come to your light, writes Isaiah; all assemble and come to you. When the Magi enter the house where Joseph and Mary have settled after the emperors census was concluded, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Were not sure whether the Magi were bowing down to Jesus because they believed in him as true God, or because they simply believed in him as an earthly king. Their gifts seem to indicate that they were offering the best products of their land as diplomatic trinkets to one they considered a foreign head of state. Again, without the knowledge of Jesus person and work that comes only from the Scriptures, the Magi could only regard Jesus as a great person, but only another ordinary human. Only those who have the full story of Jesus: his life, sufferings, death and resurrection, will truly bow down to him and give him the full divine worship of which Jesus is worthy. And thats why the Holy Spirit had Matthew write his Gospel. No matter what the Magi were thinking when they saw the baby Jesus, we do give him the full worship as true God, our Lord and Savior. Today our King has gifts for us. He gives us his true body to eat, and his true blood to drink. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as gold and silver that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.