Pious Lutheran

Adoration of the Magi, Albrecht Durer, 1504 The Magi Reveal the Kingship of Jesus. The Faith of the Magi The Unbelief of Jerusalem The Worship in Bethlehem Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. An epiphany is when something is made manifest or clear. What the Magi reveal is that Jesus is the King. Thus far in the infancy narrative Jesus’ identity was not widely known. In Bethlehem only a few shepherds knew about Him. When Jesus was presented at the temple in Jerusalem only Simeon and Anna knew about Him. But with the arrival of the Magi from the East, all of Jerusalem suddenly had an epiphany: The King of the Jews has been born! When the Magi from Babylon had received this epiphany they were overcome with such joy through their faith that they went on this great journey to go and worship this newborn King. It’s a bit surprising that Gentiles from the East would suddenly show up in Jerusalem, because how is it that they come to worship Jesus before Jesus’ own people?  Well we...

“ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ” Isn’t it interesting how God chose to work among the magi of the Gentiles? Here are these unbelievers, these Gentiles from eastern lands, probably Persia, they’ve seen a star in the sky revealed to them by the Lord so that they might come to Israel to worship the Christ Child.  God worked a great extraordinary miracle for these men, revealing a bright light in the sky to lead them to the Messiah. But what’s most fascinating is that God didn’t lead these magi directly to Jesus through supernatural means. Instead, the star led them into Jerusalem in Israel, led them to king Herod.  Once they arrived in Jerusalem, the extraordinary star left them for a while, and they relied upon the ordinary. “ When Herod the king heard this,...