Scripture: Matthew 2:1-6; Micah 5:2-5; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 10:1-2; Isaiah 11:6; Isaiah 53:2; Ezekiel 34:2-4; Jeremiah 35:15; Hosea 4:1-2; Matthew 10:34-39; Romans 1:19-20; Revelation 21:4 Series: 2021
Third in the Advent ‘Star of Wonder’ series on Matthew 2, this sermon teaches that biblical prophecy is not date-stamped fortune-telling but a word that exposes present injustice and points to the need for a savior. The Gentile magi glimpse God in nature and the star, yet only the Scriptures (Micah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Hosea) reveal the Messiah. Christ comes not to affirm the status quo but to transform it, and the prophets’ indictment is aimed at us, not ‘other people.’ Wilson calls the congregation to repent of strayed relationships and unmet needs, and like the magi to actively seek Christ rather than merely wait, living into the new creation now.
Illustrations: haircut-for-a-book, scifi-fantasy-prophecies, stock-market-prophet, raymond-brown-magi, nostradamus-year-2000, isaiah-fifth-gospel, handel-messiah
December 5
The Prophecy
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote: You, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah, because from you will come one who governs, who will shepherd my people Israel.” Matthew 2:1-6 CEB
Growing up, I loved science fiction and fantasy novels. I’ve shared the story about how I used to always want to grow my hair out when I was a kid, because I wanted to be like my older brother. But every time I was thinking about it, my mom would ask me if I wanted a book. I would get a free book if I got a haircut. And every time I would think, “next time, I’m going to say ‘no,’ next time, I’m going to say ‘no.’ And then we would get to the mall and suddenly we’re in Waldenbooks and I have no willpower against the power of a book. So I always kept my hair shorter. The books I loved at that time were science fiction and fantasy. I loved stories like Dune about Paul Atreides. There is a prophecy about the Lisan al-Gaib, which means “the Voice from the Outer World.” I loved Star Wars. I loved all of the Star Wars novels with characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn and many others. I loved DragonLance novels that also had a prophecy, and the Wheel of Time series with a lot of prophecy. I loved the Game of Thrones novels from way before the the show came out. I started reading them in 1995 when I was 13. I read the first novel because my brother was in college and he brought me back the paperback I read all the books and it was my own private world. I didn’t know anyone else who had read all of them. And then the show came out, and I was like, “oh my gosh! there’s all these people into it. So I guess it’s a pretty popular story.” That book has prophecy throughout.
At times, the word prophecy or prophet in the Bible can be very confusing for us today. If someone is called a prophet of the stock market, it means that they predict the future of the stock market. Someone’s not going to be called a prophet of the stock market if they go and speak like the prophet Isaiah
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. Isaiah 10:1-2
That’s not going to be the kind of prophet that we usually talk about.
My friends, we are continuing our series on Star of Wonder. We’re looking at this first part of Matthew 2, focusing on the star and the journey of the magi to Bethlehem. This week, we’re thinking about prophecy: what it meant back then, what it means today, and what it God wants it to mean for us. We have the Magi coming from the East, looking for the star, and they come to Jerusalem seeking wisdom. The magi, whether they be Kings or magicians or simply wise men, were not Jews. They did not know the traditions of the scriptures. They had witnessed the reality of God in Nature and the Star that drew them from their homeland. They understood that something divine was taking place, but they did not fully grasp it. As Raymond Brown says,
“The proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah is given to magi from the East, the wise and learned among the Gentiles. Precisely since they are Gentiles, they receive their proclamation through created nature. (Romans 1:19-20); but, like Balaam of old who also came from the East…they recognize the salvific import of the Davidic star. Although they hasten to Jerusalem to pay homage, the full revelation of the Messiah cannot be gleaned from nature: it is a secret found in the Scriptures, the special revelation that God has given to the Jews alone. And so the magi must learn from the Jewish Scriptures God’s plan of salvation before they can find the Messiah and pay him homage.”
We should not deny the reality that God can be found in nature, God works in mysterious ways and God’s beauty is evident in creation for those who have eyes to see, but the fullness of God is not found in nature. God may be found in a lot of ways, but the fullness of God is found in the person, Jesus Christ: his life, death, and resurrection. And we don’t understand who Jesus is without the scriptures that Jesus read which pointed not only to his coming but to his reality. The way the scriptures point to Jesus is important. They do not speak of specific dates or times. They speak of signs and actions, the words of Micah and Malakai and Hosea and Isaiah that draw our imagination towards the coming of the Messiah, the anointed, one of God, Meshiach in Hebrew, they do not say, “on December 25th, the year zero, Jesus will be born.” The words of the Hebrew prophets are not just about the future, but about the present day. Most often, they are about what has gone wrong in the present. They are about how the people of Israel have strayed from God’s gifts, how they have turned away from God’s promises, From Ezekiel The Lord’s word came to me: Human one, prophesy against Israel’s shepherds. Prophesy and say to them, The Lord God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel’s shepherds who tended themselves! Shouldn’t shepherds tend the flock? 3 You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don’t tend the flock. 4 You don’t strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice. Ezekiel 34:2-4
Or from Jeremiah I have sent you all my servants, the prophets, time and again, saying, “Each of you, turn from your evil ways and reform your actions; don’t worship or serve other gods. Then you may live in the fertile land I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you haven’t paid attention or listened to me. Jeremiah 35:15
Or from Hosea
Hear the Lord’s word, people of Israel; for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. There’s no faithful love or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Hosea 4:1-2
This doesn’t sound like the sayings of Nostradamus or the old Conan O’Brien sketch, In the Year 2,000! The words of the prophets have power for the present as well as the future. The words of the prophets help us understand even more fully who Jesus was, what he did and what he can be for us. When Jesus preaches in the synagogue in Nazareth, he preaches from Isaiah. I have a teacher who called Isaiah the fifth gospel because of how central the Messiah is throughout. And in Isaiah, we have a physical description of Jesus. He grew up like a young plant before us, like a root from dry ground. He possessed no splendid form for us to see, no desirable appearance.
We also see the power of Jesus. We have the words that Handel used in his Messiah .
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
And then in Micah
“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces, one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you. His origin is from remote times, from ancient days. Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor gives birth. The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. They will dwell secure, because he will surely become great throughout the earth; he will become one of peace.” Micah 5:2-5a CEB
Tye Hebrew prophets speak of the coming of Jesus, but more than that, they speak for the need for Jesus because of the injustice in the world. The status quo of all time should be troubled by the coming of the Messiah. Jesus comes not to affirm, but to transform, and this world needs transformation. Jesus says in Matthew
““Don’t think that I’ve come to bring peace to the earth. I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword. I’ve come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. People’s enemies are members of their own households. “Those who love father or mother more than me aren’t worthy of me. Those who love son or daughter more than me aren’t worthy of me. Those who don’t pick up their crosses and follow me aren’t worthy of me. Those who find their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives because of me will find them.” Matthew 10:34-39 CEB
These are not easy words about the future but hard words for us today about the need for a savior and how we must respond. If all things will be made new, not all things will last. Injustice will not last. Darkness will not last. We must not cling to injustice and brokenness but let God cleanse us of those desires and practices through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is injustice in this world. There’s darkness in this world. There’s pain in this world. and we need a savior. But our amazing claim today is that God has already come. We are in the midst of the world’s transformation. And more than that, we can be a part of it. We can be a part of the new creation and we can live into that reality now. In our future with God, as Isaiah says, The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them And as it says in the book of Revelation, there will be no more weeping or crying, no gnashing of teeth, but we can live into that now. In this season of advent, may you take the words of the prophets, not simply as proof of Christ, but as evidence of the need for Christ today. May you take the words of the prophets to be aimed at you, and not other people. The problem in the world is not other people. The salvation of the world is not based on your side winning or some people losing. The salvation of the world is not about other people suddenly agreeing with us about everything. If the world agreed with me, it would be convenient, but it wouldn’t be salvific. If the politicians I liked were always elected, it might be convenient, but it wouldn’t be salvific. It is not about me. The words of the prophets, the words of Jesus, are for us to remind us how we need Jesus still. Even if you have believed since you were a child, you still need Jesus. This church needs Jesus. How can we as a congregation repent of the ways that we have strayed from God’s word for us? How can we repent for the relationships that we have burned? How can we repent of the ways that we have not reached people in need? In this season of advent, may we not be satisfied with where we are. May we, like the Magi, seek Christ, not just wait for him. May we seek Christ’s prophetic word that may shake the foundations of this world. May we follow the light to where it leads to a child who shall redeem the whole world? Not just the people we like everyone. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your truth which sets us free. Help us to find comfort in your truth and love and not in ourselves. Help us to offer comfort to those who are hurting in this season. Help us to open our eyes to the need for your mercy in this world. Help us to open our eyes to the ways we need to change. Help us seek you like the Magi sought the star. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.