Christ ChurchThe Wise Men & the Nations (Advent #4) (Christ Church)
INTRODUCTION
This part of the Christmas story is not a stand-alone story. In the narrative, we find a type of how all the rulers of this world will eventually come to kiss the Son.
THE TEXT
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. . . When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped
him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way” (Matt. 2:1-3, 9-12).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, certain wise men from the east appeared in Jerusalem (v. 1), and they were looking for Him (v. 2). The one they were looking for was King of the Jews because they had seen His star in the east, and intended to worship Him (v. 2). Herod heard about this and he was troubled, along with all Jerusalem (v. 3). After Herod gets some information from his rabbis, he deceitfully sends the wise men on their way. After they left Herod’s presence, the star they had seen back home led them to the right house in Bethlehem (v. 9). Seeing the star gave them great joy (v. 10). They came to the house (not the stable) where they saw the young Jesus along with Mary, His
mother (v. 11). From the age of the boys murdered by Herod, we can infer that the wise men arrived sometime within two years of Christ’s birth. They fell down and worshiped Him, and presented their famous and costly gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh. We don’t know for a fact there were three wise men, this being simply an inference from these three gifts. God warned the wise men in a dream, and so they went home by another route (v. 12).
WE THREE KINGS
Now these men are not described as kings, but there are good reasons for treating them as members of the ruling aristocracy, as men who could decide to just go visit a king. First, in the Old Testament, this kind of person was frequently found at court (magi, wise men). Second, these men were dignitaries of sufficient rank to have their questions attract the attention of a king, and to be summoned to his court. Third, their gifts to the young Christ were kingly gifts—the kind of gift that kings would receive from princes. Fourth, the text draws attention to a comparison between their eagerness to worship Christ, and Herod’s false willingness to do so. Fifth, not only did God want the reader of Matthew to know that a king was born in Bethlehem, God wanted Herod to know that a king had been born there. And He wanted him to know it on the kind of authority that he would accept.
FORESHADOWING
So what is this story doing here? The clear intent is to show us that Christ is a king, and He is the kind of king who receives legitimate worship from nobles. This is a proleptic story, meaning that it is prophetic. If the toddler Jesus receives this kind of honor, what will He receive later? He receives hostility at the beginning (from Herod) and He receives prostrate worship from Gentile noblemen at the beginning. This is an a fortiori situation, and so which one will win out?
HONOR AND GLORY
Paul says that God wants all kinds of men to saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). This “all kinds of” includes kings and those in authority (1 Tim. 2:2). In this matter, Paul practiced what he preached. It was part of his original commission. When God was reassuring Ananias about going to see Paul, God said, “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Notice the inclusion of “and kings.” Whenever he had opportunity to present the gospel to kings and rulers, he would do so (Acts 26:28). Kings are told to kiss the Son, lest He be angry (Ps. 2:12). While we are to fear both God and the king (Prov. 24:21), the king is supposed to fear God particularly (Dt. 17:18).
But sin being what it is, this is not something that kings like to do. The gospel being as powerful as it is, however, means that the kings of the earth will in fact come. They all will bring their honor and glory into the Church (Rev. 21:24, 26). They do become nursing fathers to the Church (Is. 49:23), submitting themselves to the Church, and being discipled by the Church. That phrase “nursing fathers” can be misleading, making us think the Church is somehow subordinate to the State—which is actually the opposite of what the passage says. In the restoration of Israel’s fortunes that is the Church, what does it say?
“And kings shall be thy nursing fathers [lit. nourishers], and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” The leaves on the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and they cannot be applied without the nations actually getting better (Rev. 22:2).
TRIBUTE AND AUTHORITY
There are two ways to give. One is an act of authority and the other is an act of submission. There are also two ways to receive—and not surprisingly, one is an act of authority and the other is an act of submission. Telling the two of them apart is perfectly clear for the humble, and opaque to the proud. Were the wise men placing Jesus and Mary in their debt with these very expensive gifts? Or were they showing their indebtedness? When our federal government today cuts a check, are they seeking to exercise authority or showing submission? This is not a hard question.
So this story right at the beginning of Christ’s life shows us the pattern that we should expect and require. Christ will not receive (and His Church must not think about receiving) any largesse whatever from the state unless it is accompanied by their prior prostration before Christ and true worship of Him. And to test the sincerity of it all, we should probably give it a minute. Like 500 years or so.
A Star Out of Jacob (Advent #3) (Christ Church)
INTRODUCTION
One of the most familiar elements of the Christmas story is the star of Bethlehem. But at the same time, it remains one of the most unknown features of the story—because unlike what the wise men did, we don’t really look straight at it.
THE TEXT
“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num. 24:17).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
As we should all know, the prophet Balaam was a covetous and sinful man (Jude 11; 2 Pet. 2:15). But at the same time, even though he was not of the nation of Israel, he was a true prophet. It was possible to be a true prophet without being a true man. The Spirit of the Lord really did come upon him (e.g. Num. 24:2). Balak, the king of Moab, had Balaam summoned in order to put a curse on Israel. In spite of everything, the Spirit of the Lord refused to let Balaam prophesy disaster for Israel—it kept coming out as blessing (Micah 6:5).
Balak was understandably peeved with Balaam (Num. 24:10), but Balaam calmed him down by giving him some very practical and carnal advice . . . for a fee (Rev. 2:14). The women of Moab enticed the Israelite men into idolatry and fornication, and God dealt with them severely (Num. 25:1-3). Balaam was eventually killed by the Israelites when they came to invade the land (Josh. 13:22). Judging from the number of times it is referred to explicitly, both in the Old Testament and the New, this is a very important story. And in the Christmas story, as we tell it every year, we most likely have an implicit reference to it.
At the end of his exchanges with Balak, Balaam gave the words of our text above, and as a prophecy of blessing for Israel, we should be careful to ask what it might mean. The first fulfillment of these words came with the reign of King David four hundred years later. He was the one who struck Moab (v. 17), not to mention Edom (v. 18). David was the king who was a type of the great king, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus—so Jesus is the antitype, the final and complete fulfillment of this word. A star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel, and He will establish His reign. The scepter would stay with Judah until Shiloh came, and He would be the one who would gather all the people to Himself (Gen. 49:10).
THE WISE MEN
Balaam was a prophet, but he was not a prophet of Israel. He was from the east, and was of the heathen nations there. The wise men who came to search for Jesus on account of the star were also from the east. It is likely that Balaam’s words had been preserved outside of the Hebrew Scriptures—and note how the wise men speak of this (Matt. 2:2). They appear to have much more information than could be gleaned from looking at a star in the sky, even if they were serious astrologers. Balaam had prophesied of a king, one with a scepter. The wise men asked about a king. Balaam had specified that this king would be from Jacob, and the wise men asked about a king of the Jews. Herod, the man they asked about it, was an Edomite, one of the peoples that this particular prophecy described as being conquered by the coming king. And, most noticeably, Balaam spoke of a star, and the wise men came in response to a star. And incidentally, we don’t know for certain that there were three wise men—that is simply an inference from the three types of gifts they brought (Matt. 2:11).
LED BY THE STAR
One of the reasons we don’t look too closely at what the text says about our star is that it might mess with our modernist cosmology too much. The text says that the star, the same one which they had seen in the east, led them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, a distance of about eight miles, and that the star then stood still over a particular house where Mary and Jesus were (Matt. 2:9, 11). Picture a star leading you to Pullman, and then pointing out a particular house. This is to say nothing against modern astronomical calculations about the Bethlehem star, but it is to assert that there was more going on than just that.
Either the wise men were being “led by” the star in some astrological sense, meaning that they were doing some serious math on the back of their camels in the dark (also unmentioned in the text, by the way), or a star actually came down into our atmosphere and did some very un-starlike things. But why should this be a surprise? A whole host of stars had done the same thing for the shepherds (Luke 2:13).
NOT WHAT WE WERE EXPECTING
Now if we don’t accept the astrological math option, then that means the star came down into our sky, and stood over a particular house—fifty feet up, say. Does faithfulness to Scripture require us to accept absurdities? That a flaming ball of gas, many times larger than our entire earth, came down into Palestine in order to provide first century mapquest services? And that it managed to do so without incinerating the globe? We need to take a lesson here from our medieval fathers in the faith, brought to us via Narnia. “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.” If we can leave our bodies behind when we go to heaven, why cannot a star leave its body behind to come to earth? But any way you take it, the Christian faith flatly contradicts the truncated cosmology of moderns. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.
REMEMBER WHAT THE STAR MEANT
Balaam was talking about what would happen to all the tinpot and jitney monarchies when the real kingdom arrives, when the true scepter is established. In the book of Revelation, Jesus identifies Himself with His ancestor and subject, King David. He is the root and offspring of David, and He is the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16). Balaam was talking about what was going to happen in “the latter days” (v. 14), and he is very clear about the rise and fall of various nations before the Messiah would come. First, the Amalekites would perish forever (v. 20). After them, the Kenites would go down (v. 22). They would be followed by invaders from Kittim (the Greeks, under Alexander), which is what verse 24 is talking about. But then the Greeks would fade away (v. 24), which is what happened with Rome in the ascendancy. And thus it was during that time that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed (Luke 2:1).
So Caesar gave the command in order to tax the whole world (v. Luke 2:1). The star gave the command that magi from the east would voluntarily come, bearing gifts (Matt. 2:11). Augustus won his throne through a great deal of killing at the battle of Actium. The Lord Jesus won His throne at the battle of Golgotha, where He conquered and crushed the devil by dying. The star in the east, the one the wise men followed, was a star that declared a coming kingdom, a kingdom that would never end. This is the kingdom of the true king, before whom the most magnificent kings in the history of the world were but flickering types and shadows.
The star of Bethlehem is therefore the regal emblem of a scepter, a scepter of never-ending glory.
Born to Die (Advent #2) (Christ Church)
INTRODUCTION
As we continue meditating on the meaning of Advent, we are not really resisting attempts to make Christmas meaningless as we are fighting with alternative meanings. There is no such thing (in the last analysis) as a vacuum holiday, a celebration without a point. Attempts to neutralize Christmas are simply an intermediate step—and the alternative meanings are waiting in the wings.
THE TEXT
“And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Simeon was a great man of faith, an Old Testament saint who was waiting faithfully for the consolation of Israel. By the grace of God, he was permitted to live long enough to see the Messiah in His infancy. But he was not just a man of faith; he was given a prophetic word. Among other things, he blessed Joseph and Mary both (v. 34), and then turned to Mary in order to give her a particular word.
The child was destined to be a divider. On the one hand, he would bring about the fall and rising of many in Israel, which was a good thing (v. 34). On the other hand, he would be “for a sign” to be spoken against (v. 34). Not everyone would receive the Messiah with glad shouts of acclaim. Simeon hints that more than just speaking against Him would be involved, because he predicted that a sword would be run through Mary’s soul (v. 35). This is a clear indication that Mary would live to see the crucifixion, which is what did in fact happen (Jn. 19:26-27). The fact that Jesus would for a sign to be spoken against was in order to reveal the condition of many hearts (v. 35). Violence of this sort makes us choose.
ALTERNATIVE MEANINGS
What does it mean to say that alternative or competitive meanings for Christmas are positioning themselves? Usually this comes out when someone points to something that everyone is supposed to acknowledge as problematic, and says something like, “We have to get away from this problem or that one, and get back to the true meaning of Christmas.” The fact that the problems are so obvious is used as a trick to make us think that the proposed meaning must be self-evident also.
What are some of those false solutions to fake problems?
Sentimentalism—a sentimental Christmas is a Christmas without conflict. As my daughter puts it, it the true meaning of Christmas as portrayed in a Hallmark Christmas movie—that meaning being a cup of delicious cocoa. But sin brought conflict and violence into the world, and so in a very real sense, Christians are enemies to the way of death. But note this: death is our enemy. We cannot rid the world of conflict without conflict. But it must be the God-ordained kind of conflict, as Simeon foresaw. The pseudo-problem that such people want to point to is the mere existence of conflict, never mind who is right or wrong.
Moralism—a moralistic Christmas is a Christmas without sin. People are changed (if they need to be changed) the way Scrooge is transformed in A Christmas Carol. They are changed by simply changing their minds, or through giving somebody a goose or something festive. This kind of Pelagianism is not what we are commemorating. Simeon’s prophecy takes real sin into account. Note his prophetic language of judgment—falling and rising, a sign that is hated, a sword piercing the soul of a godly woman, and the revelation of many hearts. The pseudo-problem that is raised here is the problem of “negativity.” But when Christ was born, our world really was cold and black.
Spiritualism—a spiritualistic Christmas is a Christmas without matter. But when Simeon blesses Joseph and Mary, he is doing so because they are there in the Temple with a baby in their arms. The Lord was taken up in Simeon’s arms (v. 28). Jesus was a baby, a material gift. We do not celebrate Christmas by trying to back-pedal away from the world of material things. The pseudo-problem here is the warning against “materialism,” as though matter were somehow inherently a problem. Idolatry is a problem, but that can occur with thoughts and virtual reality as easily as with fudge and presents. Remember that it was Judas who wondered why the precious ointment was poured on Christ’s feet instead of being given to the poor. Another manifestation of this problem is the idea that Christ’s advent was somehow apolitical. But Herod didn’t make that mistake.
A SWORD TO PIERCE THE SOUL
We have noted before that the weeping of Rachel for her children is part of the Christmas story. Nativity sets should have models of Herod’s soldiers in them, and nativity sets ought not to have little drummer boys. The killing of the boys was part of the story. But we should note also that Simeon included the violence that would be directed against Christ, and which Mary would feel in her soul, and he included this in the story from the very beginning. Earlier in that chapter, we read that Mary treasured up in her heart what the shepherds had said, and it says that she pondered them (v. 19). Luke tells us at the beginning of his gospel that he gathered his account of these things from eyewitnesses (1:2). Clearly, one of his chief sources was Mary. From whom could he have found out about Simeon? Again, when Luke was writing, Mary was the only eyewitness of that event. And she clearly remembered what Simeon had told her. She was preparing herself for the crucifixion, in some measure, from the infancy of Jesus on. She was braced for the hard words to come to pass . . . but she also knew that this prophetic word came to her in the context of a blessing.
BLESSINGS HAVE A STORY ARC
Simeon said that there would be falling and rising. Blessings are not static. When Simeon told Mary about the pain that was coming, he had already said that the baby in his arms was the Lord’s “salvation” (v. 30). Mary knew, from Simeon’s mouth, that Jesus was the Christ (v. 26). Mary knew that this was a story that could not end in disaster. It would have a disaster in it, but not in the final chapter, not on the final page. The gospels are not tragedies in any sense. They are not comedies either, if we take comedy as referring to anything like a sitcom. But they are comedies in a much deeper and more profound sense than this. Christ was born to die, but He died so that He could be the first born from among the dead (Col. 1:18).
THE FULL GOSPEL
If we tell the Christmas story carefully, taking note of all the things that the writers of the scriptural accounts include, we find ourselves telling the entire story of salvation. The story includes the world, and everything in it. When Jesus came, He came to pick up the world. That world was very dirty, and so did this make His hands dirty? No, but it did make them bloody, and that in its turn is the salvation of this sorry planet. He came to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found.
Beholding the Glory (Advent #4) (King’s Cross Church)
INTRODUCTION
As the Church has meditated on the nature of knowing God, we have come to summarize this pursuit as the three transcendentals: truth, goodness, and beauty. You might think of these as truth is what we are to believe, goodness is what we are to desire, and beauty is what we are to enjoy. And the idea is that these three are interconnected: what is true is also good and beautiful; what is good is also true and beautiful; and what is beautiful is also true and good.
This text is one place we see something of this notion: in Christmas we have the truth, goodness (grace), and beauty (glory) of God fully revealed. The first two are often emphasized, but frequently we don’t know what to do with beauty. Many Christians have been particularly leery of beauty. Beauty seems to be deceptive. It can trick people into sin, like the fruit in the garden, like a seductress. While that is true, truth and goodness have their own deceptions, and God created world full of His glory and beauty and requires us to grow up into it. And Christmas is one time during the year, we get to practice.
THE TEXT
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
This verse is talking about the incarnation; “incarnation” means “made flesh.” The word for “Word” is logos, and logos was the Greek word for “order, meaning, word, or reason.” Aristotle used it to describe the content or principal argument of a speech, and other philosophers used it to describe the principle of origins, the “seed” of the universe. John famously opens his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). John says that this Word created all things, echoing some of the philosophers, but when he says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he is exploding philosophical categories.
In the ancient world, the logos was distant, abstract, and impersonal, but the gospel says that the principle of all order and reason and meaning and creation is God with us, God made flesh, and not only that, but a particular man, in particular flesh. The universal has become particular and personal. And He has dwelt or literally, pitched his tent (“tabernacled”), with us. And in so doing, He revealed the glory of the Father to us. As the hymn says, “veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity!” But the emphasis really must be on the “see” not the “veiled.” This text says that the incarnation is the perfect revelation of the glory of the Father, and Jesus will insist on this later: “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (Jn. 14:9)
And in the incarnation, the gospel says that we have seen a glory that is full of grace and truth. The glory of God is not a distraction from grace and truth; it is the revelation of grace and truth. In other words, truth and goodness are beautiful and glorious. And truth and goodness that are not beautiful are not really fully true or good. Sometimes this is because our truth and goodness are faulty, and sometimes this is because our eyes and tastes are faulty, and sometimes it’s a little of both.
WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS CARE ABOUT BEAUTY?
1. Because God is beautiful: “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (Jn. 1:14). “And [Moses] said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory” (Ex. 33:18). “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Ps. 24:10). “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple” (Ps. 27:4).
2. Because God loves beauty: “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2). “And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim” (2 Chron. 3:6). “And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth forever” (2 Chron. 20:21). “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 29:2). “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Eccl. 3:11). “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is. 6:3).
3. Because God intends for His people to share in His beauty: “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (Ps. 90:17). “The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head” (Prov. 20:29). “In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people” (Is. 28:5). “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified” (Is. 61:3)
APPLICATIONS
1. Because God is the most beautiful and the source of all beauty, pursue beauty with holiness. This is part of what Christmas is supposed to remind us to do: lights, candles, carols, wreathes, the Christmas story, bows, cookies, presents, new clothes, family, generosity, and feasting. But make sure your heart and words match the glory. Nasty words and attitudes are like puking on the presents. Understood rightly, beauty helps us honor God and one another.
2. Read and listen to great stories and some poetry and symphonies. Beauty is about fittingness/timing. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Prov. 25:11). Of course the Bible is our great Epic poem, but find stories to read out loud: Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, John Buchan, ND Wilson, Wodehouse, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and listen to Handel’s Messiah a few times.
3. Delight in God’s creation: when Job wanted to know God, God came in the storm of His glory and showed him the glories of creation. There’s a tree in your living room full of light. And that’s to remind you that there are trees and lights everywhere constantly: stars overhead at night, sunsets and sunrises with clouds dancing in the light, fields, water, canyons, animals, colors, smells, tastes, sounds, textures, children, spouses, friends, grandparents. God made this world to meet us in it, to draw our eyes to Him. And then just to prove it, He came down and dwelt among us and took away our sin and conquered death and Satan, so that we might behold and enjoy His beauty forever.
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