This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki at 8.15 am and 6.00 pm in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Epiphany, Sunday 5 January 2025. The Bible reading was Matthew 2:1-12.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.

Introduction

When you think about it, celebrating Epiphany is a great way to begin a new year. Because this story is about people going on a journey to see Jesus, which is a great metaphor for all people of faith. We are all on a journey. Life is a journey. And our Christian life is a journey, too. In fact, we are on this journey  together – to find Jesus, and to worship him.

Scripture offers us many important stories of journeys. From Abraham being told to go to the land that God will show him. To the Israelites travelling through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. To Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem before the birth of their son. To Jesus, returning to heaven to prepare a place for us, and reminding us that we won’t get lost on our journey to him: the way, the truth and the life.


1) The Journey Of The Magi

We see in Matthew 2 that the Magi, or wise men, came from the East. Legend suggests they originated from Arabia. They would have been educated in the wisdom of the Babylonians and Persians and may have studied the ancient book of Daniel with its prophecies of the coming Messiah.

Looking to the stars and the planets for guidance about the wishes of the ‘gods’ is very much in keeping with the religious tradition of the time. The Magi weren’t believers in Yahweh, but they have faith that the light they are travelling towards holds the answers to the questions they are asking.

It was quite a distance to travel – that took months, possibly even years. They may have started their journey when the star appeared at Jesus’ birth. Which is why Jesus was an infant when they found him. I find it incredible that they walked away from their lives, their homes, their family, their people, their comfort and their wealth and travelled all that way to visit this new king.

They would have travelled with some kind of entourage, with food, shelter and servants. Not exactly the pictures we see on Christmas cards of three men riding camels and bearing their gifts for Jesus.

Their arrival in Jerusalem and Bethlehem would have caused quite a stir and been the talk of the town. No number is mentioned in Matthew 2, it just says Magi, not necessarily three (we say three because of the three gifts they offered) but it could have been. It was possible they were kings – but we don’t really know.


2) Searching For The New Born King

We read that the Magi go quietly to the palace to ask where the new king is, the one who has been born the King of the Jews. King Herod doesn’t know. The supposed ruler of Israel clearly knows a little bit of scripture because he relates the Magi’s search for the King of the Jews to the Messiah. But he doesn’t know enough, so he calls for the chief priests and teachers of the law to come and tell him where the child is.

Once he’s sought council, he sends the Magi to go and search high and low for the child. Why? Because he wants to worship him! But Herod is not actually a king, he’s only given a royal title as a reward for his support for the Roman Empire. He’s a Roman puppet king. Yes, he’s in charge of a territory but it’s almost a self-proclaimed title.

As a king he is portrayed as a tyrant who is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way of his rule or his form of morality. We see that later in the chapter as he ordered John the Baptist to be killed, at the request of his daughter-in- law. He also orders all boys two years of age and under to be killed – known as the massacre of the 14,000 Holy Innocents – to get rid of this potential challenge to his ‘throne.’ This is commemorated by the church on 29 December. Where these Magi have come to seek, Herod’s only desire is to kill, two contrasting reactions to that scripture from Micah.

So, the Magi continue to follow the star to Bethlehem, which has stopped. This is not a comet or some big universe event, it is a supernatural star which leads these men right to the house where Jesus is. They were overjoyed as they knew that this star was leading them to the new-born king. God is drawing them and leading them and drawing them by his grace into the glorious light of Jesus Christ the Messiah.

You see God can change the lives of those who seem furthest away, he can redeem people whose gaze is fixed on other things, because our God is the wonderful redeemer, and he is restoring people by his amazing grace.

The Magi have finally arrived, they are at the house of Jesus and they enter seeing him with Mary and Joseph. We know at this time he was not lying in a manger, he was a couple of years old and this was his family home, not a stable.


3) Offering Of Worship And Treasures

They bowed down and worshipped Jesus. The one they knew was the Messiah. The one who will save them. They have travelled all this way and find themselves in the very presence of God. And they know it. God has finally brought them to the place where they can bow. We didn’t hear that they bow to Herod, the supposed king but they are bowing to this toddler because they know the significance of who he is and what he will do.

Our reading from Isaiah 60:1-3 says: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

When God came to earth He chose to live as we live and to die as we died. Many people saw him, but only a few recognised him. The politicians didn’t recognise him. The innkeeper didn’t recognise him. The crowds gathered for the census didn’t recognise him. The rich and the famous didn’t recognise him. Even the religious establishment didn’t recognise him. Ant yet the uneducated shepherds recognised him as did the Magi from afar.

Jesus came down to this world, born as a baby, the one who would save the world from sin and death. He did not need to stoop so low, and yet he humbled himself as a servant  to die a criminals death on a cross and save his people from their sin. This is what the Magi recognise. They see the majesty of the Christ, the one who will rule, as the Messiah. Their response is to bow and worship, knowing that despite their high standing, wealth and status, the one they are in the presence of is far greater and more magnificent than them. He is the King who reigns over all kings.

Finally, the Magi, opened their treasures. These were not just three gifts, they brought their greatest gifts with them. Gifts worthy of a king. Three gifts that were deeply spiritual: Gold a symbol of Kingship; Incense a symbol of Divinity; and Myrrh a symbol of Death. 


4) They Left By Another Road

When the Magi leave Bethlehem, we read that they return home by a different road. They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. And so, they leave for their own country by another road. I don’t know how much trouble it caused them to do this.

I know that when I try that, I usually get lost. GPS has made a big difference in my life. Now, at least, when I take a wrong turn, as I often do, I have a patient, electronic voice helping me to get back on the right road. That’s until the SatNav says it doesn’t recognise the location – a regular occurrence since I moved here!

But I think that the Magi returning home by another road also has a symbolic significance. The Magi, after all, are forever changed by their encounter with the Christ child. They will never be the same. They return home different people, and so it is only fitting, perhaps, that they go by another road. And of course, Mary and Joseph did the same when they escaped to Egypt.

In T.S. Eliot’s powerful poem about The Journey of the Magi, he writes in the person of one of the Magi. And at the end of this poem, he reflects on how he is forever changed by the journey:

Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.

https://revpacman.com/2018/01/05/the-journey-of-the-magi/

Conclusion

It is a new year and none of us knows what 2025 holds for us, or for our world. But we don’t have to. Because we know that whatever this year brings our way, Jesus will be with us on our journey. We have found him. We have worshipped him. And now we travel on our way, by new and unexpected roads, but always with our Emmanuel alongside us.

As you and I travel through this new year together, may the one who created the stars, and gave us his only son, bless us and keep us; may the Lord’s face shine on us with grace and mercy; may the Lord look upon us with favour, and give us peace.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.