And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease among the people

 

 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 

 

- Matthew 4:18-25

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:  The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

  And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.   My study Bible tells us that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and so they were prepared to accept Christ immediately (see John 1:35-51).  It says that although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, these "people of the land" called by Christ will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all.  

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  My study Bible asks us to note that the crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (see yesterday's reading, above), but only when He begins to heal and to work miracles.  This shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of His Kingdom.  It also shows Christ's concession, in the words of Theophylact, "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the inconsistent multitudes. 

At this time in Israel's history, expectations of a worldly Messiah, who would deliver the people from the Romans -- like a great king in the style of David -- were very high.  So much so, that the people await one who can do what Jesus does, and be accompanied by the signs prophesied in the Scriptures.  But Jesus is not going to be that kind of worldly king or deliverer, and He comes preaching repentance.  The stage is, therefore, already set for the conflicts that will arise later on in Christ's ministry.  People will be annoyed with Him (such as in His home town of Nazareth, as His neighbors simply cannot accept this identity in the Person they know as the carpenter's son; see Matthew 13:53-58), they'll be outraged at Him, eventually His very persecution will center on this idea that He could be the Christ.  The religious leaders will claim He stands convicted of blasphemy for even answering their question about this identity (Matthew 26:63-65).  Although John the Baptist had many followers, and preached a baptism of repentance in preparation for the Messiah (see this reading), Jesus the Messiah is a completely different proposition, and the expectations for a Messiah are much more worldly than the Messiah that Christ actually is.  He does not come as a conquering king who will re-establish the kingdom of Israel, but He comes instead preaching the kingdom of heaven.  But when Jesus begins using divine power to heal, that is another matter.  These are signs of the kingdom of heaven being quite present, effecting cures prophesied for the time of the Messiah, such as in these passages from Isaiah:  "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness" (Isaiah 29:18).  Moreover, Jesus has command over unclean spirits, and so also heals the afflictions caused by such, including torments.  This is one kind of a deliverer that makes sense, someone who can relieve people of these effects of a fallen world into which has come death and sin.  So, therefore His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  So Jesus now has followers from everywhere in the historical Jewish world, and soon even those who come as pilgrims to Jerusalem will before long be seeking Him as well.  Note that He preaches the gospel of the kingdom as He teaches in the synagogues of all Galilee.  In our next reading, Jesus will begin preaching the greatest sermon we know on the gospel of the kingdom, the Sermon on the Mount.  For now, let us consider into what world of expectations Jesus comes as a Man, One who preaches repentance and the kingdom, but also bears signs of the Messiah.  

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

 

 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

    "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

    By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

    Galilee of the Gentiles:

    The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

    And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

    Light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

- Matthew 4:12-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after His baptism, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and,'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  Jesus said, to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. 

 

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: . . . "   My study Bible comments here that the term Galilee of the Gentiles is an indication that many non-Jews lived in the region.  As it had a mixed population, Galilee was not considered to be a genuinely Jewish land, although many Gentile residents had converted to Judaism during the Maccabean period.  Since many of the Jews there had been influenced by Greek (Hellenistic) culture and customs, they were generally considered second-class citizens by the Jews of Judea.  

"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  My study Bible explains here that darkness means ungodliness.  Here it is meant to represent the Gentiles' unawareness of God and the Jews being under the shadow of the Old Covenant.  To sit in darkness means to be overcome by spiritual ignorance.  The great light is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Like that of John the Baptist (see this reading), Christ's first word is to "Repent."   To call to "repent" is a call back to communion with God, a reorientation of one's life toward God, and a future which bears spiritual fruits worthy of such.  But in this case, the call comes from Christ, with whom the kingdom of heaven is always present, wherever He is.

Here is the beginning of Jesus' public ministry.   Each of our readings so far has included quotations from Old Testament Scripture, as if to make us surely understand how the New is the fulfillment of the Old.  Here the text begins Christ's ministry with a quotation from Isaiah 9:1-2.  And there is another important sense of "handing off" here that starts right from the beginning.  Jesus begins His ministry, according to Matthew, when He heard that John had been put in prison.  John is the last in line (and considered to be the greatest) of the Old Testament prophets, and Jesus begins His own public ministry when He knows that John has been put in prison by Herod Antipas.  Herod Antipas is the "king" or tetrarch of Galilee, and it is also here where Jesus has chosen to begin His ministry.  The sense of this place, called "Galilee of the Gentiles" by Isaiah, is important, as Jesus has grown up in Galilee, despite ancestral ties to Bethlehem of Judea.  Galilee is also the place where John the Baptist will meet his martyrdom (Matthew 14:1-12).  There is clearly an important tie here between old and new in the sense that while David the king came from Christ's ancestral home of Bethlehem (in which Jesus was born), now Christ, the "son of David," comes from "Galilee of the Gentiles" -- and the New Covenant will go out to the entire Greek-speaking world (the international language of its time), taking this lineage with it to all the world, even in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (see Genesis 12:1-3).  St. Paul explains, "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" (Romans 4:13).  So Christ's call to repentance is an echo of all the prophets that have always come throughout the history in the Scriptures, God's call from the beginning to wayward human beings.  But this call is also new, in the sense that it comes in a new fulfillment of what has come before, that it is a call to the righteousness of faith for all people, and will only be fulfilled as such.  Christ's call to repentance is an expansion and renewal of covenant for a new people in which, as St. Paul so memorably has written, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), for "Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:11).  Today that call to repentance, the about-face in which we "remember God" and seek to do so at all times, that continually calls us to the righteousness of faith, is being sent into all the world in all kinds of ways, even through the new media available.  But we have to ask ourselves at the same time how different the world is from the time of Christ's birth.  We still have empires and wars and material might that grows greater and bigger still.  And yet, we still have small peoples -- and maybe in particular those of Christian faith, even descendants of those who were the first peoples in the world to embrace Christianity -- who are being targeted for their faith, even victims of genocidal policies who are set apart by that faith.  Today, despite worldwide attention in the previous century to problems of warfare and attacks upon civilians, the establishment of legal conventions against such violence and even formally against genocide, we have ongoing persecution and new martyrs of the Christian faith.  Even today, under cover of broader and greater wars, violence against the innocent rages and other interests take the stage before actual prevention.  Ultimately, it is our righteousness of faith upon which we must depend, Christ's words to us that call us to repentance, a constant turning to God, to reliance upon God, to facing our Lord -- for where He is, there is the kingdom of heaven.  So we turn to Him, and we heed His call, which is always new and renewing for all of us, for all of our lives, for at each moment we need what He has to give us.  The struggle which figured as great example for us in yesterday's reading (above) remains the same.  It's still a battle "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," as St. Paul said (Ephesians 6:12).  Only the names and faces change, but so much remains the same.  Christ has warned us that our age would be one of wars and rumors of wars, of upheavals and shocking sights until His return, through which we must endure in our faith.  There is still the shadow of darkness and death, and there is still the light.  Let us always remember our struggle for faith, and that He calls us always to repentance, to Himself, today and always, for He is all and in all.

If You are the Son of God

 

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  

 

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  

 

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written:

    'He shall give His angels charge over you,'

    and,

    'In their hands they shall bear you up,

    Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

    Jesus said, to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. 

 

- Matthew 4:1-11 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  

 

  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  My study Bible explains that to be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  As we also read in Mark's Gospel, in the Greek, the text tells us that the Spirit leads, or rather literally "throws" Jesus into the wilderness after His Baptism to be tested by a struggle with the devil.  It notes that we who are baptized in Christ need not be defeated by temptations because we also are helped by the Holy Spirit.  The wilderness, it explains, is a battleground, an image of the world, both the dwelling place of demons and a source of divine tranquility and victory. 

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  In the encounters with the devil in today's reading, Jesus reverses Israel's falling to temptation in the wilderness.  My study Bible explains that the Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness and proved disobedient and disloyal.  God humbled them by first letting them go hungry, and then feeding them with manna in order to help them learn to be dependent upon God (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  Here, Jesus is tested with hunger for forty days.  But He does not sin.  All of His responses to Satan are from Deuteronomy, and all call for loyalty to God.  My study Bible adds that Jesus fasted in order to overcome temptation, which gives us an example of our own power and limitations in the face of temptation.  The hunger of His flesh does not control Him; rather, He controls His flesh.  Christ's fast of forty days is the foundation of the Church's historical forty-day Lenten fast before Holy Week and and before before Christmas.  

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."  My study Bible points out that the devil first challenges Jesus' relationship to the Father.  If You are the Son of God is calling into question the Father's declaration at Christ's Baptism (see Saturday's reading, above, in which it was declared, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased").  The devil wants Jesus to act independently and also to detach Himself from the will of the Father.  My study Bible notes that in His divine nature, Christ shares one will with the Father and the Holy Spirit; He can do nothing of Himself (John 5:30), apart from God the Father.  But in Christ's humanity, He possesses free will, and at all times He must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.  

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  In rejecting this first temptation, Jesus rejects an earthly kingdom.  According to my study Bible, it shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27).  Adam disregarded the divine word in order to pursue the passions of the body (Genesis 3), and here the New Adam -- Christ -- conquers all temptation by the divine word, giving human nature the power to conquer Satan.  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3.  

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  The holy city is Jerusalem.  My study Bible comments that, seeing that Christ had defeated him through the power of the Scriptures, Satan vainly tries to use the Scriptures to put God's power of protection to the test.  Here the devil quotes from Psalms 91:11, 12.  (See also 2 Peter 1:19-21.)

Jesus said, to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16.  My study Bible comments here that trials and temptations come on their own, and we should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to test or to prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt [or "test"] the LORD.  

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.   My study Bible comments that God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions.  In the devil's test, Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God.  The devil is the "ruler of this world," my study Bible says (after John 12:31), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  It notes that Jesus refuses the road of earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His suffering and death for the redemption of the world.  We may note also that Jesus' response is to issue a command, showing His authority, "Away with you, Satan!"  Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20.

If we look closely at Christ's temptations, we see the things that we might expect someone would like to make a possible ministry look like.  First the devil wants to shake and challenge Christ's claim to be the Son of God.  Now we know that in His earthly ministry, He is very careful not to openly declare Himself for a great period of the ministry.  Rather, in following the Father's will, Christ reveals Himself first the way He is meant to, long before this messianic secret is revealed to His disciples -- and even then He says to tell no one.  So this test is really a challenge to act independently, and not depend upon God the Father for the direction of His ministry and particularly the revelation of the truth of His divine identity.  He's not to go out and clobber the world with showy uses of power, abuses of His authority, or flamboyant declarations about Himself.  Moreover, He could make life very easy for Himself by the sort of use of power He's tempted to do here.  But Jesus comes not just as one of us, but as one of the poorest among us.  He will declare, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20).  In His itinerant ministry He will depend upon what His followers can bring (Luke 8:1-3).  In their first apostolic mission, He will direct His apostles to take very little with them, even though He will share with them His power over unclean spirits (see Mark 6:7-9).  The next temptation is again to give a great show, to convince everyone that He is who He is by a spectacular proof.  And once again, we know that Christ's ministry will unfold in quite another way, that He will present Himself as a Man from among common people, not one of authority and not one who seeks to prove to others who He is by any means, except to follow God the Father's will in His unfolding ministry to the world.  Indeed, even on the Cross, He will still be challenged by the religious leadership to "prove" who He is by saving Himself in some great show of divine power (see this reading).   Finally there is the temptation to grab a whole kingdom for Himself or even for His mission, but the kingdom of God which Christ preaches will have to be established in an entirely different way, one that includes the voluntary participation of human beings, their hearts and minds not being made slaves but rather those who love Christ.  As Jesus will say, "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).  The temptations of the devil, if we look closely, may also be temptations that we all face in our own lives.  How often might we say to ourselves that we lack the capability to magnificently create shortcuts to fulfill our desires?  Or that we should be able to prove to all how worthy we are in some way?  Perhaps our social media use is over-preoccupied with the desire to impress -- for this is what social media naturally inclines itself to.  Do we think we'll be more happy if only we have more -- money, material power, clout, property?  But Jesus responds with only one thing needed:   a reliance on God, and all things come from that.  This is the story of Israel in the wilderness, and it is the story of Christ in the wilderness as well.  We are all faced with such worldly temptations, but let us consider His example that came first for all of us.  What we need to do in our lives is given by God, and so is whatever we truly need to fulfill that purpose.  Let us consider what it means to do so, as He did.   For Christ, the devil's temptation is based on the challenge, "If You are the Son of God."  What is your challenge or vulnerability?  We each must face this struggle and this choice for where He leads us to go as well.  We do not have to prove to anyone that we are God's beloved children; we need only to seek God who loves us instead.

 

 

 

 

Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness

 

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him.  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

 

- Matthew 3:13–17 

 

Yesterday we read that in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD;  Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed Him. My study Bible comments here that Jesus does not need purification.  As He makes the purification of humanity His own,  Jesus would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  So, His baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation, my study Bible says.  St. Gregory of Nyssa is quoted:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."  

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. My study Bible points out that the Spirit of God hovered over the water at the first creation (Genesis 1:2).  Now, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a dove to anoint the Messiah, the Son of God, at the beginning of the new creation.  Jesus does not become the Son of God on this day.  Instead what we are witnessing through the Gospel is Christ being revealed as the Son of God.  The Holy Spirit has always rested on Him, as He was begotten as Son before all ages (Creed).  The feast day of Epiphany (meaning manifestation or revelation), in the Eastern Churches, commemorates this event on January 6th.  In the very early Christian church, Christ's baptism and nativity were celebrated together on this same day, a tradition continued in the Armenian Apostolic Church.  It is also called Theophany, which means a manifestation of God.  The commemoration of this day also points to the age to come. 

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  This is a quotation from Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son,/Today I have begotten You."  My study Bible asks us to note how the Baptism of Jesus reveals the great mystery of the Trinity (thus making it a Theophany).  The Father speaks; the Holy Spirit descends; the Incarnate Son is baptized and declared.

In Genesis, as my study Bible points out, the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters of the earth at the first creation.  In the understanding of Genesis, those waters were considered to be waters of chaos, and the Spirit of God hovering over them to begin creation is God creating order out of chaos, especially through the Word (in Genesis, God speaks creation into being).  Here we have the Word Himself (John 1:1) who has taken on human flesh and become one of us, plunged into the river's waters in order to create anew, and to reveal anew God at work in the world.  The quotation from Gregory of Nyssa reveals to us the foundations of our faith: "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him."  In one sense, Jesus "fulfills all righteousness" by making all the waters of the world proper for Christian baptism to come, and as He is revealed as Son, and together always with both the Father and the Spirit, it is possible now for Christian baptism to be understood as regeneration and rebirth, giving new life to those who continue in the faith of Christ.  In baptism, we are to die to the old self, and begin a different life, a process that is meant to continue for our lifetimes and simply to begin a journey with God.  When St. Paul writes, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31), he speaks of this lifetime journey meant for continual regeneration and renewal, death and resurrection.  For we are baptized into the whole of Christ's life, and the Church's sacraments, and the whole of our Christian lives, are meant for participation in His life.  Baptism, then, is a type of death and resurrection, as we are plunged into the waters which symbolize death and chaos, but are reborn through the power of God, especially the Spirit of God which hovered over the waters before creation.  We have but one baptism, but that is meant to be a continual presence and reality at work in our lives, renewed through faith and faithful living in dedication to Christ and His teachings and life lived for us, "to fulfill all righteousness."  Let us think about forms of death and of chaos in our lives and our society, and what Christ's baptism to fulfill all righteousness means for us, the Incarnation of the Word that renews creation and puts all things in order.  Once again we are asked to understand the nature of time in the sense that it is given to us in the Gospels, for these things are at work for us now through participation and sacrament, even for an event that happened two millennia ago.   This nature of time and fulfillment is expressed in the repeated excerpts from Old Testament Scripture we have found so far in Matthew's Gospel; this is the prophetic nature of time.  How important is it that we may participate in His life and the work of the Spirit in the world?  How do we see our lives unfolding in that context?  Where does His command "to fulfill all righteousness" come into your life and the world around us even now?

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

    "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

    'Prepare the way of the LORD;

    Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:1–12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."  Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he hard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  My study Bible explains that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  This preparation for Christ's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face, my study Bible says.  The word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) literally means to change one's mind, or more generally, to turn around.  Repentance, my study Bible notes, is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  It is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD.   It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, which John initiates, and is meant to be followed by a life, as John indicates further on, bearing the fruits worthy of this change.   The Baptist quotes from Isaiah 40:3.

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. John's ascetic life bears resemblance to Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who my study Bible explains lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was the prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  His clothing is typical of a prophet (specifically Elijah; see 2 Kings 1:8).  In the early Church, the monastic movement began as patterned after John's way of life.  

Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  My study Bible notes that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.  John's baptism, however, was a sign of repentance for the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God as does Christian baptism.  John alludes to this when he prophesies of the baptism of the Savior to come.

 

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  According to my study Bible, Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond earthly life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement which centered on the study of the Law, and also on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead and cherished a messianic hope, but they taught that righteousness is based on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and that the Messiah would be simply a glorious man.  John calls them brood of vipers, and this title is later used by Jesus (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  This name for them is indicative of their deception and malice, and their being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . ."  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life which is consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  So, therefore, in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping a fruitless tree, again alluded to by John (see verse 10). 

 

" . . .  and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  This warning is a play on words in Hebrew:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study Bible comments that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.  

 

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  Continuing from his command, above, that they must bear fruits worthy of repentance, John the Baptist makes this statement.  Fire here, my study Bible says, refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11; 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22; 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also the reference to fire in the verse that follows.  

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  My study Bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  This fire is the same as the fire of judgment referred to above; the same power and the same Spirit both enlivens the faithful and "burns" the faithless.  In John's culture, my study Bible explains, a slave would carry the king's sandals.  Therefore John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  John's inability to carry Christ's sandal has another meaning, also, for to carry another's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  Winnowing (in this case using a special fan for the purpose) is the act of separating the threshed grain from the chaff, and it is a metaphor here for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

John the Baptist comes preaching a baptism of repentance, but teaches that the One who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Let us note that this is not a conditional statement.  That is, John does not preface this statement with, "If you choose to be baptized by the One to come."  This is a certain, affirmative statement, and the "you" is plural.  He addresses it to all of them, even to these Pharisees and Sadducees.  It is a positive statement made as an emphatic point of fact:   He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  This is an affirmation not simply of Christian baptism to come, a baptism of water and the Spirit.  This baptism is the baptism of judgment, to which John alludes many times in what he says in today's reading.  The first thing John indicates about the One who is coming is His power.  He says, "He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry."  That word, mightier, is important, for it indicates strength and power.  When John adds that he is not worthy to carry the sandals of this One who is to come, He is speaking of Christ's authority, which couples together with might to create a threatening kind of statement to these leaders whom John rather obviously addresses as corrupt.  This kind of baptism is one that will be universal, as the Holy Spirit will be at work in the world.  In John's Gospel, Jesus speaks at the Last Supper, telling the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit:  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:7-11).  It is in this context that the language of winnowing is used, the separation of the good wheat from the chaff.  It is in this context of judgment that the religious leaders are warned to bear fruits worthy of repentance, and that the ax is laid to the root of the trees, because every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  John is warning of the time that is to come which Christ's life and mission will usher in, for the One whose sandals he's not worthy to bear comes in the likeness of a Man, and without worldly power and might, but is also the Son who bears the authority of God.  So this prophetic warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees is one that will stand the test of time, and is meant in a way much more far-seeing than simply the immediate time of the beginning of Christ's public ministry.  It is meant for the era He would usher in, the time which continues now in which the Holy Spirit is still at work to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  It reminds us that prophecy works with a different sense of time than you or I understand on worldly terms, and that the universality of John's words works as a warning for us, too.  Moreover, we're to understand the fire of the Holy Spirit as one which both enlivens those who accept its energies and its work, and burns those who refuse it.  It's the fire Moses saw that did not consume the burning bush, out from which came the voice of the Lord (Exodus 3:1-6), and it's the fire John warns about in today's reading into which the dead wood and the chaff will be thrown to be consumed.  We still live in the time when the Holy Spirit is at work in the world preparing the time for the judgment to come at Christ's return.  Let us take this text not just as words meant for certain peoples at that time in the world, but also meant for us today.  

 

Out of Egypt I called My Son

 

 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

    "A voice was heard in Ramah,

    Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,

    Rachel weeping for her children,

    Refusing to be comforted, 

    Because they are no more."

 

Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he hard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

- Matthew 2:13-23 

 

Yesterday we read that 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 have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"  Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen 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 exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. 

 

  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."    My study Bible notes here that Egypt is the place where Israel once took refuge, as Joseph of the Old Testament once saved God's people by bringing them to Egypt (Genesis 39-47).  Now, in a similar sense, Christ's stepfather Joseph finds safety for the Savior in Egypt.  It is likely, my study Bible adds, that the gifts of the magi paid for this journey (see yesterday's reading, above).  

When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."  This quotation is from Hosea 11:1, and it refers first to Israel being brought out of captivity.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible explains, "son" can refer to the whole nation of Israel.  Here, it says, Jesus fulfills this calling as the true Son of God by coming out of Egypt.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  In another manifestation of Jesus as true Son embodying Israel, my study Bible suggests that the cruelty of Herod was prefigured by Pharaoh.  In an attempt to destroy the power of Israel, Pharaoh commanded the death of all the newborn Jewish boys (Exodus 1:16, 22).  

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  The prophet Jeremiah recorded the people of Israel being led away to exile (Jeremiah 31:15).  On their way to captivity, the people passed Ramah, which was near Bethlehem, where Jacob's wife Rachel was buried.  In Jeremiah's prophecy, he envisioned Rachel, even from the grave, moved with compassion for the fate that had fallen to her descendants.  Here once again Rachel is weeping for her children, which shows that the saints in heaven have awareness and compassion for those who live on earth.  My study Bible tells us that these slaughtered children are known to the Church as saints and martyrs, and called the Holy Innocents.  It notes that as Rachel was told that her children would return from exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 31:16-17), so Jesus will return from His exile in Egypt. 

Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  My study Bible cites historical records which tell us that Herod the Great died in 4 BC.  The date of Christ's birth on the AD (Anno Domini, Latin for "year of the Lord") calendar is based is off by four years.   

But when he hard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."  In AD 6, Augustus Caesar banished Archelaus for his cruelty.  This cruelty was revealed to Joseph as a warning, so they went to Nazareth.  Nazareth is in the province of Galilee, which was governed by another son of Herod the Great.  He is Herod Antipas, who would rule Galilee throughout Jesus' lifetime (see Luke 3:1).  Its not clear precisely which prophesy is referred to here.  My study Bible says that it has been taken as a reference to the rod (neser in Hebrew) in Isaiah 11:1, and to the Nazirite (Hebrew Nazir) of Judges 13:5.  It is also possible that Matthew may have been alludin gto passages in which the Messiah was despised, since Nazareth did not have a good reputation (John 1:46). 

 

 As today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross across many Christian denominations, perhaps it is a good idea to tie in today's reading with the feast.  The feast itself commemorates the finding of the Cross in Jerusalem by St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine.   For Constantine, the Cross became a symbol of Victory, as given to him in a vision.  But in today's reading, we have a sense of the Cross shadowing Christ's life right from the very beginning, and characterizing the life of His parents who are responsible for Him even when He is still a newborn infant.  From the time He is born, there are those who seek His life.  The Cross that overshadows today's text is the cross of the enemies of God, and those who take on the characteristics of the spiritual enemies of Christ.  St. Paul writes, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  In today's reading, the Cross appears in the guise of persecution that starts with Herod the Great, and those rulers like him who are known for their particular cruelty; for even in a time of ruthless rulers, such was Herod the Great's reputation, as was Archelaus after him, about whom we also read in today's gospel reading.  This young family must flee to Egypt, even as the wise men in yesterday's reading were warned to flee King Herod.  Eventually, even after Herod's death, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus cannot return to Judea (wherein lies Bethlehem where Jesus was born), but go instead to Galilee and the town of Nazareth.  In these actions of persecution, my study Bible has written, we also see Israel itself, having once taken refuge and then fleeing Egypt in its history, giving birth to the story of Moses and the people who struggled to return to the land promised to Abraham.   But on this day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, it seems that it would be remiss if we did not understand the characteristic persecution of Christians in the light of the Cross.  For Christ comes into the world -- even as an infant -- as One sent against the "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."  He is sent to us as One who is meant to free us from the bondage and influence of such, and His means will be the very Cross itself, the culminating instrument of His persecution and the injustice done to Him.  If we think this is paradoxical, then we are on the right track.  For, as God works in the world, we can only begin to grasp such work as paradox.  The greatest instrument of persecution and death, when touched by Christ, becomes the symbol of our victory, our resurrection, our sharing in Christ's victory over death itself.  And in this, we must come to see the persecutions that work in a way no demonic force, nor those who would be aligned with the methods of the demonic, be capable of grasping.  Those who sought to persecute Christ became known for their cruelties and injustice -- and even the beautiful temple as rebuilt and expanded by Herod would be left without one stone standing upon another within one generation.  Christ's upbringing in an overlooked small town of not much significance in Galilee became a haven of protection so that He could grow to begin His ministry at thirty years of age.  These persecutions and their eventual outcomes -- even of protecting Christ through exile and repatriation away from Judea -- teach us about the power of God and how it works even through our hardships, and there we come again to the Cross, the symbol of our victory in Christ.  In thinking about the threats to Christ and to His family, the care of His guardian Joseph, and of His mother Mary, we should consider the story it tells us about our own times of suffering or difficulty for the sake of our faith.  For the Cross would come to work as a trap for those "rulers of the darkness" and "spiritual hosts of wickedness," for in Christ's humility they could not recognize His power nor the justice that would prevail against them.  We can see today those who ally with the qualities of those powers of wickedness, who believe they gain through ruthlessness and torture, whose faith is not in the strength of God but in material power and tools of manipulation, whose crimes may be hidden for a time but come to light.  For in holding to the Cross of Christ we also work to strengthen and build His work in this world, His kingdom in this world, and that is the purpose for which He was sent.  We are able to participate in His life, and even the work of what He would make the "life-giving" Cross, through God's power at work in the world, through His life, death, and Resurrection.  When we observe the persecutions in His life, and still today in the world, let us not forget where we come from, how we got here, and what we really call the victory of the Cross.   There will be times in our own lives when we find ourselves in a necessary exile, or enduring persecution for our faith in one form or another.  But we look to the Cross, for we know its purpose and its victory in Him.

 

 

 

 

And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh

 

 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 have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  

 

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

    'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

    For out of you shall come a Ruler

    Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

 

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen 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 exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

- Matthew 2:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that, following Christ's death on the Cross and burial by Joseph of Arimathea, when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.  Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demon; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.

 

 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 have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  This Herod is Herod the Great, who ruled Judea from 37 - 4 BC, and was the father of Herod Antipas who would rule Galilee during Christ's lifetime.  Herod the Great was also known as Herod the Builder, who remodeled and expanded the temple in Jerusalem into an architectural wonder.  My study Bible notes that he was a great builder but a cruel leader.  An ancient prophecy of Jacob indicated that the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Herod was a non-Jew who ruled for Rome, and called himself the king of Judea.  Under such circumstances, messianic expectation ran very high.  These wise men, or magi, who come from the East (most likely Persia), were the scholars of their time.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible notes, Balaam (Numbers 23; 24) was one of their predecessors, a Gentile who anticipated the Messiah.  These foreigners prefigure the Church, in which membership is determined by faith, and not by ethnic lineage.  The star proclaims the extraordinary birth of Christ.  My study Bible says that to ancient pagans, a star signified a god, a deified king (Numbers 24:17).  Christ being born under this star fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 110:3 (LXX) and shows all of creation participating in the Incarnation.  (See also Psalms 19:1; 148:3).  

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"  Herod the king had to summon the Jewish leaders (the chief priests and scribes) because he knew little about the Jewish Messiah, and he feared losing his throne to this newborn king.  The chief priests, my study Bible explains, were the political and religious leaders of the Jews, and the scribes were high cabinet officers.  They knew where the Messiah was to be born, but in spite of all the signs being in place, they had no idea that He had come (see Matthew 16:1-3).  They quote to the king from the prophesy of Micah (Micah 5:2).  

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen 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 exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.   My study Bible comments that whereas the Jewish shepherds worshiped the Savior in the cave on the day He was born (Luke 2:8-20), the Gentile magi came to worship Him some time later.  By then, Joseph and Mary had found a house in which to stay.  This indicates, it notes, that Christ first came to the Jews and then afterward was worshiped by the Gentiles.  The significance of the Magi's gifts is told in an Orthodox hymn sung at Compline of the Nativity:  "Gold is for the King of ages.  Frankincense is for the God of all.  Myrrh is offered to the Immortal One, who shall be three days dead."

The extraordinary beginnings of the story of Jesus Christ are meant to prepare us for its extraordinary end, which proceeds beyond all expectations to lead humankind into a new era, a new aeon in the Greek theological language of the Church.  In today's reading, we get this quality that typifies the beginnings of Christ's life and infancy in both Matthew and Luke's Gospels.  A great star is a portent of a singular event.  These mysterious men from the East have a knowledge that others do not -- not even the religious leaders of the Jews.  The Magi are divinely warned through a dream to avoid King Herod and return to their country.  These elements have a quality which is dream-like, a truly ancient sense to them of the mythological, and are filled with symbolism.   Perhaps this is why our modern celebrations of Christ's birth take on such qualities of wonder.  We are meant to understand a star as that which was seen by ancient people as not simply a planetary body traversing an ancient universe, but something filled with an energy that imparted even a god-like presence, a force, a message, and wisdom.  This is an extraordinary signal, a sign of a king.  The wise men, or Magi, who come from the East are, as my study Bible says, the learned of their time.  They are likely Persian, those who have studied astronomy and who recognize this extraordinary stellar event as a great sign.  The text doesn't tell us what methods they used, and it's not meant to be focused on as retroactive evidence for a curious age.  (I once used some software which plotted planetary movement on a given date, and filled in one suggested date for the birth of Christ.  All of the planets in our solar system seemed to be aligned so that they would look from the earth like one huge blazing star.)  But this story is meant, instead, to teach us about the awareness of what is true about the Person who is truth (John 14:6), discernible by and through other peoples in their own understanding through their systems of knowledge and learning.  It teaches us something about the universality of Christ and what He was born to bring into the world for all of us.  The magical-seeming mythological quality to these stories gives us a sense of ancient peoples yearning for what was to be revealed, brought forth to us -- and their quiet, humble understanding they take back with them, even as they have left their great gifts appropriate to a king, to God, and for One who would be in the tomb three days and rise again.  In Church services today, we find golden vessels, the use of incense for prayer (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:4), and myrrh that scents the oil of chrismation and unction.  Yesterday's reading was, appropriately, the final one in Mark's Gospel, in which we read that the Myrrhbearing Women were the first to hear and to proclaim the good news of Resurrection to the other apostles (for this reason, Mary Magdalene bears the title "Apostle to the Apostles").  Let us think upon these gifts in today's reading left by the Magi, and their prophetic symbolism for all He would bring into the world, how He would change it, and usher in for us the era in which we now live.  Let us consider what potent symbols may hide in plain sight even in our own lives as we prepare for the future at this time of the world's history.  For it is by faith we must live in order to build a world in which life can thrive.  Without it we lose the things that sustain us.