Good News for All People
by: Dr. Mike Ruffin (guest preacher)
God sent Jesus to Israel. It would have been easy for the early Jewish Christians to conclude from that fact that God had sent Jesus only to Israel. After all, Jesus had pretty much confined his ministry to the Jewish people. He once said that he had come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We need to establish the context for that saying. A Canaanite woman had approached Jesus asking him to heal her daughter. We should note though that Jesus ultimately responded to the woman’s great faith by healing her daughter, even though she was not an Israelite. So we see hints even during Jesus’ ministry that it was God’s intention that the good news was ultimately intended to spread beyond the borders of Israel.
We see that intention displayed in God’s announcement to the magi of the birth of Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel, God sends angels to shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth. Shepherds were regarded as being unclean because of their inability to faithfully follow the dictates of the law. So for God to announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds meant that God announced his birth to individuals who were considered to be outside the lines of what was regarded as a proper and observant practitioner of Judaism. God revealed the good news about the birth of Jesus to Jewish outsiders and outcasts.
In Matthew’s Gospel, God announces the birth of Jesus people who were from another country. The magi or wise men were probably Persian astrologers. Whereas God had announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds through angels, God announces the birth to the magi through a star. Notice how God communicates with the magi through a means that fit in with their regular practices. They studied the stars as part of their daily activity. God reached out to the magi in a way they were sure to comprehend. God intentionally and purposefully announced the birth of Jesus to the magi. God knew that the magi were from another country, spoke a different language, and practiced a different religion, and still God reached out to them to alert them to the birth of the King of the Jews. And the magi were open and responsive to the great event to which God called their attention.
They responded by traveling to Jerusalem. That made sense since Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, so it seemed the logical place to seek the newborn King of the Jews. Once they arrived in Jerusalem, the magi began asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” We are not told how the magi knew that the star signified the birth of a Jewish king, but somehow they did. Perhaps they had charts and records that led them to their conclusion. They evidently followed the guidance of the star to Israel. We should understand that God caused the star to appear and inspired the magi to go to Israel in light of the revelation of the star.
When King Herod heard that the magi were inquiring into the birth of a new king of the Jews, he was frightened. He would have been frightened because a new king would be a threat to his reign. Herod had a history of eliminating anyone that he viewed as a threat to his throne. He had even had one of his wives and two of his sons killed. So, we know why Herod was frightened by the news of a newborn king of the Jews. But why would “all Jerusalem” have been frightened with him? After all, most people in Jerusalem would have probably been pleased to have a new king replace Herod. They were probably frightened by the possibility of a rebellion that an upstart king might instigate. Such a rebellion would have caused the Romans to respond with force that might lead to the destruction of the nation.
Herod summoned biblical scholars to ask them where the Messiah was to be born. It is interesting that he puts it that way. The magi had not asked about the birth of the Messiah, but only about the birth of a new king. Does Herod suspect that the newborn king might be the Messiah? If so, we are not told what led him to draw that conclusion. Herod was right, of course. The newborn king that the magi sought was in fact the Messiah. He was the Messiah of Israel; he was also the Messiah for everyone. God’s leading the magi to Israel to pay homage to the king of the Jews proves both points. The newborn child was born to be the king of the Jews; the fact that God alerted Persian astronomers to the child’s birth indicates that he was born to be the Messiah for everyone.
The biblical scholars responded that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They based their answer on a prophecy found in the book of Micah. So Herod summoned the magi and sent them to Bethlehem. He told them that he wanted them to go find the child and then bring him word of where he was so he could go and pay him homage as well. One would think that if Herod was really interested in the child he would have accompanied the magi to Bethlehem. But Herod wasn’t really interested in paying homage to the child; he wanted to do away with him. So, it isn’t really surprising that Herod engaged in some conspiratorial thinking and actions.
What is more surprising is that the biblical scholars were not so intrigued by the Wise Men’s words and mission that they felt compelled to accompany the magi on their trip to Bethlehem. We see here a prelude to the religious leaders’ future rejection of the adult Jesus when he undertakes his mission of bringing the kingdom of God to people. We also have a hint of why God sent the good news of the birth of the Messiah to Persian Wise Men rather than to the biblical scholars. God evidently knew that the Wise Men would be more open to the good news of Jesus’ birth than the scholars would be. Sometimes people that we would expect to be open to the good news aren’t while people we would not expect to be open to it are.
We might be surprised at who is receptive to the good news. We are the people who have access to the Bible and to the good news contained in it. But how open are we really to God’s revelation of God’s love and mercy through Jesus Christ? How intentional are we about seeking to incorporate God’s grace and love into our lives? We are heirs to a great Christian tradition, but how serious are we about growing in our relationship with Jesus? And how open are we to “outsiders”—to people that we might regard as being beyond the reach of God’s grace? God’s leading of the magi to Bethlehem, and their positive response to God’s leadership, reveals to us that God invites even those whose inclusion in the kingdom of God might shock us. We dare not be closed to those to whom God is open—and God is open to anyone and to everyone.
And so it came to pass that the magi came to Bethlehem. There they paid homage to the infant Jesus and gave gifts to the holy family. No doubt their lives were changed through their encounter with the Christ child. No doubt they took the effects of that experience with them back to their home country. And no doubt we will be better disciples of Christ as we become more open to and welcoming of those whom we regard as outsiders and strangers.
God acted to guide the magi directly to Jesus. Now God calls us to be the avenue through which outsiders and strangers come to Jesus. Will we heed the call? Will we work to remove the barriers that separate strangers and outsiders from us? Will we accept and live in light of the fact that the good news of Jesus Christ is for anybody and everybody?