Beset with gold and jewels rare,
It yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.
Martin Luther
The Epiphany of Our Lord
KJV Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
KJV Matthew 2:1 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, 2 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. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 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. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
The Lutheran Hymnal:
126 – Arise and Shine in Splendor
127 – As with Gladness Men of Old
131 – The star proclaims the King
134 – Songs of Thankfulness
Several wrong assumptions need to be dispelled to understand the Star of Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus.
Wrong Assumption 1: Primitives
People often assume that the ancients were primitive, without the technology we enjoy today. Much of that history is lost to us, but we can still make some observations. The pyramids remain a mystery to man. Every so often I find a new book explaining how they were built. Whatever the solution to that enigma might be, we still have to marvel at the mathematical and engineering skill required to make such perfect and enduring monuments. Of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, only the pyramids remain. Until the Eiffel Tower was built in modern times, no other building was taller than the Great Pyramid. The Egyptians were advanced in math, and so were other ancient cultures.
People are often astonished that anyone knows what is happening in the sky at night. First of all, no matter how beautiful the stars and planets may look to a city dweller, there is no comparison to the view in an area with almost no electrical lighting. I was reading about a farm in Minnesota where the farmer loved his work because of the sky at night. “The stars seem to come down and envelop you,” he said. Add this factor – there was no artificial light at night in the ancient world. Beauty was one thing. The stars were also the only roadmap for the ancients. Anyone navigating at night would use the stars, so they were important and impossible to ignore.
When I was gardening and dabbling in astronomy, I quickly learned the relationship between the sky at night and the weather. The full moon in the Midwest was almost always accompanied by a high-pressure zone: crisp clear weather, blue skies, and possible frost. Rain was rare during a full moon but often followed. Therefore the old wives tale of planting at full moon was valid. Unfortunately, the full moon and clear skies were not the combination I wanted. The moon washed out the galaxies and nebulae. Not surprisingly, amateur astronomers are called moon-cursers.
Wrong Assumption 2: No religion
Another wrong assumption is common in the media today. Media people are often secular and range from liberal to Left-wing. They cannot comprehend others viewing the world from a religious perspective. When I attended the Martin Marty lectures at Notre Dame, he mentioned how the New York media could not imagine what a born-again Christian was. They wanted an explanation for Jimmy Carter. Marty, contacted in Tennessee, said, “I can’t find anyone here who was not born-again.”
The ancients only saw things from a religious perspective. I wonder if people think about how an atheistic philosophy has taken over our thinking. If Lutherans were honest, they would admit their own leaders work from a perspective of no religion, the Word without power, people justified without faith, marketing the Gospel as if it were a new car or box of soap.
The ancient world was extremely frightening. All the rationalism in the world (like our own) will not exorcise the terrors of those days. Sometimes Velikovsky’s interpretations were far off, but he was good at pointing out the easily remembered terrors of those days. The world was recovering its population lost in the Genesis Flood. They remembered the chaos and terror associated with the Plagues of Egypt.
When the Mississippi flooded in the 1960’s and again in the 1990’s, the entire Midwest was under a threat no one could blunt with government programs and sandbags. That was minor compared to earlier cataclysms. Hurricane Katrina and the new flooding remind us of our great heritage of engineering and how easily it too is washed away and buried.
The world at the time of Jesus was highly technological. The Roman Empire absorbed the engineering and math of conquered territories. They got their best technology and engineering from the Greeks. There is a saying that “The Romans had the drains, the Greeks had the brains.” They were also religious and weighed down with the sense of sin. The ancients were looking for a savior, for the savior.
The Wise Men or Magi were men who combined mathematical skills with a religious perspective. My hero, Martin Chemnitz, did the same. He was hired to forecast astrological tables. I imagine he did that with his mathematical and astronomical skills. (Chemnitz abandoned astrology.) We do not know exactly what star the Wise Men saw, but if it was a planetary conjunction (my best guess from the research) then they concluded the king was coming to Israel. He was more than a king, in their minds, as we know from the Gospel:
KJV Matthew 2:1 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, 2 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.
“Come to worship Him” – we remember those words from so many Sunday School presentations, but they are really startling out of context.
King Herod did not welcome the competition. He wanted to kill this new king, even if it meant killing the first-born males. Herod thought he would be toppled from his throne. In fact, the Roman Empire was starting its decline. During those centuries of decline the Empire persecuted the Christian faith and then became Christianized. Finally, when all the glue came out of the joints, the church took over governing the remains of the Empire.
The Wise Men were not looking for any king, as we can see from Matthew:
9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 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.
This passage has amused the liberals, who seem to know evolution but not science. According to the experts, the planetary junction that took place would have had the same characteristics as described in Matthew 2. That does not prove Matthew’s 2nd chapter. The Gospel does not need proof. But it is fun to see that the very things mocked a few years ago have been accepted as credible today. Yet, we could have a video of the Star of Bethlehem and a diary of all three Wise Men and not convince a single doubter. The Gospel converts. The facts do not.
The light was shining in the darkness, and the darkness could not extinguish it (John). The harmony of Isaiah 60, Matthew 2, John 1, and Genesis 1 is remarkable. God created light before He created the sun and stars. Therefore, light existed before God made the source of light. Luther pointed this out in his Genesis commentary.
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
To this day we use those expressions in everyday speech:
I was in the dark about that.
Oh, now the light goes on.
I don’t know. Enlighten me.
I wandered in the darkness, but finally saw the light.
“I was blind but now I see” – Amazing Grace.
Prince of Darkness – two different books in print and on sale at Barnes and Noble.
People have associated darkness with evil and ignorance, light with truth and goodness.
Jesus is the light shining in the darkness.
KJV John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
KJV John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
KJV John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
KJV John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
KJV John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. 37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. 42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
(Two Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) pastors published a newsletter, While It Is Yet Day, to promote false doctrine. The CLC Board of Doctrine was blind to this, of course.)
St. Paul also used the comparison of light and darkness. Here is just one example:
KJV 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We believers have a very small book, the Bible, where the Holy Spirit speaks concisely and clearly about the truths God reveals to us. The Bible conveys Christ to us. One of the surest signs of false doctrine is the speaker ranting against the Bible:
A. The Bible is incomplete. Roman Catholics teach that the pope must fill in the gaps with the Deposit of Faith, those extra revelations passed down through the magisterium and revealed with a flourish when needed (The Immaculate Concept of Mary, The Assumption of Mary). Mormons also teach the Bible is incomplete and needs their extra documents.
B. The Bible is unclear. Apostates ape the Romans when they say there are g-r-e-y areas of the Bible. When someone asks about a controversial subject, such as women teaching men, the pastor says, “Well, that is a g-r-e-y area of Scriptures.” He is saying that God speaks unclearly and indistinctly, so muddled that the gurus on the Board of Doctrine must powwow to decide what God would have said if He only had their ability to communicate.
C. The Bible contradicts itself. The cults and all apostates love this argument. They know how to smooth out the problems. Liberal Biblical critics are always finding problems, often they are problems discussed and settled 15 centuries ago.
The Bible is very small in comparison to other books. We often wish we knew more, but that would not satisfy our curiosity. We really need to know this small book much better - and use it to judge all other books. The Word of God is the light. The Scriptures judge all other books. No book judges the Word of God.
Some may think this section about the Bible is elementary, but they are not accounting for the Old Adam at work in religious circles. The wedge is a material wedge. “All that is fine, but what about how the organization is doing?” Then the Word of God is supplanted, not kicked out. That would be too gross and obvious. Instead it is slowly displaced with something else, man’s wisdom. “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” That is forgotten. Suddenly Drucker’s thoughts are better than God’s thoughts. I thought it was hilarious that a rave review of Saddleback Church (Church Growth, Purpose Driven) included the point that Peter Drucker saw it as ideal. Drucker? He is the management expert who invented Management by Objective. When Drucker is the light, only darkness will follow.
Supplanting works well. In chemical factories, I learned, nitrogen is used to supplant oxygen. If the atmosphere is 100% nitrogen, there are no fires, no explosions. Saran Wrap is created by blowing up a big bubble with nitrogen. When the bubble hardens a bit, Saran Wrap. The trouble is, one man fell into the bubble and turned blue. They pulled him out and he was fine.
What we have today is an adroit case of supplanting the Light of God’s Word with the darkness of man’s reason. That is why we must cling all the more tightly to the truths of the Gospel. Human reason sees the false teachers prospering and the orthodox persecuted (no matter what the confession). The more secular the congregation, the more popular it is with everyone. The media will praise anything that makes money. How they can create a story from “Teacher faithfully teaches God’s Word today”? They like scandals and huge building complexes.
The Wise Men risked their lives to see the infant Jesus. They traveled a great distance and went to the very man most hostile to the Savior. And yet, this was God’s plan too. Herod had the chance to believe in the Savior and receive forgiveness. Instead, he feigned interest so he could kill the baby. People ask about why more are not saved. God gives opportunity lavishly and people reject Him with wrath, derision, and hypocrisy (the vice that pays homage to virtue).
The Wise Men hungered for salvation and brought gifts to Him to show their gratitude. What can we offer? Luther’s Christmas play/hymn says it best:
13. Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.
The entire hymn:
"From Heaven Above to Earth I Come"
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546
1. "From heaven above to earth I come
To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
Whereof I now will say and sing:
2. "To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all the earth.
3. "This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Savior be
From all your sins to set you free.
4. "He will on you the gifts bestow
Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom, bright and fair,
You may with us His glory share.
5. "These are the tokens ye shall mark:
The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid
By whom the heavens and earth were made."
6. Now let us all with gladsome cheer
Go with the shepherds and draw near
To see the precious gift of God,
Who hath His own dear Son bestowed.
7. Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes!
What is it in yon manger lies?
Who is this child, so young and fair?
The blessed Christ-child lieth there.
8. Welcome to earth, Thou noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
Thou com'st to share my misery;
What thanks shall I return to Thee?
9. Ah, Lord, who hast created all,
How weak art Thou, how poor and small,
That Thou dost choose Thine infant bed
Where humble cattle lately fed!
10. Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
It yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.
11. For velvets soft and silken stuff
Thou hast but hay and straw so rough,
Whereon Thou, King, so rich and great,
As 'twere Thy heaven, art throned in state.
12. And thus, dear Lord, it pleaseth Thee
To make this truth quite plain to me,
That all the world's wealth, honor, might,
Are naught and worthless in Thy sight.
13. Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.
14. My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep;
I, too, must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest ancient cradle-song:
15. Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad new year to all the earth.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #85
Text: Luke 2: 1-18
Author: Martin Luther, 1535
Tune: Vom Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1855, alt.
1st published in: "Geistliche Lieder" Leipzig, 1539
