January 3rd , 2010
He's not just ours
“He’s not just ours.” That’s the message of the Epiphany Story. You see, the community that Matthew (the gospel writer) lived in was struggling with the idea that Jesus was the messiah for more than just the Jewish people. There were many who still believed that the gentiles were unclean and not to be welcomed into the community of early Christian-Jewish believers.
So when Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus he takes a different story- telling road than Luke does. Who are the first to show up at the house (not a stable)-- not shepherds, but gentiles. These gentiles from the east (= non-Jewish territory) take the time to visit King Herod whose assistants consult with the Hebrew Scriptures which point to Bethlehem as the place where the messiah would be born.
Question: If the star was guiding them, why did they need to stop off and ask for directions? It’s Matthew’s way of pointing out that the gentile pagans still needed to encounter the Word of God if they expected to find Jesus. It was important for the early Christian community to know that the scripture that they had grown up with was not being replaced, but rather being fulfilled in Christ.
When we re-visit the story every year we’re excited by the thought that these three kings (even though the bible doesn’t say there were three of them or that they were kings) would seek out “our baby Jesus” and bring him such exotic gifts. Indeed many of our parishioners use this day (not Christmas eve or morning) to exchange gifts. But the people in Matthew’s community were less than thrilled. It still seemed a bit improper, and even scandalous, to suggest that God loved the pagans as much as he loved his own people.
Yet that is the message of joy and hope we celebrate this epiphany: “He’s not just ours.” So the question we might reflect on this week is: How can we bring others to Jesus? There are people who do not know of his forgiveness, joy, hope, peace, healing and love. When do we pray for these folks? How do we show in our lives that Jesus is guiding us? How do we lead by example and word so that others will come to know the Jesus we know and love?ur lives to offer care and welcome to them. Sometimes those folks are as close as the people living in our households. Sometimes those folks live up the block or around the corner. But to celebrate this new Christmas, it would be good to overcome the lack of hospitality of the first Christmas. Perhaps after 2000 years of Christmases, we’ll get it “right.”
