A Tale of Two Kings
Heather Weir Download: Audio
Sunday Reflection
Read Elaine Poproski’s reflection, titled, “Jesus: My King” from Sunday’s worship service. You’ll find it in the Sunday Reflections blog.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1 – 23 (NRSV)
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
Growing up in the church I had no idea the wise men weren’t part of the manger scene. I assumed these three men and their camels showed up shortly after the shepherds, guided by that incredible star in the sky. (Isn’t it funny how long-standing in Christian history has been the assumption that there were three of them, even though the Bible never mentions how many of them there were?) It wasn’t until I was into adulthood that I encountered the idea that their story, and the accompanying story of Jesus’ family’s flight to Egypt as refugees from a violent despot, likely happened after Jesus had already learned to walk. They likely weren’t still in the stable and Jesus would have long outgrown his little manger bed. It was a brand new idea to me when I was first encouraged to look again at how the Bible actually tells the story of Jesus’ earliest years. But it wasn’t a new idea to the Church.
Epiphany, that day in the Christian calendar when we commemorate the Matthew 2 story, has been an established point in the calendar since at least the 4th century. And while the date of Epiphany is close to Christmas, it is not celebrated with Christmas. January 6th is the day for the wise men. And even though the wise men only show up in one of the four gospels, theirs is a story of profound importance, not just to our understanding of Jesus’ world, but to our understanding of our own world and our own faith.
On Sunday, this story of the Wise men and all the events that surrounded them will shape our time together. We’ll be reminded that while violence and oppression are as much a part of our world as they were of Jesus’ world, He was born so those things would finally and forever be dealt with. We’ll be encouraged to look to the wise men as examples of what it means to be people of faith. So, as you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to spend some time with the Matthew 2 story. Imagine what it was like for those travelers to embark on the journey they did, all in the hope that Jesus, and all He represented, was real. Imagine the travel conditions of the first century. Imagine the dangers on the road – the robbers and bandits and weather. Imagine the weight of your luggage and the smell of your live transportation. Imagine the months or years this journey would have taken. Imagine leaving your family behind for this quest. Would you have gone on that journey? Even knowing Jesus as you might do now, would you have gone on that journey?