{"id":9745,"date":"2021-02-07T19:49:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=9745"},"modified":"2022-10-10T08:44:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T06:44:04","slug":"matthew-21-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/matthew-21-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 2:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

GIVERS IN SEARCH OF MEANING<\/p>\n

I love this annual celebration of the Epiphany despite the fact that
\nit asks a great deal from Christians. On the one hand there are so many
\ntraditions connected with Epiphany, not to mention substantial literary
\nand artistic allusions. The tradition of eating the King\u2019s Cake
\nand finding the three jelly beans (for the three magi) is still popular
\nin many settings. Shakespeare\u2019s Twelfth Night relates to the day,
\nas does Menotti\u2019s Amahl and the Night Visitors and O\u2019Henry\u2019s
\nThe Gift of the Magi. A mystical etching by Richard Root called Three
\nKings is one of my favorite artistic expressions, as is the haunting
\nmelody of We Three Kings of Orient Are. And who has not noticed the popularity
\nof the enduring bumper sticker Wise Men Still Seek Him? On the other
\nhand, the gifts given in this ancient story summon us to supreme expressions
\nof sacrifice, never very popular for Christians after they\u2019ve emptied
\ntheir pockets in the annual commercial frenzy of Christmas shopping.
\nWhat is there here for us in Matthew\u2019s story that can both capture
\nour interest today as well as challenge our resolve to move more boldly
\ninto a new year of discipleship?<\/p>\n

Epiphany often gets lost in the Church calendar primarily because it
\nfalls on a Sunday only every seven years, and because the government
\ndidn\u2019t make it a national holiday like Christmas so it could be
\ncelebrated regardless of when it falls. However, it was once, along with
\nChristmas and Easter, one of the three major feasts of the Christian
\nyear. As early as the late second century in Egypt, Epiphany remembered
\nthe birth and baptism of Jesus for Eastern Christians. It was placed
\non the winter solstice, Jan. 6, to discourage the pagan remembrance of
\nthe birth of Osiris from his mother, Kore, goddess of the Nile. When
\ntwo hundred years later western Christians did something similar by remembering
\nJesus\u2019 birth in place of the rebirth of the unconquerable sun,
\nthe Sol Invictus, on Dec. 25, Eastern Christians joined them, pressing
\nJanuary 6 to search for new meanings. Thus it happened that the ancient
\nEastern celebration on Jan. 6 came to inaugurate a post-Christmas season
\nof the ways in which God shared the incarnation with the world, beginning
\nwith the story of the revelation to the sages from the East. It is a
\nstory about giving which presses us to understand God\u2019s gift as
\nwell our own need to give.<\/p>\n

THE GIFT OF GOD<\/p>\n

Matthew\u2019s story is cherished by us, first of all, because only
\nhe relates it. It fits well in Matthew\u2019s context of concern for
\nthe alien and outsider, it being a revelation of the Savior not only
\nto the Jew, but now also to the gentile. Furthermore, this Savior\u2019s
\nrole is established by the story\u2019s revelation that Jesus is no
\nordinary child, but one who will assume a role of leadership in the world.
\nThe story therefore has his arrival, his \u201cepiphany,\u201d recognized
\nby people of significance, by travelers from afar.<\/p>\n

It is commonplace to say that the world was waiting for this Gift. Matthew
\nremembers the words of the prophet Micah (5:2) who had foretold that
\nthe ruler in Israel, one whose origins were from ancient days, was to
\ncome from Bethlehem. Roman historian Suetonius related that \u201cthere
\nhad spread over all the Orient an old and established belief that it
\nwas fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world (Life
\nof Vespasian 4:5). (See also Tacitus, Histories 5:13).<\/p>\n

Into this anticipation caused by the unsettlement of the times, Matthew
\ntells his readers that God enters to give not what humans want, but what
\nthey need. Kings, sages and common shepherds all sought the meaning which
\ngovernmental stability and affluence cannot bring. What humans need most
\nis the knowledge that in this vast cosmos of ambiguous meanings there
\nis a heart that beats for them, a purpose which claims them, and a love
\nwhich embraces them. This gift of understanding is intended for everyone
\nand through it all lives find the personal meaning in life which God
\nhas been seeking to provide.<\/p>\n

GIFTS OF THE MAGI<\/p>\n

It is fascinating to readers that among those to whom God reveals this
\ngreatest of gifts are seekers, people like us, who are waiting to be
\nsure they have embraced that which life seeks more than anything else.
\nIn our story, they are magi, wise men, astrologers, people who want more
\nthan daily bread. Interestingly, historians like Herodotus (1: 101, 132)
\nplace them right in the heart of today\u2019s U.S. military occupation.
\nThey were Medes of Babylon\/Bagdhad who had come to provide wise counsel
\nfor Persian rulers. With skills in medicine, philosophy and science,
\nthey also interpreted dreams and foretold human destiny by studying the
\nstars. Although we have little appreciation for this primitive science
\ntoday, such people were the true wise men of the near East in ancient
\ntimes. What they were seeking is precisely what bumpers stickers today
\ntell us wise men still seek: A meaning which transforms life and assures
\nus that in the midst of starry galaxies there is purpose for our life
\nwhen the God of all creation claims us for himself.<\/p>\n

The Venerable Bede, England\u2019s great church historian of the 730s,
\ngave names to these men and meanings to their gifts. Mechoir brought
\ngold as for a king, Gaspar brought incense for one who would serve as
\npriest to his people and Balthasar, of swarthy skin, myrrh, typically
\nused to embalm one for burial. They were grand gifts for the whole of
\nlife from men of significance. They were the best gifts that could be
\nprovided for one who could change the course of the world and the direction
\nof one\u2019s life. The magi become models for us as the first bearers
\nof Christmas gifts. Their gifts gave meaning not only to the recipient
\nwho could be Lord and Ruler of their lives, but their gifts also gave
\nmeaning to themselves as they sought to kneel in homage before the only
\nOne who could give meaning even greater than they sought.<\/p>\n

GIFTS OF GOD\u2019S PEOPLE<\/p>\n

Matthew\u2019s story both charms and challenges us. Wise seekers from
\ndistant lands bow in homage before an infant whose mysterious potential
\nis as yet untested. Gifts as always seek to embrace the real meanings
\nof the givers and the recipients. What can this mean for us today?<\/p>\n

Here in Austin, Texas, we have a special claim to understanding because
\nhere O\u2019Henry lived and wrote the great short story The Gift of
\nthe Magi. In it, a young couple in their twenties, Jim and Della, struggle
\nto find the right Christmas gift for each other. Each has treasures,
\nDella\u2019s long, beautiful hair, and Jim\u2019s father\u2019s and
\ngrandfather\u2019s gold watch. More than that, less then two dollars
\nin cash, each! Both do the unthinkable. Della sells her hair for $20
\nto buy Jim a platinum watch fob for his gold watch. Jim sells the gold
\nwatch to buy a set of oyster shell combs for her long flowing hair. When
\neach discovers what the other has done, there is a sense of epiphany,
\na discovery about who each really is and what their partner means to
\nthem. The author concludes with these words which have entered the annals
\nof the world\u2019s greatest literature:<\/p>\n

Here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish
\nchildren
\nin a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures
\nof their
\nhouse. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that
\nof all who give
\ngifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as
\nthey are the
\nwisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are magi!<\/p>\n

Here O\u2019Henry is telling us that the deepest meanings in gift giving
\narise from an understanding of and a love for the recipient, not to mention
\nan even more profound understanding of who one is and what one has to
\ngive. Epiphany begins a season for us in which we learn of God\u2019s
\nprofound love for people of every race and clime, every station and evil.
\nThe incarnate gift of that love, appearing for us in the life and sacrificial
\ndeath of Jesus, transforms us. As we enter this transformation, as true
\nmagi, knowing that we are among those who were lost but now are loved,
\nwe are touched to give gifts in new and different ways. We search our
\npersonal meanings to ask what our greatest treasures are and what we
\nmight be motivated to give. We look at the needs in our local churches,
\nin charities and in people all around us. We discover the wonderful power
\nof sacrificial love, Jesus\u2019 own, and ours as well. As we discover
\nthe inter-relationship between being loved and loving another, we claim
\nthe real gift of Matthew\u2019s story. It is then we know with Jim and
\nDella that whoever we are, \u201ceverywhere we are wisest. We are magi\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Dr. Dr. David Zersen, President emeritus
\nConcordia University at Austin
\nAustin, Texas
\ndzersen@aol.com
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GIVERS IN SEARCH OF MEANING I love this annual celebration of the Epiphany despite the fact that it asks a great deal from Christians. On the one hand there are so many traditions connected with Epiphany, not to mention substantial literary and artistic allusions. The tradition of eating the King\u2019s Cake and finding the three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,727,108,110,648,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-9745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matthaeus","category-archiv","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-02-chapter-02-matthaeus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14108,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9745\/revisions\/14108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=9745"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=9745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}