The Epiphany of Our Lord – January 7th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Matthew 2:1–12
“What Leads Us to Jesus?”
Theme: The Magi sought out the King of the Jews using their science, but in the end, God’s Word led them—and us—to the Christ-Child.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
I’d like to speak a bit today about science. First of all, what do we mean by “science”? Science is more than a class that we take in school. Science itself means “knowledge.” So, science purports to give us knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Usually this knowledge relates to our natural world, things we can see and observe with our eyes or with equipment.
Science looks at the “now.” This knowledge is very helpful to us. We can know a lot about the weather, medicine, chemicals, animals, electronics, and so much more by studying natural science. This has benefited us in so many ways. Our lives have gotten easier because of the findings of science. You can look up almost anything you want, good or bad, on a small hand-held device. People in the past would have killed for this technology.
Science can look at the “past,” up to a point. When you look at the past, there are a lot of assumptions you have to make. You have to assume that everything has been going the same way that it’s always been going on with very few changes over the time span you’re studying. It’s like if you’re talking with your spouse about something, you have to make sure that things haven’t changed since you last talked about it.
Things have changed quite a bit in history. The Flood changed a lot about our methods of dating that I’m not sure we should trust the millions and billions of years that “scientists” tell us is the case. When looking at history, reports from other people are often better than the scientific record. Especially if God himself tell us something happened in a certain way, we should trust His revelation to us over what we can see with our eyes today. In a way, this is a type of science as well, because it’s a type of knowledge. Knowledge doesn’t only come by telescopes or microscopes, but knowledge also comes to us by words written in books.
I want to propose to you today that the Magi were the scientists of their day. They did not study the earth like most of our scientists do. They studied the heavens. They were astronomers and astrologers. This was very common in the ancient world. Many religions believed that their gods told them things through astrological revelations. If Jupiter, the king of the planets, appeared alongside another planet or in a certain constellation, then that meant something. Sometimes the stars would tell kings whether or not to go to war. Sometimes they gave foreboding signs, like destruction would be imminent. This is what the Magi did: they watched and interpreted the stars and planets.
One day, new data showed up that confused them. They saw a new star rise. I don’t think we should read this as a conjunction of multiple planets. This is described as a star, and later it will rest over the place where the child Jesus is residing. Honestly, angels and stars are often synonymous in the Bible, so I view this as an angel who is sent to point the way to Jesus. The Magi see this star that does not act like all the other stars or planets. Their science can only lead them to know that something is different.
They need another science to interpret this star to them. They probably got it from the Jewish scrolls of Numbers 24:17, “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” What does this say? It says that a star shall mark the rising of a king in Israel. This must be some king for a star to announce his birth!
So, they load up with three types of gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They go to Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel. But, they were missing some more knowledge. When they arrive expecting to see the King of the Jews, they only find an angry King Herod who has not had a baby recently. But the chief priests and scribes point Herod and the Magi to Bethlehem, where Micah prophesied the birth of the Messiah. That is where they go, and that is where they find the child with Mary his mother. They worship him and give him their gifts.
The Magi get one more revelation: they should not return to Jerusalem and tell Herod what they have seen. Rather, they return home by another way. King Herod would later try to kill this king by killing all the baby boys in Bethlehem, but God would help Joseph, Mary, and Jesus escape.
What Does This Tell Us about Science? This story tells us quite a bit, actually, about science and religion. It tells us that these two disciplines are not in conflict. Science has its place. It led the Magi to Israel. Science today still has a wonderful place in our world. It continues to point scientists to God.
In fact, highest percentage of believers among scientists are among the astronomers. Perhaps they recognize what Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” They are viewing the heavens of God and coming to the conclusion that only a God could create a universe with such precision and glory. There are billions upon billions of galaxies, stars, planets, and moons, and yet only ours so far has been discovered to be able to support life. We have the right star, the right distance from that star, the right spin of our planet, the right atmosphere—I could go on and on.
Science needs proper interpretation. Theology and the Bible can give that interpretation. Our world is created with a goal: to support the life of man. Man has been created with a purpose: to receive the salvation of God.
Evolutionary science denies both of these things. It says that our world is without meaning and without purpose. It says that man is just an animal, without inherent value. We must push back against these assertions.
Just like our knowledge of some things might be wrong, “science” itself might be wrong from time to time. What is not wrong is the revelation that God has given to us and to the Magi. The Bible, the Word of God, did not fail to point them to Jesus. It does not fail to point us to Jesus as well. Science alone will not point you to Jesus. The stars alone will not point you to Jesus. God’s Word alone points you truly and squarely to Jesus.
Some of the best scientists have been Christian. They recognized that God set up this world with an order that we can discover and delight in. There is also value in this world because He has designed it for us, to support our human life. But there is a more important life than what we find in this world. This is a spiritual life that is given by the little child that the Magi adored. It is a life that sustains our faith and hope while we walk on this earth. It is a life that will endure after the Last Day. Because our earth will not end with the heat death of the universe. It will not end with a mild global warming. It will end when Jesus comes again and subjects this earth to fire—a much greater global warming than anyone is ever predicting. But out of will come a New Heavens and a New Earth. And we, like the Wise Men, will bow and worship Him, our Lord and King.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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