EPIPHANY
SPECIAL STAR, MOUNTAINTOP HIGH
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 2:1-2, MATTHEW 17:1-2, 2 PETER 1:16-19
DECEMBER 24, 2010
Throughout Christian history, Christmas has gone by many names. The early church called Christmas epiphany, from the Greek word “epiphaneia,” which means “to make manifest.” At Christmas, God made himself manifest. At Christmas, God was manifested to the world as the Son of God was born in Bethlehem. Now, throughout our Epiphany series, we have looked at different people of the Bible and the varying ways that Christ manifested himself to them, the varying ways in which they had their “aha” moment, they had their epiphany where they saw Christ in his glory.
Today we look at the magi and then the transfiguration. We begin with the magi and the story from Matthew’s Gospel, the second chapter. It is appropriate that we begin here because really, in the Christian world today, the whole Christmas season ends with the Feast of Epiphany, which is celebrated throughout the Christian world on January sixth, twelve days after Christmas, the twelfth day of Christmas. The Feast of the Epiphany remembers the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the magi. So, we focus on them this evening.
A book has just been released in time for Christmas called the Revelation of the Magi. This book claims that recently many manuscripts have been discovered, ancient manuscripts, in ancient caves. Many ancient and long-forgotten manuscripts have been discovered on the dusty shelves of ancient libraries. The implication is that this book is based on such an ancient and long-forgotten manuscript. It is totally bogus! This book is simply an English rendering of the Syriac copy of a manuscript in the Vatican library, a manuscript that people have known about for generations and centuries. Forty years ago, when I was in seminary, I knew all about and studied the content of this manuscript. But they are acting like it is brand new.
The reason that this manuscript in the Vatican Library has never been translated from Syriac to English, until today, is because the manuscript is bogus and everybody knew it. The manuscript dates to 800 AD, 800 years after the magi lived. It claims to be a personal account of the magi, their personal story describing their trip from the East to Bethlehem to see the Christ child. It is bogus; it is made up. Now, the Syriac rendering of the manuscript is all we have in the world today, but it may be a copy of an earlier manuscript or scroll. But all scholars agree that that scroll would still be 300 to 600 years after the magi actually lived.
Now if you read the book and the translation of the manuscript, they claim there were twelve wise men, twelve magi. They claim that they came from the land of Shir, a mythological land to the Far East. They claim that the word magi is a Syriac word, and that it means “those who pray in silence.” They claim that these twelve magi are descended from kings. They claim that these twelve magi are descended from Seth, the third son of Adam; it claims that they are Sethites. The book and the manuscript claims that the star that guided them was actually the Christ and he astro-projected himself so that he appeared to them in the land of Shir and then guided them to his cradle in Bethlehem. The manuscript in the book claims that Christ then spoke to them—the child, the baby, spoke to them—and taught them theological pluralism. He taught them that he was now revealing himself in the world, and he was revealing himself to all cultures, and all peoples and all religions and all faiths by different names.
Of course, all of this is in total contradiction to the Holy Scriptures and something that is very, very bogus. It is out, right now, in time for Christmas. You can buy it at Barnes and Noble, or Borders; it is being mass-marketed. Why now? Why is it being translated into English now, after all of these centuries? I think the answer is, the authors know this is the time to capitalize. The time is right. We live in a culture that is enamored with theological pluralism, for whom this message would find great attraction. We live in a culture where a lot of people are kind of into weird stuff and willing to buy into almost anything that is available. I can’t help but think of 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
“For we are told that the last days, as we approach the end times, people will no longer endure sound teaching. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking and they will turn away from listening to the truth and they will wander into myths.”
What does the Bible actually tell us about the magi? What do we know about them? What do we learn from Matthew’s Gospel, a first century document? What does it tell us? We don’t know the number of the magi. Traditionally it’s three simply because they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We don’t know their number. It may have been three, it may have been twelve, it may have almost been any number (but certainly not one). We don’t know their homeland; we don’t know what country they came from. They came from the east, that is what the Bible tells us. Understand, in the Jewish world when they spoke of the east, they normally did not mean the Far East. They did not mean the region of China, they did not mean the Orient. In the Jewish world, in the time of Christ, when they spoke of the east they meant eastern Mesopotamia, they meant the region of Persia or the region of Babylonia.
The truth is the word magi is not a Syriac word. This we know: The word magi is a Persian word. It was borrowed by the Greeks, borrowed by the Romans, borrowed by the Hebrews. Probably the magi were from the region of Persia. We know that magi were not kings, nor were they descended from kings. We know that magi were counselors; we know that magi sometimes served in royal courts and were counselors to kings. Many magi were astrologers. They sought to interpret the future through divination. Both astrology and divination are condemned in the Bible.
Understand these magi, these wise men, were sincere in their seeking after God, sincere in their search for the divine Christ and the mercy of God. The mercy of God was very much upon them. The magi were guided by the star. What was the star? There have been many efforts to identify the star over a period of generations. Even in the last decade, many books have been written on the subject, books suggesting certain stars around the time of the birth of Christ went supernova, certain alignments of stars formed unusual phenomena in the heavens. The truth is, we don’t know. It was a God thing. The star was a God thing and the whole story of the magi and the Christ child was very much a God thing.
We don’t know their names. Not knowing their number, it is not surprising that we don’t know their names. There was a document called the Armenian Nativity Gospel, written in 600 AD, just as bogus as the Revelation of the Magi. It claimed that the names of the magi were Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar. It is bogus, written 600 years after the magi lived. We don’t know their names; we don’t know their number.
So, what do we know? We know that they sought Christ. They sought the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the one who was to be born the divine King. They had been given a sign that this Christ would be born amongst the Jewish people, this divine King. So, they came to the region of the Jews and to the region of Jerusalem and ultimately Bethlehem. They sought the royal house in the region, the house of Herod, in their quest to find the Christ. It would have been a hard trip. It would have been a long journey. It would have involved great hardship. It would have been very dangerous; any travel over a vast geographical land space in that time in history was very dangerous, but carrying gold, frankincense, and myrrh it would have been extremely dangerous. They were on a quest. They sought the divine King. I think we have to ask the question this Christmas Eve, how about you? Do you seek him?
I think over the last few years we have all seen in people’s houses and sometimes in various stores and even on cars a sign and bumper stickers which say, “Wise men still seek him.” That is true. Wise people still seek him. Wise women, wise men, seek him. Why should we seek him? If you are not a Christian, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ but you are here tonight, why should you examine the claims of Christ? Why should you seek him? Why should you take a deeper look?
His name is Jesus, Yeshua. The word means Savior. He makes a very unique claim. He claims to be able to save the people of this world from their sin, and by his own testimony, he describes his work on the cross as substitutionary atonement, that he would die for the sin of the world. No one else has ever claimed this or offered this. You can read the sacred writings of Hinduism, you can read the Bhagavad Gita—Krishna, Arjuna—you can read the Vedas. There is nothing about a savior who offers to take away your sin and to die for your sin. You can read all the Buddhist writings, you can read the Tripitika, you can read the Three Baskets—the basket of higher dharma, the basket of discourses, the basket of discipline—you will find nothing in there about a savior who would forgive your sin and die for the sin of the world.
You can read the Quran, you can study the Hadith, you can read all the theology of Islam, but there is nothing in there about a savior who will die for the sin of the world and take away your sin. It is just Jesus. You have got to take a look at this guy, you have got to take a deeper look, and you have got to examine his claims. The Bible tells us that death could not hold him and he rose in power and great glory. He has ascended into heaven and he lives. The Bible claims he is the hope of the world. He is going to come again; he is going to judge the living and the dead. He will judge the nations; he will receive his people unto himself. You have got to take a deeper look at this guy.
Throughout his life he claimed that he not only could forgive sins, but grant eternal life. He could grant heaven itself that he could seal your soul for heaven. He claimed that he could bring you into the family of God, make us sons and daughters of God. And he claimed that he could bring us into the eternal purposes of the kingdom of God. We would have a purpose for living and hope and confidence in dying. He said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have life abundantly. These words that I have spoken to you that my joy might be in you and your joy might be full.” So, wise men still seek him.
How do you do that if you are not a Christian? How do you seek him? You might try church. I know the church of Jesus Christ is flawed because we are human. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the powers of hell will not prevail against it.” On a night like this we have a lot of CEO’s, a lot of Christmas and Easter only people, but you might try coming more frequently. If you really want to seek him, you might try coming a little more frequently to church, or a lot. You might try reading your Bible, the Holy Scripture, inspired of God. Read it all, but particularly if you seek Christ, read the Gospels; read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Begin this week on this quest and on this search.
You might try reading some Christian books by some great Christian authors. We have an Inklings Bookstore here at the church. We would love to serve you, but the truth is there are many Christian bookstores around, many wonderful Christian books and if you are seeking or searching, there is a way to do that. You might try hanging out with some Christians. If you are not a believer, you might try befriending a few Christians; see what they have to say. Hear their testimony, hear their story, hear about their epiphany and how Christ manifested himself to them.
You might try Christian service. Even if you are not a Christian, you might try entering into some Christian service because, I tell you, Christ reveals himself when we serve the hurting and the needy and the oppressed. So go with us as we go to the Denver Rescue Mission and help the poor; go with us as we tutor and mentor inner-city elementary school kids and middle school kids, many of them Hispanic, many African American. We tutor them with the love of Christ, seeking to help them someday compete for the dignity of a job, helping them with their schoolwork. Join with us as we send teams out to the two-thirds world. Four thousand of our people have gone on short-term missionary trips to many nations of the world seeking to help the poor through many relief agencies. Go with us. You might find as you go with us that you see Jesus in these people that we serve, that you see Jesus in the midst of ministry and service. You might have an epiphany; he might manifest himself to you. Do you really want to seek him? Do you really truly want to seek him?
We also want to take a brief look at the transfiguration. The transfiguration is described in Matthew seventeen, in Mark chapter nine, and also in Luke chapter nine; all three of the synoptic Gospels. The Greek word here is metamorphosis, and it means transformation. Jesus was transformed; he was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John. Believe me, I tell you they had an epiphany! They had an epiphany like, perhaps, no one else has ever had in history. So, the Bible tells us that Jesus was in the northern regions of Galilee and he took with him Peter, James, and John. He led them up to a high mountain apart.
Many people want to know what was that high mountain. Was it Mount Tabor? Some believe that. Or was it Mount Hermon? Some believe that. The Bible doesn’t tell us. It could be either mountain. Mount Tabor is south and west of Northern Galilee. We can look at the passage of scripture contextually and we know that Jesus was in the region of Caesarea Philippi, near the headwaters of the Jordan River, not too far from Mount Hermon. We know that was before the transfiguration. After the transfiguration, he was still in the north, still in the region of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. If he went to Mount Tabor, he would have gone south and west and then come back north and east. If he went to Mount Hermon, he would have gone north and then come back south. We don’t know and it doesn’t matter. He took them up to a high mountain.
Mount Hermon is over 9,000 feet, 9,100 feet, often snow-capped. He may have taken them up there. The mountain is called holy because of what happened there. So, he took with him Peter, James, and John. Some people wonder, “Why did he take those three?” I read a commentary just this last week that the author of the commentary suggested that Jesus took Peter, James, and John because they were the weakest of the disciples, the greatest doubters, the least committed. I found myself incredulous that any author of any commentary could have said something so strange. I think the truth is the opposite, and most scholars would agree with what I am telling you, that Jesus took them rather because they were the strongest in the faith, closest to him in his inner circle, most committed, with the most zeal for the cause of Christ and the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus took these three, Peter, James, and John, up with him to the holy mountain and there he was transfigured, metamorphosis, he changed. They saw him as they had never seen him before. Suddenly he was unveiled. It was like watching Clark Kent go into a phone booth and come out as Superman. This was an epiphany; it was an “aha” moment. Suddenly his face began to shine like the sun and his clothes themselves began to radiate light. His heavenly and celestial glory and countenance was unveiled. They worshiped him.
We can look at the magi and say wise men still seek him. Understand this: when you find him, the people of Christ worship him. Wise men still seek him, but when you find him, his people worship him. Moses and Elijah appeared. Moses, the giver of the law, Elijah, chief amongst the prophets, and they appeared because Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He fulfills the law. He alone is righteous. All the prophesies of scripture point towards him. They appear, Elijah and Moses, to applaud the Son of God. Peter, James, and John fall down and worship the Son of God and they worshiped him in awe. His people still do that. I think some people don’t understand why we should worship Jesus and what worship even really means.
You see a picture of the baby in the manger and you often times see a halo around the baby’s head. That is a very common thing. Ultimately, understand this, that when Christ comes to his last earthly day, there is not a halo on his head, but a crown of thorns. Have you ever wondered what ever happened to the crown of thorns? You probably haven’t given it a thought, but there is great evidence that this truly did become a relic of the early church. It is really supported by Luke chapter 23 because in Luke chapter 23 we are told that Joseph of Arimathea, a just and good and righteous man who was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling counsel of the Jews, received from Pilate permission to take the body of Jesus from the cross, to take the body of Jesus from Golgotha, from Calvary, and prepare it for burial. He was joined, we are told in Luke chapter 23, by the company of women disciples who followed Jesus and loved him and who were there at the cross.
So, you have Joseph of Arimathea, and the company of women and they prepared the body. They have taken Jesus from the cross. The crown of thorns would have been there, and it is very likely that they would have kept it. They probably did. We know that all the earliest accounts say that. We also know that Clement of Alexandria and Origen in the second and third centuries tell us that the crown of thorns became a very holy relic in the Christian world. We know that in 409 Paulinus of Nola records that a church was built in Jerusalem just for the crown of thorns. Paulinus tells us that it was sanctioned by the Roman Empire, which had become Christian. We also know that in 570, according to Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, a famous Roman historian who was also a devout Christian, that the crown of thorns had become the glory of the Holy City. We know that about that time from Gregory of Tours (and Gregory of Tours was the bishop of Tours and a historian of medieval France or Gaul) that another church was built in Jerusalem, not on the temple mount but on the hill of David and it was built to move the crown of thorns to still another place.
We know that from time to time thorns were taken off the crown of thorns and given to very special, powerful people and then other times given to people who had offered and rendered great service to the cause of Christ and the kingdom of heaven. We know, for instance, that in 560, when Justinian, the emperor of the Roman Empire, built the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which is now Istanbul, he was given a thorn from the crown of thorns. Hagia Sophia still stands today, and it is majestic.
We know that in 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on Christmas day, December 25, 800, by Pope Leo III, he was given a thorn from the crown of thorns. We know that when Mary Queen of Scots was married in the sixteenth century, she was given two thorns from the crown of thorns. Many were given away. We know that in the year 1000, the crown was moved from Jerusalem to the city of Constantinople, the center of the Christian world. We know that in 1248, the crown of thorns was moved from Constantinople to the city of Paris by the command of King Louis IX, who is called Saint Louis and who led the seventh and eighth crusades. He commanded that the crown of thorns be brought to Paris because he had built the Sainte-Chapelle, that great chapel, just for one purpose. The purpose he built Sainte-Chapelle was to house the crown of thorns. If you have been there in Paris, what a beautiful, beautiful chapel that is. But it was built just to house the crown of thorns.
We know that prior to the French Revolution; the crown of thorns was moved to the Bibliotheque Nationale, the National Library in Paris. We know that after the French Revolution the crown of thorns was moved to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. We know that the crown of thorns is still in there today, still in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. We know that 114 years ago, in 1896, the Roman Catholic church built a new crystal vase for the crown of thorns, and a new silver container to hold the crown.
Strangely enough, by many accounts, there are records that would indicate that from the crown 700 thorns have been given to special people throughout history. You and I both know that is impossible. Surely the crown of thorns never had 700 thorns in the beginning. Something is wrong there. You might be thinking to yourself, “What is all this about? What in the world is all this about?” It is about holy relics and the way that some people, millions of people in the Christian world, view holy relics. You see, there are people who believe that an object that once belonged to a Saint—and even more so an object that belonged to Christ or an object that was touched by Christ or used by Christ—has become a holy relic. Now, if they can just touch it, they will be blessed. If they can even look at it, they will get blessed; if they can get near it they will receive a blessing. This is the theology that surrounds holy relics. It is bad theology. It is not biblical.
I will tell you this. I will tell you a little bit of good theology. If you want to touch Christ, worship him. We touch Christ when we worship him. We touch Christ when we serve him. The primary Greek word for worship is “proskuneo” and it means to kiss heavenward. Other worship words simply mean to serve. We kiss towards Christ and we serve Christ in his cause on earth. We offer our lives in that service. When we do that, we touch him and we see his blessing.
I think the blessing he gives us surprises many Christians because it is a blessing of transformation. You look at the transfiguration and you see the awe and the majesty of Jesus. Understand he wants to change you too; he wants to transform you, in a sense, as well. He wants to give you his own nature. He wants to share with you his heart. He wants you to experience love, and joy, and peace, and patience and kindness, and goodness, and gentleness, and faithfulness, and self-control. He wants me to experience those things. He wants me to change. As we worship him, as we kiss towards him and as we serve him, he changes us and he knows this.
Why does he want worship? It is not about ego. Nobody is more humble and more lowly of heart than Christ. He doesn’t need your praise—he deserves it, but he doesn’t need it. He knows that when you worship him it will change you. When you focus on him, when you behold him, it will change you, it will change me. That is why we have 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We all, with unveiled faces, beholding his glory are being changed,” (metamorphosis), “from one degree of glory to another.”
We behold him, we kiss towards him, we serve him. He blesses us; his blessings take many forms, but often times it just transforms us and changes us that we might share his heart. So, this Christmas Eve, we have had a little bit of look at the magi, a little bit of look at the transformation. I hope you have had maybe a little bit of an epiphany, a little bit of an “aha” moment, and that if you are not a Christian you might think to yourself, “I need to check this out. I need to examine the claims of Christ.” If you have found him, I hope you understand you need to worship him and let him bless you as you worship him. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.