Worshipping Jesus
by Maria Rudolph
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They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).
Today is Epiphany, the day we celebrate the Magi coming to Jesus to worship him and present him with precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They had come from a faraway country and followed a star until it showed them the location of the promised Messiah.
Epiphany is a lovely and quite low-key celebration in Australian and New Zealand Lutheran circles. Some other parts of the world and denominations have major festivals today. Epiphany is a public holiday in some countries around the world and the cause for parades through towns and all kinds of traditions. Did you know, for example, that the French have a tradition of baking a cake called ‘cake of the Kings’ (gateau des rois), which contains one or more little figurines of nativity characters? It is a highlight around the afternoon tea table to see whose piece of cake has one of these little surprises.
Today is more than just romanticised stories of the Magi crossing a desert to find baby Jesus. It shows a facet of the spectacular grandeur of the Messiah arriving on earth. Did these Magi from a faraway country even know the Lord God? They didn’t seem to have a deep knowledge of Scripture because, unlike the scholars in King Herod’s palace who determined Bethlehem to be the location of the Messiah’s birth, the Magi were using their astronomical observations to find the way. But we know that God talks to them in a dream, warning them not to return to King Herod, so they do have a connection to the Lord God. Is God using foreigners to the Jewish faith to show honour and devotion to Jesus?
Indeed, on Epiphany, we are already gaining a glimpse at the totally new, inclusive good news Jesus has come to proclaim and live out. Are we ready to proclaim and live out the same good news? The Magi worship Jesus, who has come to seek the lost, for whom barriers of race, gender or status do not count anymore. The Magi worshipped Jesus, who has found you and has made you his beloved child. May today’s Epiphany be an epiphany for you of the amazing Jesus we love and worship and how out-of-the-box and boundless his love for the world expresses itself!
What barriers do you perceive in society that Jesus has overcome?
Loving God, Jesus came into the world miraculously, and Magi came from faraway lands to worship him. You have commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. We know that at the end times, people will come from all corners of the earth to worship you on your throne. Prepare our hearts just as you prepared the Magi of long ago. Lead us back to Jesus so that we may worship him without ceasing – all the days of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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