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Writer's picturePastor Nathan Nass

Epiphany Sermon: “The Trip”

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:1-12 NIV)

I traveled 1,965 miles to be here today. Did you know that? I’m in the middle of the biggest road trip I’ve ever taken in my life. My younger brother is moving from about one mile away from the Pacific Ocean in California to about one mile away from the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina, and I get to help! We set out from Monterey, CA this past Wednesday, and we’ve traveled about thirty hours and almost two thousand miles to make it here for church today. It’s quite a trip!

But no matter how far we’ve gone, there’s a group of guys who have us beat. “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem…” The Magi were really on a trip! We don’t know exactly who the Magi were. Probably astrologers or scientists of some sort. That’s why they’re better known as the “Wise Men,” because all we really know is they were wise. They came from the east. Most likely from Babylon or Persia, which are in Iraq and Iran today. To get from there to Jerusalem was usually a trip of at least four months. And all this because they saw a star and somehow realized a King was born. We don’t know how. My trip is nothing compared with the Wise Men’s trip!

What else do you know about the Wise Men? Here’s a little quiz: 1) Were there three? We don’t know. People guess there were three because there were three gifts. But our kids got twenty gifts for Christmas. Do they have twenty parents? No! 2) Were they kings? No. They came to worship the King—Jesus! 3) Did they ride camels? I hope so! That would be an awfully long way to walk. 4) Did they show up at Jesus’ manger right after the shepherds? No! They came months later while Jesus was living in a house. 5) Did they follow the star all the way to Jerusalem? No. The star disappeared during their journey and didn’t appear again until they left Jerusalem.

There’s a lot about the Wise Men that God doesn’t tell us, because he wants us to focus on their question: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” They put their lives on hold and left their lands and homes to worship their King Jesus. Today we celebrate the second oldest Christian holiday—behind only Easter, and older than Christmas—Epiphany. In Epiphany we celebrate how Jesus was revealed as the Savior of all nations. The coming of the Wise Men was the beginning of wave after wave of people from all over the world—including you and me—who have come to faith in Christ.

So God led the wise men to Jerusalem, where they asked: “Where is the King?” And they got King Herod’s attention. He didn’t like to hear about another king. So he called the priests and asked where the Messiah was to be born. And you know what’s cool? They knew! “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” They knew! Don’t ever stop being amazed at the Bible. 700 years before Jesus’ birth, God said exactly where he would be born—Bethlehem! So the Wise Men only had five more miles to go. And who would join them? You’d expect a huge procession, wouldn’t you, going up from Jerusalem to see the Messiah?

But nobody joined the Wise Men in their trip to see Jesus. King Herod didn’t. When Herod heard that a king was born, his first thought was, “We don’t need a king. We’ve already got one. Me!” Herod had no desire to give up his throne or control over his life to anyone else. He liked being the one in charge. He liked doing what he wanted to do and living his life the way he wanted to live it. So Herod viewed this new King Jesus as a threat to his way of life. How many people today oppose Jesus because they see him as a threat to their way of life? They see Jesus getting in the way of how they want to live. It’s like they say, “There’s already a king here. It’s me!”

I guess that’s what you’d expect out of a wicked king. But the people of Jerusalem would be better, right? They had been waiting centuries for the Messiah. How far would they go for Jesus? They told the wise men, “You can find the Savior in Bethlehem.” But then they didn’t bother to move a muscle themselves. It’s crazy! “Yes, wise men. You can find the Savior of the world in Bethlehem.” “So come with us. Let’s find him!” “Nah, that’s okay. We’re fine just staying here.” Which is worse, Herod’s opposition to Jesus, or the people not caring at all? The Wise Men traveled for months to see Jesus. Not one person from Jerusalem went five miles to Bethlehem.

How far would you go? I’ve been thinking about that this week. I was happy to fly to California and drive across the country to be with my brothers. What trips did you take over Christmas? Do I have the same determination to be near my Savior? Do you? Unfortunately, I can often relate to those people in Jerusalem. Sure, it’s nice to know the Savior’s nearby. But we’re really too busy, aren’t we? Too busy to read the Bible. Too busy to make it to church every week. “That’s okay, right?” The Wise Men would look at us like we’re crazy! “You’re not going to worship Jesus?”

It’s hard for me to admit, but I know that for me, when I’m not ready to go too far for Jesus, the problem is that I already have a king. Like Herod, I often already have someone at the center of my life. Do you know whom? Me! It’s hard to let someone else rule our lives. It’s hard to let someone else decide how it’s best for us to live. You see it every New Year’s. What do people say? “This year’s for me!” “You only live once.” Does Jesus reign in my heart, or do I? You can’t have both! You can’t put one foot in Jesus’ kingdom and one foot in your kingdom and expect things to turn out. How far would you go? It depends on who’s reigning in your heart!

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading this story to my kids. At the end of the story, one of them said, “It must not have been worth it, right? To travel all that way just to see Jesus for a few hours or a day? It must not have been worth it!” I’m afraid that’s what we say. Maybe not with our words, but with our lives. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth changing my schedule. It’s not worth giving up that sin I love. Just to be with Jesus? It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it!”

But we actually haven’t mentioned the person who traveled the farthest at Christmas. Can you guess? Jesus! God saw a world full of people like us—sometimes opposed to God, sometimes not concerned at all. And God decided to come to us, because we couldn’t go to him. Jesus went on the biggest trip of all. I checked, and Google maps can’t even give directions from heaven to Bethlehem. And from there it was a long walk to the cross too. Christ made himself nothing. He gave up everything he had. To come to us and be our Savior. So that people from all over the world—even you and me in America—might have one King ruling our hearts and lives—Jesus.

Do you think it was worth it? Do you think Jesus thinks it was worth it? Absolutely! To Jesus, you are worth it. You are worth all of it! Just think of all God did in this story for the wise men. He put the star in the sky. Put the prophecies in the Bible. Put the priests in Jerusalem with just the right directions. You can see all the little things God did to show his love for them. To show how far he was willing to go for them. Just like he does for us. Jesus didn’t just come to die for you. He’s given you the Word of God. Put you in a family that believes. Given you a church that encourages you. How far has God gone for you? It’s crazy to think of all that Jesus has done to save us! To Jesus, you are worth the greatest, longest, toughest trip in the history of the world.

And the Wise Men got it! They looked past the tiny, human body of Jesus and saw the King of glory come to earth. They recognized something special—something worth dropping everything and changing their lives over. It must not have been easy to do what the wise men did. How do you think their wives felt? “So how much is this trip going to cost?” “Well, all our gold and incense and myrrh.” How do you think their bosses felt? “So, you’ll be back in a year, because you want to worship a baby?” When you believe God’s message, you will be strange. People won’t understand. People will think you’re crazy. They will often make you travel all alone.

But whenever you have doubts, God will take them away. I bet those wise men had second thoughts. A day-long car trip is bad enough. Can you imagine a months-long walk? How many times on their journey do you think they thought: “Did we really see the star? Why are we the only ones walking on this road? Is this really going to be worth it?” It’s hard being different. It’s hard being the only ones. But as they left Jerusalem, God put the star back in the sky, and they were overjoyed. All the doubts were gone. At just the right time, God puts the right things and people in our lives to draw us to him. I bet the Wise Men ran the last miles to Bethlehem!

And when they got there, they bowed down and worshiped Jesus. A lot is made of the Wise Men’s gifts—gold and very valuable spices. The best they had. But that’s not really the focal point. They got down on their knees to worship. There is a lot of talk about Jesus at this time of year, but there is very little worship of him. Worship isn’t just happy praise songs or feeling good inside. Worship is showing complete dependence on someone else. It’s submitting to someone else’s rule. There’s a reason we call these men the “Wise Men.” The greatest wisdom is not knowing scientific facts. It’s believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of kings.

Once you believe in Jesus as your King, you can’t go back the same way. God warned the Wise Men in a dream to go back to their country by another route. He foiled Herod’s plot to harm Jesus. But I bet it wasn’t just the route that changed on the way back. Their pockets were lighter. Their lives were in danger. You know what? It wouldn’t seem like it would be worth it. From every earthly way of judging, they had wasted a year of their lives. A big, long trip for nothing! Except for one thing: They saw Jesus! I bet they never regretted their trip for a second. No one ever regrets spending time with God. Their lives were changed forever, because they saw Jesus.

So how far will you go? You can’t see and believe all that Jesus has done for you, and then walk away without being changed. Like the Wise Men, let’s return to our homes by another way than the way we came. It’s time for New Year’s resolutions. The Wise Men had a good one: Worship our King. Our lives really have one goal: Bring glory to God. How are you going to do that? There are a million ways! Find one that works for you. Attend a Bible study. Look at your gifts to Jesus. Finally talk to that friend or neighbor. Smile instead of frown. All to God’s glory. And whenever you need strength and help and power, make a trip back to Jesus. Daily is best. See how he came all this way for you. You’ll never regret a trip you take to worship Jesus.


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