In the name of Christ who shines the light of grace upon the darkness of our lives. Amen.
How do you handle conflict? There’s a conflict style assessment that scores you on your preferences for avoidance, accommodation, forcefulness, compromise, and collaboration. And, if you like, you can find a summary of your type that corresponds with an animal – a turtle, teddy bear, shark, fox, or owl. I’m an owl, and rarely ever a turtle. It’s not that any of these conflict styles are right or wrong, rather these sorts of assessments just name your default response to conflict. So how do you handle conflict? Do you run from it or right into it? Are you willing to compromise, or is winning all that matters to you? While it can be difficult and unhelpful to try to name someone else’s personality, it’s pretty safe to say that King Herod was a shark.
I’m not sure that it’s possible to overstate just how maniacal, fragile, and evil Herod was. From all Biblical and historical accounts, we know that he was a brutal, callous, narcissistic, and unstable tyrant. Herod simply could not deal with the thought of losing any of his power – and so at various points, he killed his wife and three of his sons. One historian commented that Herod’s brother only escaped being killed by Herod because he died before Herod had the chance. And even when the Roman Emperor Augustus heard of Herod’s brutality, he said “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son,” saying this because as a Jew, Herod would not kill a pig, but apparently he had no qualms about killing his own sons.
Certainly, the focus of today is the Epiphany of Jesus Christ, when we remember and celebrate that the love of God made flesh was manifest not only to the Jewish people, but to the entire world. And this far-reaching salvation is seen in the visitation by the magi to the Christ child. But that is only half the story. As uncomfortable as it is to go further into this Epiphany story, we must. What happens immediately after those magi leave home by another road, ignoring Herod’s request for the location of the child, Herod’s rage is set off. He orders that every male infant under two years old be killed, which included one of his own children.
The story of Epiphany is not some sweet story that you see depicted on a Christmas card. There is more to the story than simply bringing gifts to Jesus. Epiphany certainly is about that “star of wonder, star of royal beauty bright,” but it’s also about the blood-curdling screams of mothers who just had their children ripped from their arms to be slaughtered. Epiphany is about Jesus, the light of the world, shining as a beacon of hope to the world; but the reason why we need God’s light to shine is that we are surrounded by darkness.
In no way am I sympathetic towards Herod, but I don’t think we give enough attention to trying to understand why he did what he did. When we dismiss him as being purely evil, we excuse ourselves from considering how, to a lesser extent, we do the same things as Herod. At the core of Herod’s psyche is fear and this fear is rooted scarcity. For Herod, there is never enough power, there is never enough security. Martin Luther King once remarked that “no one gives up power willingly.”
Given that truth, coupled with Herod’s hysteria, we start to see why this message of Good News was so threatening to him. These strangers, whom we call magi, show up at Herod’s palace and ask “Where is the new king of the Jews?” This simple question sets off every insecurity in Herod’s mind. This is his worst nightmare, his greatest fear – that someone would take power from him. And that title, “King of the Jews,” is really what does it. That was Herod’s own title – he was called “The King of the Jews.” Had the magi asked “Where is the Messiah,” it could have been different. But the magi’s question makes it clear that the Gospeller Matthew sees this as a deeply political story. This child is the true king of the Jews and Herod is the false one, he’s just an imposter.
This reality is at the heart of the Epiphany. Epiphany is not primarily about a star, nor is it about the gifts brought by the magi. At its core, Epiphany is about the way in which God’s coming in the flesh completely changes and flips everything – power is different, political configurations are upended, economic priorities are transformed, enemies become the object of love instead of hatred, forgiveness becomes natural instead of resentment. It is a conflict between our expectations and God’s reality.
The way of new life which is opened to us in Jesus Christ is absolutely saving and transforming. But it’s also different. Just as it was hard for Herod to deal with the idea of giving up lordship over his kingdom, it is difficult for us to think about giving up lordship of our lives. It’s so natural for us to want to define what success looks like, we don’t want to hear Jesus when he says “the last shall be first.” We want to decide what generosity is, we don’t like it when Jesus says “you cannot serve God and money.” We like it when our religious beliefs put us on the winning side of the debate, and so when Jesus says “whoever wants to follow me must deny themselves and take up their cross,” we are just left shaking our heads.
And so Herod does what we often do. His first mistake is that he isn’t curious. Herod interprets everything as a threat. When the magi ask about the child, Herod has absolutely no clue what they’re talking about. Herod hadn’t noticed the star – he was too busy to even notice nature’s proclamation of this new king of Israel. And Herod refuses to utter that phrase which we’ve been trained to avoid saying – “I don’t know what you’re talking about, please tell me more.” The birth of Jesus is Good News, but Herod can only hear it as bad news. He isn’t curious about learning more because he’s already made up his mind.
So he assembles the Scribes and Pharisees to find out what these magi are talking about. He then moves on to deceit and telling lies. “Oh, yes, I know about this new king. Please, let me know where you find him so that I can honor him.” Herod has no intention of honoring the child. He’s just using people to play a game. It’s a game that we know how to play. We pit people against each other if it benefits us. We leave out certain details of the story if that makes us look better. We flat out lie when the truth would harm us. Just as we do, Herod thought that a little deception would solve his problem.
The other mistake that Herod makes is that he is lazy. If he had wanted to know where the King of the Jews had been born, he could have easily done so. All he had to do was say “Let me go with you” to the magi. But Herod was too lazy for that. He was used to having people do things for him. He treated these magi as pawns to do his bidding. He thought they were just some silly astrologists. But as we see, it was actually these magi who were just following a rumor that had more wisdom than all of the Scribes and Pharisees who remaining sitting with their knowledge.
It’s a reminder that sometimes there’s just no substitute for getting up, changing your plans, inconveniencing yourself, going to see for yourself, and offering your best. For all of the hand wringing that we do when we have a problem, so often a little relationship can go a long way. Instead of stewing over a problem that you have about work, or family, or church, you might try having a conversation. I’m not promising that a conversation is going to solve all of your problems, but stewing over your problems won’t help you any more than it did Herod.
Herod is scared of losing power, he is deceitful, he’s lazy – and the result of these actions is that he is overcome with fear. A minor detail that Matthew mentions is rather interesting. Given all that I’ve said about Herod’s fragile ego, it’s understandable that Matthew records “When King Herod heard this, he was frightened.” But then Matthew adds “and all Jerusalem with him.” It’s a reminder that fear is contagious. If you need further evidence, just consider the state of politics in this nation. Fear begets fear.
But notice what the magi encounter. Matthew records that “When the magi saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.” While fear is contagious, so is joy. And notice that the magi are the only ones to go all the way to meet Jesus and when they do, they are overwhelmed with joy. As the great hymn proclaims, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” This is exceedingly great and joyful news. The Messiah of the world has come.
The magi encountered the love out of which they were created. They found the God that they had known their whole lives but didn’t yet have a name for. They worshiped the King of the Universe. And in doing so, they were overwhelmed with this story of joy. St. Augustine once remarked that, as our source, God is at the root of our story. He says, “When I turn to God, I am listening to what is deep in my memory.” This is what the magi encountered when they saw Jesus. The found the joy which animated their souls. They saw the love of God which is the truest thing about them. Epiphany is the story of God’s shining grace in our lives.
This is why the star is the perfect symbol for Epiphany. It is the light that shines in the dark sky. And this star shines equally on all people, whether or not they pay attention to it, whether or not they follow it, whether or not they have earned it. God’s grace shines on us all.
Epiphany is not the chance to think about what gifts you might bring to God. Epiphany is not about thinking about how you stand up to modern day tyrants. Epiphany is not about being a candle to spread the light. Instead, Epiphany is about reveling in the light of Christ. And how appropriate as we start a new year when so many of us have been conditioned to think about all the ways that we are lacking. The light of Christ shines on you as you are in this very moment, no resolutions required.
In his Christmas Oratorio, WH Auden has the magi, upon encountering the Christ child, say “Here and now, our endless journey ends.” And so it is. In Jesus, the endless journey of our striving has come to an end. We do not need to become better people, we do not need to do anything. The search is over and the gift of Jesus has been given.
And I’m not going to tell you that you need to properly accept this gift or use it in the right way. Do whatever you want with the fact that Christ has come in love for you. If you are consumed by fear the way Herod was, that’s fine; God will continue to love you. But the invitation is to be overwhelmed by joy, as the magi were. Christ has come and his light shines to remind you that your journey ends in the joy of God’s exceedingly great love you.
