Matthew 2:2

Matthew 2:2

I. "Where is He?" Such was the cry of the old world before Christ came. Men had lost sight of God; even the Jews, the chosen people, had corrupted themselves with idols, till the God of their fathers had become to them as a dream. Many a one, besides the men of Athens, had erected an altar to the unknown God. From the wise man seeking after the truth, from the captive groaning in his dungeon, from the sad watcher by the dying bed, the cry went up, "Where is He? Where is God, that we might believe on Him?"

II. The answer came at Epiphany. Among the wild Bethlehem hills was born One who was a light to lighten the Gentiles, who was come to give the knowledge of salvation to His people, to set the captive free, to make the poor, crushed slave a man indeed, to wipe away the tears of the sorrowful, to heal the sick, and to raise from the dead those who lay in trespasses and sins.

III. Surely this is what the Epiphany teaches us, that the true life of every one of us is revealed in the life of Jesus Christ; that to be humble, to be gentle, to be obedient, to go about doing good, and to perform God's will in our daily work, is to be like Him whom the wise men worshipped long ages ago in Bethlehem. "Where is He?" Not only in heaven, pleading, as our great High Priest, the unfailing merits of His sacrifice, but here on earth, with His faithful Church.

H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty,vol. i., p. 52; see also Waterside Mission Sermons,vol. i., No. 5.

The Epiphany, like the other manifestations of our Lord, partly veils and partly discloses His glory.

I. As in those other instances, also, the disclosure is made to persons of a certain character, and to those only. It is not hard to see what sort of mind these wise men were in; how earnest, not only in obtaining what heavenly knowledge they could, but in obeying what they knew. They lived in a country, and most likely belonged to a profession, in which the observation of the stars was a great part of their daily business. And as the shepherds, when the angel was sent to them, were watching over their flocks by night, i.e.,in the honest exercise of their daily calling, so this star was ordered to meet the eyes of these men, so learned in the signs of the heavens. It seems in both cases to signify that God loves to visit, with His heavenly and spiritual blessings, those whom He sees diligent and conscientious in their daily duty.

II. Are we not, so far all of us, like the wise men, in that, when children, we too have a sort of star in the East to guide us towards the cradle of our Lord? We are carried to church, we are taught to pray, we learn more or less of Scripture words and histories; God gives us notice, in various ways, of that wonderful Child who was born at Bethlehem to be King of the Jews. Now these notices and feelings, if they are indeed sent by the Most High, will guide us, more or less directly, to Jerusalem, that is, to the Holy Church of God, the city set on a hill, that cannot be hid.

III. The wise men were ready to follow wherever God's providence might lead them, however slight and even doubtful the notices of His will might be. So ought it to be enough for us to know the next step in our journey, the next thing God would have us to do, with something like tolerable certainty. One step before them is as much as sinners in a troublous world should expect to see.

IV. The wise men did not mind the trouble of their journey to find the Lord. This surely may reprove our indolence and want of faith, who are so seldom willing to leave our homes, and go ever so little way thence, where we are sure the young Child is to be found; but rather put up with idle excuses, the more profane because they make a show of respect, of God being in one place as much as in another, and of our being able to serve Him at home as acceptably as in church.

Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times,"vol. vi., p. 15.

I. The success of the wise men in their search for the Saviour should teach us that they who are really anxious to find Him will never miss Him for lack of proper guidance.

II. The example of the wise men should make us ashamed of allowing difficulties, or even dangers, to hinder us in our search for the Saviour.

III. God graciously adapts His guidance to the necessities of His creatures.

IV. We also have seen His star the glorious star of the Epiphany. Have we, like the Eastern sages, come to the Saviour to worship Him? Do we seek for Him where He is ever to be found in the services and ordinances of His house?

J. N. Norton, Every Sunday,p. 52.

References: Matthew 2:2. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xvi., No. 967; T. R. Stevenson, Christian World Pulpit,vol. ii., p. 408; G. T. Coster, Ibid.,vol. xviii., p. 392; J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany,pp. 279, 289; W. Meller, Village Homilies,p. 30. S. Baring-Gould, The Birth of Jesus,p. 76; Ibid., One Hundred Sermon Sketches,p. 123.Matthew 2:4. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit,No. 1634.Matthew 2:6. Preacher's Monthly,vol. viii., p. 354.Matthew 2:8. W. Norris, Christian World Pulpit,vol. ii., p. 305; Preacher's Monthly,vol. i., p. 24; J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany,p. 306. Matthew 2:9. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. xviii., p. 15; R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons,vol. i., p. 227.