Part way through my Christmas Eve sermon, I made a comment about how much I appreciated Luke’s grounding of the Christmas story in the historical reality of his day. That’s a typical pattern for him. Luke is a historian and when he puts pen to paper to tell Jesus’ story, that’s how he’s going to approach things.

The other Gospel writers are no different. Each one has their own unique take on the story, which is why when the New Testament was put together, the power-that-be decided to keep what are essentially four different versions of Jesus’ life. Mark’s Gospel reads like something of a mystery novel, it really does. Only one person in the story really gets it, really solves the mystery, even though we the reader know. (It’s not who you expect would solve it either.)

John, well, imagine giving yourself the task of communicating the great themes and ideas of one of the most complex tales in literature and then do it using language a 10 year old could understand. That’s John’s Gospel, absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and yet amazingly profound in its ideas and theology.

Which leaves us Matthew’s Gospel. Today’s Gospel lesson is from Matthew and is, in fact, a prime example of his particular take on Jesus’ story. Our story from Matthew is a familiar one, the coming of the Magi to the infant Jesus. It’s got all the elements we remember, the star, the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So what does this story tell us about Matthew, or more importantly what does Matthew want us to see about Jesus because of this story?

To answer that question, we have to go way back to the book of Genesis. Back to a conversation between a man named Abram and God. Thousands of years before these astrologers and court magicians came waltzing into a stable in Bethlehem, there was Abram and God’s covenant with his people.

‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

That last bit is the important part. “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is God’s covenant with the people of Israel at its very start. Time and again whenever God repeats his covenant, his promise, to Abram, that is Abraham, and his descendants this idea comes back up.

It comes up again with Moses. Again with the Judges and with King David. It comes up with the prophets, with Isaiah. In today’s lesson from his prophecy, you can hear its echoes.

The magi coming to Jesus’ side in Matthew’s Gospel is just one more step, one more affirmation of God’s covenant to the people of Israel. Here, the dignitaries of foreign lands come and give homage to the promised Messiah, bearing gifts of great meaning. Gold, the wealth of kings. Myrrh, ointment for a royal burial, and Frankincense, fragrance for prayer.

The magi give witness that Jesus is yet another means, if not the most important one, by which God is blessing all the families of the Earth. And this is the message Matthew wants all of us to understand. Jesus is part of the ancient covenant, a covenant given to the Hebrews by God for the purpose of blessing all the world.

Talk to many of the modern descendants of the Hebrews today, the Jews, about what it means to them to be the covenant people and you might be surprised at the response. For many of them, it’s not a privilege, it’s a responsibility. They are to be a blessing to the whole world. Matthew understood that. He was Jewish by birth also and his Gospel story reflects his understanding that Jesus is also a part of that covenant, a part of that blessing, if not THE blessing. For it is through him that ALL the families of the world shall be saved.

The story of the magi is in many ways, our story. We were not born a part of the covenant people. Some of us may have Jewish blood in our veins, but for the most part, we’re as Gentile as they come. So were those astrologers bearing their gifts. And yet, they came anyway. They came because they had divined that God was on the move once more. That God was once again looking to the people of the world and saying it is time for a great blessing, a blessing that shall come from my covenant people, a blessing that shall be for all the world.

And so came Jesus, praised by shepherds, gifted by magicians, followed by fishermen and tax collectors. He would heal the lame and the leper. He would teach the masses. He would die by the hands of soldiers and rise again on the third day. And by his life, death, and resurrection, he would become the ultimate blessing upon the world and its people. For he would bring death to heel and grant life eternal. This is the blessing for all the families of the world. And magi from the East came to offer their thanks to him for that gift. And so do we. Amen.