Epiphany Sunday: “Follow the Star”

January 4, 2026

Matthew 2:1-12

Humanity is very interested in Outer Space. Here in Florida, we have the Kennedy Space Center, which we took the girls to a little over a year ago for the first time. We have the Space Coast, just a little South of us. When we lived beachside, we would see rocket launches on what felt like a weekly basis. And while outer space may be a big deal here in Florida because of the rocket launches, interest in space is not just a Florida thing. I grew up 20 minutes from the birthplace of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. We just took our girls to the Neil Armstrong Museum last year on New Year’s Day while we were in Ohio. My home state is also home to John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, and while we were at the Neil Armstrong Museum, I saw a wall full of Ohio Astronauts. Humanity seems very interested in space exploration.

2,000 years ago, it wasn’t necessarily space exploration the ancients were interested in. I don’t think they could even begin to fathom the day when people would leave our planet. However, the ancients were very interested in looking at the stars and seeing what they had to reveal about planet earth and the things going on our planet earth. You have to remember as well, that for us living in cities with streetlights, cars driving with lights, we have a lot of light pollution, it's not as easy to see the stars. But if you ever traveled to places out in the country, or especially national parks, you have probably seen the sky filled with stars in a  way you probably have never seen at home. My best friend just got back from visiting Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, and she said the stargazing was amazing there.

Clear skies, full of stars as far as the eyes can see is what it would have been like all the time for the ancient people. So it makes sense that stars and astrology and using the stars to predict the future would  be popular in ancient times. And even today we have some people who are into astrology. You hear people ask things like “what’s your sign?” Some people believe astrology signs determine people’s personalities. Some people hear a person’s astrological sign and decide then and there not to date them.

Now I’m not sure if the astrologers of ancient times were as interested in looking at the stars to predict personality traits and who to date. But they did believe the stars revealed truths about the world. They especially believed that stars could give information about up-and-coming kings, or kings who would be falling out of power.

That seems to be the case with the wisemen in today’s scripture. We often refer to them as wisemen, or kings, but they were actually called Magi. And they were most likely from modern day Iran. They were astrologers who followed a religion called Zoroastrianism. And when they saw a star rise in the East, they followed it to Jerusalem.

Some have asked what this star was that these Magi saw. One of the best theories is that Jupiter and Saturn aligned. This would have looked like a great star.  Especially in those ancient times with no light pollution like we have. I learned that Jupiter was supposedly a sign for royalty, and Saturn sometimes viewed as a sign for the Jewish people. So it would have made sense for these Astrologers to see these two planets aligned and think, “a new king of the Jews has been born.”

And so the Magi traveled to Jerusalem, to where they believed a new Jewish king would be. But there is no new baby born in Jerusalem. There is just king Herod, and when he hears this news from the Magi, that they have come to see and worship the new baby born king of the Jews, Herod is not happy.  

Scripture tells us Herod is disturbed, and all of Jerusalem with him is disturbed.

Now it makes sense why Herod would be disturbed. He is not the rightful king of Israel, and now this news of a new baby born, a new king of the Jews sounds like someone wants to come and overthrow him. Herod is fearful of losing his power.

But why would all of Jerusalem be disturbed with him? Weren’t they all waiting for a Messiah as well?

Luke’s Gospel tells us that the birth of Jesus was good news for all people. And yet sometimespeople don’t want to hear good news. Sometimes people don’t want their lives to change, even if it promises to be better. Sometimes we are more comfortable set in our ways.

While it's true that Jesus is good news for all people. Jesus didn’t come to make us comfortable. Jesus came to shake up our world. Jesus came to disturb and disrupt our world. And with his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, we see Jesus did just that. Jesus disturbed the world;Jesus disrupted the world.  

But the first one disturbed by Jesus was Herod and his cronies.

So Herod, not being a good Jew, not being the true and rightful king of Israel has no idea where the Messiah is supposed to be born. So Herod consults the chief priests and teachers of the law to find out where the Messiah is supposed to be born. And they tell him of the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that he would be born in Bethlehem. That he would be a shepherd to his people.

The Great King David was born in Bethlehem, and so it makes sense that the Messiah, who will be an heir of David, will be born in Bethlehem as well.  

The Chief Priest and Teachers of the laws are good Jews; they know their Messianic prophecies about the birthplace of the Messiah. And yet, they still don’t recognize Jesus.

This place is the first place in the Gospel of Matthew where we will hear the phrase “the chief priests and teachers of the law.” But if you have spent much time reading the gospels, you know this phrase will come up over and over and  over again. We see this phrase repeated 22 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels. And other than this one time here with Herod, every time this phrase comes around in the gospels, it's related to Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion. The chief priests and teachers of the law will be the ones to arrest Jesus. They will be the ones to lead to his crucifixion.

Today’s scripture passage is so ironic. The chief priests and teachers of the law know the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, but they don’t come to know Jesus.  They don’t come to worship Jesus. They don’t come to recognize Jesus.  

So strangely, it’s these pagans, these astrologers, these Magi, these Gentiles, not Jews who recognize Jesus for who he is. They are the ones who come to worship Jesus.

Herod tells them to go to Bethlehem to worship the baby, then come back and report what they find so that he can worship him as well. Herod has no intent to do this, this a bold-faced lie. Herod just wants to find out where the baby is so he can have him killed. Herod, with so much power and prestige, is so threatened by a little baby, he is so fearful that he will try to have him killed.

So the Magi leave Herod and travel to Bethlehem, only about 10 miles from Jerusalem.

Now I know many of us have a story in our heads of how Magi’s visit unfolded. We picture the wisemen there right after Jesus is born. We picture the wisemen in the stable, worshipping Jesus at the manger.

But the wisemen would have shown up way later. No stable, no manger anymore, Mary and Joseph were probably living in a house in Bethlehem, maybe with other family members. Jesus would have been at least a few months old, maybe even as old as 2 years old.  

Now if you are anything like me, when you set up your nativity for Christmas, you probably have Mary, Joseph, Jesus in the manger, the shepherds, angels, and even the wisemen all together right? I loved hearing growing up from Jesse that when his mom would set up the nativity during Advent, one thing, she didn’t even put the baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas Day. Reminding them of waiting for the birth of Christ, Jesus was not there yet. And she would also have the wisemen traveling all around the house. What a beautiful picture of the wisemen’s long journey. Last year, when I served at Community UMC, we had the wisemen wander around the sanctuary and not turn up at the manger until Epiphany Sunday. It almost became a game to see who noticed the wisemen moving around the sanctuary.

The Magi didn’t show up until much later. But when they got there, these astrologers, these pagans, these Gentiles did something amazing. They were overjoyed and they worshipped Jesus, and they gave him gifts. These people from another land, another culture, another religion were the ones to recognize Jesus as not just king of the Jews, but king of all people, king of the universe. These

Magi or wisemen realized that, and the people you would expect to realize that the chief priests and the teachers of the law did not realize that. They did not recognize Jesus for who he was.  

The chief priests and the teachers of the law had the head knowledge of where the Messiah would be born: Bethlehem. But they did not have the heart knowledge to recognize and worship him.

No, instead they were travelers from another land, another religion, non-Jews, Gentiles who recognized and worshiped Jesus for who he was: King of the Universe.  

Their response to seeing Jesus was worship and they gave him 3 gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now because there being 3 gifts, we kind of got the tradition that there were only 3 Magi or wisemen. But there could have been less,

more possibly could have been more. And we think of them as only being men,  but they could have had a whole caravan with wives with them as well.  

I’ve heard the joke before that if wise women showed up, they would have brought diapers, formula, and casseroles. But it was men, so they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Not your typical baby shower gifts.  

And while these were not the typical baby shower gifts, these gifts actually have symbolic meaning. The gold points to Jesus’s royalty, recognizing Jesus as king.  Frankincense points to Jesus being our high priest. And Myrrh was a spice often used for burials. This is recognizing how Jesus will be killed one day. King, Priest, and Savior. That is who Jesus is. And these Pagans, these Gentiles recognized Jesus for that long before Jesus’s own people did. I wonder if Mary saved the Myrrh from Jesus’s birth and used it when he died. There’s also a theory that Mary and Joseph may have even used these gifts to fund their travels to Egypt when they were fleeing to save Jesus from Herod.  

Remember after the Magi visit; Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt to keep Jesus safe from being killed by Herod. They are refugees, leaving their country, fleeing persecution. This time going back to Egypt, this time going back to the place their ancestors were slaves and escaped from. And it's possible these gifts from the Magi may have helped fund their travels.  

This visit of the Magi or wisemen has come to be known and celebrated as Epiphany. It's January 6th, 12 days after Christmas. You see the 12 days of Christmas is a real thing, not just a song. It begins on Christmas Day and ends on Epiphany.  Churches may choose to celebrate Epiphany Sunday, the Sunday closest to Epiphany. Technically Tuesday is Epiphany, but we’re celebrating today.  

The word Epiphany is defined by the dictionary as “a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.” We often think of this as a lightbulb or aha moment. We picture inventors or scientists having that epiphany, lightbulb, or aha moment where they suddenly realize the solution to whatever they’re working on.  

But we don’t have to be scientists for inventors to have epiphanies. We all can have epiphanies, or sudden realizations of something whether it be about our job, about our marriage or families, about our finances, or even about God.

Another definition of epiphany is an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.

Maybe it's coming together for you now, maybe you’re having an epiphany about why today is called Epiphany. It's when the Magi, when the wisemen, representative of the Gentiles, had an epiphany, an aha moment, a realization of who Jesus is. They had an appearance, a manifestation of a deity, they saw God in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.  

They realized and recognized Jesus for who He was and is the king of the Jews.  But not just the king of the Jews. The king of All People. The King of the Universe.  And their response to this epiphany, their response to this realization was worship and gifts.

Do you realize who Jesus is? Do you recognize him as your King, your Priest, your Lord and Savior? If so, our response should be worship and gifts. Now it doesn’t need to be monetary gifts, nothing as expensive as gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  But it could be monetary gifts to the church or others in need. It could be gifts of food to Halifax Urban Ministries, or giving to WOW, Palmetto House, or Family Renew.  It could be giving money or resources as you see a need come up. It could also be giving of your time and your talents for the glory of the Lord.

We’re four days into the New Year, and often people come up with New Year’s Resolutions this time of year. People use this time to think of goals of how they want to be a better person. Which is great. But I encourage us all to think of ways in which we want to be a better follower of Jesus Christ. On this Epiphany Sunday, how do we want to be like those Magi or wisemen who left their homeland and traveled long and difficult distances to worship a baby, a new king, and give him gifts?  

Jesse, me, and the girls just got back from a long journey. We drove about 16 hours each way to Ohio and back. We drove straight through, Jesse and I trading off driving. It was about 2,000 miles roundtrip. And for those of you who heard my sermon a few weeks ago, you’ll be happy to know we had no car troubles this time. No installing new alternators on the side of the road this time.

It was a relatively smooth journey. The traffic wasn’t bad since we drove at night, and the weather was perfect, no rain. I’m guessing we’ve all had our fair share of easy, smooth journeys, and our journeys that were more like our journey a couple of years ago involving an alternator dying.

But even more so in our spiritual lives, I’m guessing we’ve had our share of years where the journey was relatively smooth, and our share of years where the journey was quite difficult.

As we begin a new year, we have no idea what the journey will look like this year. How might we grow spiritually? What epiphanies might the Lord want you to learn this year about the nature of God? What epiphanies might the Lord want to reveal to you this year about his Church? This specific church but also the Universal Capital C Church. What epiphanies does the Lord want to reveal to you about yourself, your friendships, your work, your marriages, your family?

May we all be open to the journeys the Lord wants to take us on this year. May we all be open to the epiphanies the Lord wants to reveal to us this year. May we see and recognize the Lord forwho He is. King, Priest, and Savior. And may our response to that epiphany, our response to that realization be worship and gift-giving. Whether monetary gifts, or gifts of our time, our presence, and ourselves.  

As I said, many of us use this New Year to set New Year's Resolutions; the number one New Year’s Resolution every year is to lose weight. And while there is nothing wrong with focusing on our physical health, may we set New Year’s Resolutions for our Spiritual Health as well. May we seek to go on a journey like the wisemen this New Year. A journey leading us to more and more epiphanies about the Lord.  May we see and recognize the Lord who He is. The King of Kings and Lord of  Lords.  

The Significance of Epiphany is that Jesus came for all people, not just the Jewish People. Jesus came for even Gentiles, even Iranian astrologers traveling from the East. Jesus came for you and me. Jesus came for imperfect, messy people. Jesus came for  the outsiders. Jesus came for all of us. This New Year may we realize that Jesus came for all of us. And may we seek to have an encounter with the Lord where we have more and more epiphanies, realizations about who God is.

In recent years I have seen more and more people choosing a word for the New Year, not just a New Years Resolution. A word for something they want to live into the New Year. Is there a word the Lord is bringing to mind for you for the New Year?

I encourage you to spend some time in prayer and scripture these next few days and weeks seeing if the Lord is bringing a word to mind for you for 2026. A word for you to live into this New Year. A word to guide you like the star guided the wisemen. A word to help you follow the star, follow after Jesus, the light of the world. Pray about what this word may be. And write it out somewhere and put it somewhere you’ll see it  every day. Pray about if there is a new spiritual practice the Lord is calling you to engage in this New Year.

This 2026, may we Follow the Star like the wise men did. No, don’t follow a literal star, I’m not asking us all to become astrologers. Follow the light of Jesus, more importantly follow Jesus, the light of the world. See where Jesus leads us this New Year. See what journeys the Lord takes us on this year. See where he leads us as individuals, see where he leads us as a church, see where he leads us as a denomination, see where he leads us as a community. Are you in need of a Spiritual epiphany, a spiritual aha moment? Follow the Star. Follow Jesus, the light of the world, and see where his journey leads you. May we experience many epiphanies about the Lord this New Year.

Amen