¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

This morning it was 24 degrees in Findlay, Ohio – my hometown.  Unfortunately for them it is getting warmer and is at about the worse temperature imaginable, 33 degrees.  Too cold for comfort and too warm for snow to stick.  My favorite Christmases in Ohio were much colder.  On Christmas Eve I didn’t even mind the howling north wind.  I would often go to the door, walk out to feel the chill, and then hurry back inside before I got too cold.  I could only get by with this exercise a couple of times before my Dad would sternly order, “Inside or outside, make up your mind!”  Then he would often add something witty about heating the outdoors, not being made of money, etc.

I thought of this as I reflected on this scripture, “Inside or outside, make up your mind!”  This star that leads wise men on Christmas Eve causes crises. It leads insiders outside anxiously questioning their own authority.  And it leads outsiders inside excitedly expressing their joy.  The more I look at this star, the more my Dad’s command demands an answer, “Inside or outside, make up your mind!”
 

The star leads insiders outside anxiously questioning their own authority

Herod was definitely an insider.  He was the ruler of Judea.  He persistently plotted and politicked until he was finally given the title, King of Israel.  He was really a client king, which meant he could stay king as long as the emperor liked him.  The emperor liked him as long as he kept things under control in his tiny corner of the empire.  He did that through political marriages (ten of them) and a somewhat paranoid lookout for any rivals.  This latter quality led him to execute three of his sons, a brother-in-law, his second wife, and her mother.  It was clear to see that he was an insider with all the power – or so he thought.  But when he heard about the birth of the King of the Jews, he was frightened.  The Greek word tarasso is a word that indicates being stirred up, unsettled, and thrown into confusion.  Arndt-Gingrich, New Testament Greek scholars, refer to it as mental and spiritual agitation and confusion that came upon Herod at once, as soon as he heard about the birth of the King in his kingdom. Tarasso, he was frightened.

A couple of years ago my son, Zachary, called me and his voice was shaking some.  He had not been gone from the house long, but I could tell something terrible had just happened.  He said, “Dad, I just wrecked my car.” 

The very words hit me like a punch in the gut.  I said, “I will be right there.”  I grabbed my keys, ran past Tammy, got in my car, and took off.  I was frightened, greatly troubled – tarasso.   Of course, I soon realized that I had not determined where Zac was.  I called him back and found out.  Fortunately, he had only totaled his car.  My son was alright.  Tarasso – you may never have heard that word before, but I am guessing that you have felt it.  For Herod the star was leading him, an insider, outside – there was another king in town and everyone knows one area is never large enough for two rulers.

Herod wasn’t the only person experiencing this tarasso.  Verse three has a curious phrase, “and all Jerusalem with him.”  I don’t particularly care for that phrase.  It is easy enough for me to dismiss Herod as a madman whose power had gone to his brain.  Certainly I am no Herod.  But I could be one of the people of Jerusalem.  So it is important for me to know why they were frightened.  It may be one of those situation where “when Herod ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”  Maybe they were just afraid of Herod’s wild wrath.  However, there is another possibility.  They may have been content  with the way things were.  Sure they were still under Roman control and were being governed by a man who was a bit paranoid, but as long as they were a few tiers below him, they could survive alright.  The coming of a Messiah could really shake up their world.  They may not have been ready for that.  Is that what produced tarasso in them?  John Calvin wrote about all of Jerusalem, “They were so benumbed and stupefied that the promised redemption and salvation almost stank in their nostrils.”

How comfortable are you with the Messiah calling the shots with regard to your relationships, your time, your money, your life?  Sometimes the more inside we are the more outside this seems.  So tonight I say to you what my Dad frequently said to me this time of year, “Inside or outside, make up your mind!”
 

The Star Leads Outsiders Inside excitedly expressing their joy

I am not sure that you can find more outsiders than these star gazers.  They were known as wise men to many, but to 21^st Century scientists, these guys would have been way out there.  They were astrologers.  We get our words magic and magician from their title Magi.  The amazing thing to me about this story is that God met these outsiders where they were and spoke to them in their language.  Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Nero the Emperor all claimed some kind of stellar attestation to their ascension to power.  The Magi knew the stars and they knew that something was significantly different about them, so they left their land and followed the star, which led them directly to the house where the child was.  When they were led inside, verse ten states, “they were overwhelmed with joy.”  The Greek text of this expression uses a verb, a noun, an adjective, and an adverb to describe the response of the magi.  The literal translation of this phrase is, “they rejoiced extremely with great joy”.  Matthew pulled out all the stops, using every possible modifier to describe the joy that these outsiders felt.  A few weeks ago I referred to this as overjoy.

Overjoy is to joy what belly laughter is to laughter.  You know the difference between a smile and a chuckle and a roll on the floor laughing until you cry.  This is why I love live nativity scenes.  Years ago my daughter was in the Live Nativity at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.  She played the role of Mary.  Joseph was played by her boyfriend at the time.  They were making their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, or as we saw it the north end of the lawn to the south end.  All of a sudden the donkey got the stories confused.  Instead of being the donkey shaggy and brown who carried Mary to Bethlehem town, he thought he was Balaam’s donkey described in the book of Numbers that refused to go another inch along the path.  Doug pulled the donkey, but the more that he pulled the more stubborn the donkey became.  Doug was an offensive lineman for his high school football team and he was not going to be shown up by a donkey.  He pulled so hard and the donkey resisted so much that there may still be ruts in the grass made by the immovable hoofs of the donkey and the brute strength of a buff Joseph.  Finally, the owner of the donkey stepped into the outdoor scene and convinced the donkey to get his self to Bethlehem.  The donkey, once moved, refused to stop pulling the same young man that had tried to pull him.  They would have gone all the way to Egypt if the set and the speakers had not slowed them down.  The usually reverent crowd was out of control with laughter.  Many tears were shed that night, but I am afraid they were not tears of serenity.  They were tears of belly laughter.  Lest you think that this was not a holy moment, I was reminded by the young man who played Joseph, that it was a very spiritual experience for him. As the donkey raced past the makeshift stable he looked directly into the manger and prayed, “Dear Jesus, help me! Let those who brought these animals take this animal.”

I love this kind of laughter.  I love this kind of overjoy.  When I feel it, I am aware of nothing else.  I am not stressed about the next assignment.  I am not obsessing about fractured relationships.  I am only here and feeling only this.  It is a great gift. It is the gift that is given to all outsiders who are led inside to where the child is. 

Tonight, I invite you to follow the star.  It can cause a lot of trouble, or at least a crisis – a change in your life.  To those who are quite comfortable on the inside it could cause you to feel – tarasso, spiritually and mentally agitated or confused.  Certainly there is not room for two rulers in your life.  To those on the outside confident that you may never be able to live up to the expectations of this new ruler, but still you seek him – you may very well be led to overjoy, where you are only here feeling only this.