Some star Bible verses for your Epiphany edification

Numbers 24:17

Revelation 22:16

2 Peter 1:19

Philippians 2:15

Following a star?

Peter Leithart, following James Jordan, claims (conventional!) stars can't really be followed to a particular house or stable. The "star" is really like the glory cloud / fire which led Israel in the wilderness. Israel has become like Egypt. The Magi have become true Israelites.

Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017) p70

Don't you think the wonderful literary artistry of the Bible proves it must have been written by God, by the way? People literally could not have made it up.

Joseph

Commenting on Matthew's gospel, Peter Leithart claims:

Joseph of Nazareth is parallel to the Joseph in the book of Genesis: Both are righteous men who dream (1:20), both go to Egypt with their family (2:14), and both return (2:21). 

Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017), p69

Matthew's Gospel Inclusios

It is pretty obvious that one will need to read Peter Leithart, Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017), but just in case you need persuading, here's something interesting from a footnote on the very first page:

The name Mary is used 12x in the gospels but only once (13:55) between chapters 2 and 27
The gift of a rich man's tomb recalls the gifts of the Magi
Herod's efforts to eliminate Jesus as a rival king // Pilate
The death of the innocents and of Jesus
The beatitudes and the woes of ch. 23

(Annoyingly, I have owned the book for less than a day and page has just fallen out!)

The Epiphany (Matthew 2)

Further miscellaneous jottings:

The Magi: From Heretics to Heroes (a sermon title I saw somewhere)

The Magi from the East might seem rather unlike us, but we too were born East of Eden, in the realm of sin

Jesus in his coming and going from the world was attended by great men bringing valuable gifts of spices

It is clear that Jesus had come for all the world since he was born in an inn, a place for travellers from whatever place, when the whole world had come to be taxed and the star of his birth was clear to all. (After Lancelot Andrews)

3 manifest stars: (1) The star in heaven (2) the star of faith in the Magi's hearts (3) Christ, the bright morning star himself. Will you make it a 4 star Epiphany?!

The Magi - as the star had risen in heavens, so the morning star had risen in their hearts

The Wisdom of God is found by the wise men.

The star leads us to The Bright Morning Star

A star high in the heavens signifies a lowly baby in a manger

Contrast the Shepherds and the Wise Men

The revelation to the former was somewhat private, the revelation to the latter public.

Lowly / High born

Local / Distant

Stars are signs. Open the signature who can. (Lancelot Andrews)

Numbers 24

Natural revelation is helpful but insufficient. The heavens bring them some of the way, but they need the Bible. The star is gone, the Scriptures remain.

They have the light of the star in their eyes but they also need the word of God in their ears and the Spirit of life in their hearts.

Seeking Jesus is not enough.

It is possible to seek him for the wrong reasons, as Herod did.

Knowing about his coming, as the Scribes did, is not sufficient.

We must seek him in order to worship him.

And we must actually worship him.

The other Herod at his death will seek him and give him a mocking worship.

The whole world and the Scriptures and all our journeying and seeking are to this end: that we might worship Christ

What a great and necessary thing it is to come and worship, which was so hard for them and so easy for us

We are to worship him with soul and body (head, knee, feet, hands etc.) and goods. After all, he made us and gave us our goods.

Much of the above inspired by / stolen from:
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/andrewes/lancebib.htm?fbclid=IwAR3tvbzhWfuxGvpDE7iIBOH17LYWRKA-cELRJCTAAl2xorYBuXOKznE7Fhk

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/matthew-21-2-some-headings.html

http://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/following-star.html

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/some-star-bible-verses-for-your.html

See further:

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2014/12/for-epiphany-wise-men-kings-magi-stuff.html

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/is-the-story-of-epiphany-plausible/

Lee on the Lectionary and also videos from other years: https://vimeo.com/308897977/02327ab44c?fbclid=IwAR2hgsoB96gyUFj397lN4e_n8mOOCVioiCS1TbFF9ExEYe9fxwbgU54_kfw

Alistair Roberts on the Magi / Magicians and Balaam:

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/01/the-eighth-day-of-christmas-pharaoh-and-the-magicians/

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/02/the-ninth-day-of-christmas-foreigners-in-search-of-wisdom/

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/03/the-tenth-day-of-christmas-balaam-and-the-magi/

Matthew 2:1-2 - some headings

I sometimes think we can be too addicted to sermon headings, but you have got to love Puritan style headings for noticing things in the text:

Matthew 2:1-2

e.g.

The time
The place
The persons
Their origin / nationality
Their occupation / status / roles / learning / skill / rich / kingly etc.
Their destinations
Their question
Their occasion - it's nature and location
Their object / errand
Their faith, their confessing of it (neither afraid of Herod nor ashamed of Christ), the grounds of it, their coming (a difficult, dangerous, distant journey without delay) and diligent seeking (seeing they came, sought, asked, found and worshiped) etc.
What they believe of Christ: his nature, his office, their relation to him
The star affected their eyes, minds, lips, feet, knees, hands etc.
Their worship with their bodies and with their goods

etc.

(After http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon14.html and http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon15.html)

Like two men carrying a huge bunch of grapes

According to Bishop Lancelot Andrews, the Fathers aptly liken those who came before and after Christ to two men carrying an enormous bunch of grapes on a pole between their shoulders. Both surely carry Christ. But one goes before, unable to see Christ fully and continuously. The other comes after: he has a more sure and sustained view of Christ.

Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume One, SERMONS OF THE NATIVITY PREACHED UPON CHRISTMAS-DAY, 1620. Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Monday, the Twenty-fifth of December, A.D. MDCXX. http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon14.html