Micah And Matthew
Sermon
While I consider myself to be very much in tune with the modern era, well into technology and all that it can offer, there are times when I look back with nostalgia to the past.
I was a child in those long ago days before the advent of tea bags, and one of the joys of my childhood was my grandmother reading the tea leaves. The trick was to leave just the right amount of tea in the cup. If you left too much, the tea leaves just swirled around in the liquid. If you left too little, the tea leaves couldn't swirl around at all and just sat in a compact mass at the bottom of the cup.
But leave exactly the right amount of tea and my grandmother would gently tilt the cup to swirl the leaves, then see all sorts of exciting scenarios in the pattern of the leaves inside the cup. It was amazing what she saw. She'd see dogs and cats and houses and people, and weave all sorts of wonderful stories about them. I could never see any of those things without her interpretation, but once she pointed them out to me they'd become as clear and obvious to me as they were to her.
It was great fun and I loved it.
I have to confess that I've often wondered whether Matthew's interpretation of some of the Biblical prophecies falls into a similar category to my grandmother's tea leaves. Matthew was writing for Jews, so was very concerned to prove that Jesus Christ was the long awaited Messiah. Hence throughout his gospel, Matthew searches out Old Testament references and applies them to Jesus.
Matthew seems to do this with the little book of Micah, which is hardly read in the Christian calendar, except on this Sunday just before Christmas and at the traditional carol services of nine lessons and carols.
Out of Micah's whole book, Matthew selects just three verses and sees in them a prediction of the birth of Jesus Christ. And these are usually the only three verses we ever get to hear from Micah's book. When Micah wrote his book some eight centuries before Christ, he was clearly thinking much more immediately than eight centuries ahead. The Israelites as usual had fallen away from God and from God's laws and commandments. Society was going to seed; the culture had become decadent and the officials corrupt. Micah and his contemporary Isaiah warned that such goings-on would end in tears, with disaster for the nation.
Most of Micah's book is devoted to his dire warnings to Israel and Judah to mend their ways. He attacks the rich exploiters of the poor, the fraudulent merchants, the venal judges, and the corrupt priests and prophets. Micah was a man of the countryside, of the Judean lowlands, and for him the vices of the nation seemed to be centered in its capital cities of Samaria in the North and Jerusalem in the South, so he singles out both of these great cities for judgment. He warns that the sins of the nation will result in God's just but terrifying judgment and he particularly censures Judah's leaders for betraying their God-given trust and their divine responsibility.
But having delivered his judgment, Micah's thoughts turn to restoration and peace and refreshment, and so he ends on a note of promise. And it's this note of promise which we recognise year after year at Christmas, for Micah prophecies that "one who is to rule Israel" will arise from the little town of Bethlehem and will "feed his flock in the strength of the Lord". That flock will live secure lives, Micah adds, for that ruler will be great to the ends of the earth and will be a man of peace.
Matthew, in the New Testament, picks up these wonderful verses written in the Old Testament by Micah 800 years earlier, and interprets them for us. As soon as Matthew interprets those verses for me I can see what he means, but if I were simply to read the whole of Micah's book without any thoughts of the birth of Jesus in my head, I wonder whether I would interpret Micah's verses in quite the same way? And that leads me to wonder whether Matthew actually wrote his birth stories with this well-known Jewish prophecy in mind, because the prophecy fits Matthew's birth narrative so exactly.
Could Matthew's interpretation of the centuries-old prophecy be a bit like the tea leaves? You see in them what you want to see in them. Only two of the gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, mention the Christmas birth stories at all. Of these two, Luke has almost all the details about the Christmas story. It's from Luke that we learn about the census and the journey to Bethlehem and the stable and the shepherds.
Matthew begins his gospel with a long and detailed genealogy of Jesus, proving to his readers that Jesus was indeed born of David's line. Then he tells us the story of wicked King Herod, who was so jealous of the thought of the birth of a baby prince that he ordered all the baby boys in the area to be killed. So already at this earliest stage in his book, Matthew is pointing out to his readers how they and their fellow countrymen have abused Jesus and how much they have to answer for. He emphasises the negligence of the Jews by telling us of some strangers, some gentile astronomers, who according to Matthew, were the only people to discover and visit the new born baby. He names these Magi as the only ones to offer gifts to the new-born baby, and they're gifts fit for a king, for a priest, and for one who will eventually die. But Matthew doesn't mention the Jewish shepherds who feature so strongly in Luke's account of the first Christmas. So in his account of the birth of Jesus, Matthew is telling the Jews how mistaken they have been, how they've misjudged the situation and how it took gentile strangers to make the connection between those long ago prophecies and Jesus of Nazareth.
Whether or not Matthew wrote his stories in order to fit in with Micah's prophecy, the prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Micah knew that to ignore God and God's laws inevitably leads to disaster, but he also knew that God never gives up on his people and would eventually redeem even the worst situation to bring peace and resurrection. That period of peace and resurrection began at the first Christmas when Jesus was born, and was brought to its ultimate fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This pattern, forecast so long ago by Micah, continues today for both individuals, institutions and civilisations. When institutions or civilisations become decadent, they eventually fall. So do human beings who become decadent. But God's story always ends not on a low note, but on a high note. As Micah showed, God's story always ends in hope and promise. This is the message of Christmas and it's a message which goes on and on. Whatever happens in life, or however bad we might feel, there is always hope, there is always promise. God is on our side and to prove it he sent us a special Christmas baby two thousand years ago.
That's the best Christmas gift we could ever receive. This year, let's thank God for giving us Jesus at Christmas.
I was a child in those long ago days before the advent of tea bags, and one of the joys of my childhood was my grandmother reading the tea leaves. The trick was to leave just the right amount of tea in the cup. If you left too much, the tea leaves just swirled around in the liquid. If you left too little, the tea leaves couldn't swirl around at all and just sat in a compact mass at the bottom of the cup.
But leave exactly the right amount of tea and my grandmother would gently tilt the cup to swirl the leaves, then see all sorts of exciting scenarios in the pattern of the leaves inside the cup. It was amazing what she saw. She'd see dogs and cats and houses and people, and weave all sorts of wonderful stories about them. I could never see any of those things without her interpretation, but once she pointed them out to me they'd become as clear and obvious to me as they were to her.
It was great fun and I loved it.
I have to confess that I've often wondered whether Matthew's interpretation of some of the Biblical prophecies falls into a similar category to my grandmother's tea leaves. Matthew was writing for Jews, so was very concerned to prove that Jesus Christ was the long awaited Messiah. Hence throughout his gospel, Matthew searches out Old Testament references and applies them to Jesus.
Matthew seems to do this with the little book of Micah, which is hardly read in the Christian calendar, except on this Sunday just before Christmas and at the traditional carol services of nine lessons and carols.
Out of Micah's whole book, Matthew selects just three verses and sees in them a prediction of the birth of Jesus Christ. And these are usually the only three verses we ever get to hear from Micah's book. When Micah wrote his book some eight centuries before Christ, he was clearly thinking much more immediately than eight centuries ahead. The Israelites as usual had fallen away from God and from God's laws and commandments. Society was going to seed; the culture had become decadent and the officials corrupt. Micah and his contemporary Isaiah warned that such goings-on would end in tears, with disaster for the nation.
Most of Micah's book is devoted to his dire warnings to Israel and Judah to mend their ways. He attacks the rich exploiters of the poor, the fraudulent merchants, the venal judges, and the corrupt priests and prophets. Micah was a man of the countryside, of the Judean lowlands, and for him the vices of the nation seemed to be centered in its capital cities of Samaria in the North and Jerusalem in the South, so he singles out both of these great cities for judgment. He warns that the sins of the nation will result in God's just but terrifying judgment and he particularly censures Judah's leaders for betraying their God-given trust and their divine responsibility.
But having delivered his judgment, Micah's thoughts turn to restoration and peace and refreshment, and so he ends on a note of promise. And it's this note of promise which we recognise year after year at Christmas, for Micah prophecies that "one who is to rule Israel" will arise from the little town of Bethlehem and will "feed his flock in the strength of the Lord". That flock will live secure lives, Micah adds, for that ruler will be great to the ends of the earth and will be a man of peace.
Matthew, in the New Testament, picks up these wonderful verses written in the Old Testament by Micah 800 years earlier, and interprets them for us. As soon as Matthew interprets those verses for me I can see what he means, but if I were simply to read the whole of Micah's book without any thoughts of the birth of Jesus in my head, I wonder whether I would interpret Micah's verses in quite the same way? And that leads me to wonder whether Matthew actually wrote his birth stories with this well-known Jewish prophecy in mind, because the prophecy fits Matthew's birth narrative so exactly.
Could Matthew's interpretation of the centuries-old prophecy be a bit like the tea leaves? You see in them what you want to see in them. Only two of the gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, mention the Christmas birth stories at all. Of these two, Luke has almost all the details about the Christmas story. It's from Luke that we learn about the census and the journey to Bethlehem and the stable and the shepherds.
Matthew begins his gospel with a long and detailed genealogy of Jesus, proving to his readers that Jesus was indeed born of David's line. Then he tells us the story of wicked King Herod, who was so jealous of the thought of the birth of a baby prince that he ordered all the baby boys in the area to be killed. So already at this earliest stage in his book, Matthew is pointing out to his readers how they and their fellow countrymen have abused Jesus and how much they have to answer for. He emphasises the negligence of the Jews by telling us of some strangers, some gentile astronomers, who according to Matthew, were the only people to discover and visit the new born baby. He names these Magi as the only ones to offer gifts to the new-born baby, and they're gifts fit for a king, for a priest, and for one who will eventually die. But Matthew doesn't mention the Jewish shepherds who feature so strongly in Luke's account of the first Christmas. So in his account of the birth of Jesus, Matthew is telling the Jews how mistaken they have been, how they've misjudged the situation and how it took gentile strangers to make the connection between those long ago prophecies and Jesus of Nazareth.
Whether or not Matthew wrote his stories in order to fit in with Micah's prophecy, the prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Micah knew that to ignore God and God's laws inevitably leads to disaster, but he also knew that God never gives up on his people and would eventually redeem even the worst situation to bring peace and resurrection. That period of peace and resurrection began at the first Christmas when Jesus was born, and was brought to its ultimate fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This pattern, forecast so long ago by Micah, continues today for both individuals, institutions and civilisations. When institutions or civilisations become decadent, they eventually fall. So do human beings who become decadent. But God's story always ends not on a low note, but on a high note. As Micah showed, God's story always ends in hope and promise. This is the message of Christmas and it's a message which goes on and on. Whatever happens in life, or however bad we might feel, there is always hope, there is always promise. God is on our side and to prove it he sent us a special Christmas baby two thousand years ago.
That's the best Christmas gift we could ever receive. This year, let's thank God for giving us Jesus at Christmas.
