Lessons in wise faith

“The Magi teach us true faith,” said Martin Luther. Given the obstacles they encountered, we would understand if they had given up altogether! First, the travelers were “off the mark,” coming to Jerusalem to seek a newborn king in a “royal palace.” Then, directed to Bethlehem, the wise men found a sight “so utterly out of keeping with a king” — a poor young woman and child, in a “poor hut” — that one might expect them to head straight home. “But,” declares Luther, “with a great, strong and full faith they ... follow the word of the prophet and the witness of the star in all purity of heart,” bowing to worship and honor the Savior. —Based on Luther’s sermon for the Festival of the Epiphany (1522), Luther’s Works NewsletterNewsletter January 2019