“Secrets and Mysteries”

January 03, 2010

Isaiah 60:1-5 Matthew 2:1-12 Ephesians 3:1-12

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote:

`Wouldst thou' - so the helmsman answered.

‘Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
comprehend its mystery!'

In Longfellow’s words we are reminded that mystery is explored not by watching from the outside or from a
distance, but by becoming a part of that which we desire to explore. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the famous
scientists who developed the first atomic bomb once said,

“Both the man of science and the man of action live always at the edge of mystery, surrounded by it.”

Secrets and mysteries are often described as something unknown, something that is hidden in the dark, or
shrouded in darkness or otherwise obscured from view. Mystery has become an entire genre of writing and
includes many famous authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha
Christie and many others. As humans, our natural inquisitiveness pushes us to discover the unknown (perhaps
as a reaction to our own fear) but we are often fascinated by mysteries and by detective stories including the
modern television series such as CSI and NCIS. The goal in any of these mystery stories is the same as it is in
any scientific investigation of the unknown, to discover the truth and to understand what was previously
unknown.

Like the natural world, scripture is full of mystery. It seems natural that our knowledge would be incomplete
when we consider that we are finite beings, who are trying to describe and understand a being that is infinite,
mortals trying to describe the immortal. George Washington Carver once said,

“When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, 'That
knowledge is for me alone.' So I said, 'God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.' Then God said, 'Well
George, that's more nearly your size.' And he told me.”

This morning we consider some of the mystery of scripture but of course we cannot hope to discover the
answers to every mystery contained in scripture, instead, we will explore just a small peanut sized part.

Today we begin eight hundred years before the time of Jesus, in the time of the prophet Isaiah. In that time,
Isaiah said: (Isaiah 60:1-5)
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"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
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See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
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Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
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"Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.
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Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

Isaiah says that because our light has come, we also should rise up and shine our light into a world that is
covered in darkness. Darkness covers the people of the earth but when the light comes, nations will be drawn to
it. People and nations will be drawn away from the darkness and toward the light, ignorance will be drawn to
knowledge and the mysteries of the universe will be revealed. As we read we can also see that the light that is
to come, will come to all nations, whatever we choose to call it, the light will come, knowledge will come, the
LORD will come into the world and he will come to everyone.

Psalm 72 says much the same thing. In Psalm 72:11-14 we hear these words…

11
All kings will bow down to him
and all nations will serve him.
12
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.

Again we hear the emphasis on the word “all.” “All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve
him.” We also hear about a ruler who will help the needy and all those who have had no one else to help them.
We hear about a leader who is strong but who protects the weak and who rescues them from others who would
use their strength to oppress them. In our world, the world is governed by hundreds of nations, where many of
those nations are in danger of fracturing and where even in stable nations such as ours, we cannot even once
agree 100 percent on what leader we should follow. In our world, despite our best efforts, the needy and the
afflicted always need more than we can give. In our world, oppression and violence are ordinary and
commonplace. In our world a leader who unites the nations, delivers the needy and protects the weak is clearly
a mystery. Our imaginations can barely grasp what such a leader would be like because our minds are filled
with the untold number of impossibilities that would prevent it from happening.

Into this world of the impossible, entered Jesus. An improbable child born to improbable parents, a tiny baby,
born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough; To this child comes visitors, both shepherds who are outcasts in their
society, and magi, learned wise men who, aside from kings, essentially represent the core of government and
polite society. (Matthew 2:1-12)
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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to
Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and
have come to worship him."
3
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all
the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In
Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
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" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

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 for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
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Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent
them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to
me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of
them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then
they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been
warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Magi read the signs that they had seen in the heavens and they knew that a king had been born in Israel but
there remained an element of mystery because they didn’t know where he had been born. They came assuming
that the king that had been born in the capitol and would be found in the kings castle but they were wrong.
Herod was king and wanted to stay that way. Herod was not a Jew but he knew that stars do not proclaim the
birth of ordinary kings and he also knew that no one could become king without removing him from power first.
Herod asked the priests and the teachers where the Messiah was to be born because he knew that God’s
promised savior was the only solution to the mystery presented by the magi. Herod then met in secret with the
magi, not only to tell them where the messiah was to be born, but to find out when the star had appeared and to
conspire with them to tell him who they found and where they found him. God had other plans.

The magi, even though they were not worshippers of Israel’s God, met God in a dream and knew that they
should not return to report to Herod but in doing so kept their secret and created another mystery. Since Herod
did not know which child in Bethlehem was the messiah, he attempted to solve the mystery in his own way and
sent soldiers to kill every male child that had been born even before the magi saw the star. Herod was brutal but
efficient, but this time he still failed and the mystery survived.

Paul draws together all these ideas and presents yet another mystery. Paul says that God has given him a
revelation, that God has revealed to him new knowledge into the mystery of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:1-12)
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For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2
Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3that is, the
mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be
able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other
generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that
through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers
together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
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I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.
8
Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages
past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the
manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
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according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith
in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged
because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

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Paul says that a part of the mystery is solved because Jesus is the one who has been revealed as the Messiah.
Jesus is the one who has brought light into the world. Jesus is the one who will attract followers from every
nation, tribe and language. Jesus is the one to whom all kings will bow, who will help the needy, protect the
weak, and unite the nations, Jesus, who from his very birth was worshipped by both outcasts and the Gentile
leaders of foreign nations. Jesus is the answer to this mystery because Jesus is a king like no other earthly king
that has ever lived. Paul says that for ages past the solution to this mystery was kept hidden and secret by God
but has now been made known now that it as been completed.

The pivotal part of this message is found in verse 10 as Paul announces God’s intent and purpose. Paul says
that God’s intent, God’s purpose and plan is that now, through the church, the wisdom of God should be made
known. God’s plan is for the church to announce and reveal to the world what he has accomplished through
Jesus Christ. God’s plan is for his people, the followers of Jesus Christ, to tell everyone that regardless of our
nationality, or race, or language we are united through Jesus. Regardless of who we are, Jew or Greek, slave or
free, black or white, American, Chinese, Arab or Jew, through faith in Christ we can all approach God without
fear but with freedom and confidence.

There is no more mystery over how humans can reach God or how humanity can please God. There is no more
mystery over how, or over whom, we should worship. The entire world, the entire tribe of humanity can now
be united through Jesus Christ. Many other mysteries remain as we explore our relationships with an infinite
God. During this New Year won’t you join us and become a part of that which you desire to explore?

`Wouldst thou' - so the helmsman answered.

‘Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
comprehend its mystery!'

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

More Quotes About Mystery

• “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.” - Albert Einstein

• “Rest enough for the individual man, too much and too soon, and we call it death. But for man, no rest
and no ending. He must go on, conquest beyond conquest. First this little planet and all its winds and
ways, and then all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him, and, at last,
out across immensities to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deep space, and all the mysteries
of time, still he will be beginning.” - H. G. Wells

• “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we
ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” – Max Planck

• “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot
help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of
reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a
holy curiosity.” - Albert Einstein

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• “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all
science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in
awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” - Albert Einstein

• “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious - the fundamental emotion which stands
at the cradle of true art and true science. Living Philosophies, 1931” - Albert Einstein.

• “Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing.” - Henry Miller

• “There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part.” -
Bram Stoker

• “This is your time

This is your dance
Live every moment
Leave nothing to chance
Swim in the sea
Drink of the deep
Embrace the mystery of all you can be
This is your time.” - Michael W. Smith

• “When a man undergoes treatment from a doctor, he does not need to know the way in which the drug
works on his body in order to be cured. There is a sense in which Christianity is like that. At the heart of
Christianity there is a mystery, but it is not the mystery of intellectual appreciation; it, the mystery of
redemption.” - William Barclay

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All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.