My dearly sainted father professor, whom many see as the human epitome of the Gospel, myself included, would often ask this question with regard to a Biblical text, especially in preparation for preaching or teaching: “How does this text give us Jesus?” With a text like this, it’s a good idea to ask Dr. Norman Nagel’s question: “How do the Beatitudes give us Jesus?” It is Jesus speaking them, part of His Sermon on the Mount, so how does Jesus give Himself to you in this text?

The simple answer is found right at the end where Jesus proclaims to His listeners, and you can include yourselves in that bunch, “Blessed are you…”

It might not be evident that He is speaking to those to whom He has given faith. And again, you can include yourselves in that bunch. “Blessed are you,” Jesus says, “when a bunch of really bad things happen to you because of Me—because of Me, because of what you are in me; you can rejoice in the midst of these bad things, in the very face of these bad things, because you are being numbered among the prophets who were before you and persecuted before you, who spoke of Me, and were blessed because of Me.” “Blessed are you,” Jesus says, “because of Me.” No one can be blessed unless they are numbered among the faithful—unless they are among those who have received and not rejected the faith God has to give, a faith which clings to the Christ and the great work He has accomplished for the salvation of the world by His death on the cross. No one can be blessed, except because of Christ, and that blessing can only be received from and through Christ.

His was a life seemingly filled with setbacks and continual difficulty. And it all started while He was still in the womb.

Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, who was pledge to be her husband, was filled with doubt and confusion. “She’s pregnant, but I didn’t do it. What will the people think if I take her to be my wife while she’s pregnant? Or, better yet, what will they think if we get married and the baby is already here?” So, he sought to divorce her quietly. How could he take Mary and the baby to be his own?

Next, after Jesus had been born, and while He was still an infant, there was a call for his life. Herod demanded the lives of all newborn males in order to keep his power on the throne. So, off to Egypt does this trio ventured, Joseph having overcome his doubt and confusion by a vision from God. “[O]ut of Egypt I called My son,” (Hosea 11:1) the prophet declared. Word fulfilled.

The people flocked out to see him. He preached repentance to them. They met him in the river. There they were baptized by him, a baptism of repentance. Sinners flocked to John the Baptizer and heard the Law of God:

Many did bear fruit in keeping with repentance as they were baptized by John. Down into the Jordan they went, one after another, to be washed by him, crucified, as it were, by his preaching of repentance. From John, the greatest of the prophets and that preacher sent by God, they received the forgiveness of their sins. But then he said it:

They all looked up, and that’s when they saw it. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.”

I’ll start this sermon by saying that I believe that there is no salvation outside of the Church. Let me explain… St. Mark put it this way: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Faith is begotten and nurtured in the Church; outside of the Church, faith withers and dies, if it existed at all. Jesus saves—it is all His work; it is only unbelief that condemns. Is it possible for someone outside of the Church to believe? I suppose it could happen if God wills it, but everything I’ve seen and read is that belief outside of the Church is no different than that of the demons who believe and tremble (cf. James 2:19), and that’s not saving faith. Believers, those who have faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their redeemer, are found in the Church; hence, outside of the Church, there is no salvation.

Well, what can be done then about those wise men who visited the young Child Jesus? These men were magi or magicians, astrologers, very likely descendants and disciples of Babylonian wise men—the same Babylonians who brought the Judeans into exile some 600 years before these wise men saw the star rise. Did they believe in God, trust in His promises? If they did, their faith was incomplete—that is to say, their knowledge of their creator was incomplete, likely only having fragments of what Daniel and the three young men (and other Judean wise men) had left behind after their captivity. So, seeing the star, they knew something was up—they knew that a promised King had been born to the descendants of the Judeans.

So, these pagans packed up their belongings for a long trek. They brought along gifts with them to give to this King, tribute which prefigures his Divine Reign and Death—gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What did they know? What would they find?

Jesus asked, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”