The story of the visit of the wise men spends more time with Herod than with Jesus – but they knew which was the better find.
Here’s a transcript:
As I begin this first installment of What I’m Thinking for 2024: Hau’oli makahiki hou! Happy New Year to one and all.
I’m thinking about the Gospel reading for this coming Saturday, January 6th, which is found in the second chapter of Matthew (Matthew 2:1-12), and I’m taking the freedom to use that reading for Sunday. Saturday, you see, is Epiphany. It’s one of the most ancient celebrations of the Christian Church.
Epiphany means “revelation” or “manifestation” and in its origins it celebrates the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. Over the centuries, and especially in relation to the Christmas holiday, it has come to be the day on which we celebrate the arrival of the Magi after the birth of Jesus. Accordingly, I’m thinking about the second chapter of Matthew, the arrival of the magi.
Again, over the centuries so many ideas and beliefs have been attached to this story. Because there were three gifts, the assumption has come to mean that there were three Magi. It doesn’t say how many there were or weren’t. Magi, which in its origin means wise man or scholar or even astrologer, even magician (the root is the same for the English word magician), well those got transfigured into monarchs, into the “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”
And of course we tend to skip over what actually occupies most of this story, which is their interaction with King Herod, ruler of Galilee and Judea at the time.
They believed from the star that they saw that a new king had been born for the Jewish people, so they went to the place where the king was. The king, however, knew nothing about it, but he did know enough about the beliefs in a promised Messiah to ask where the Messiah was likely to be born. Then he sent the magi there to Bethlehem with the instruction that they come back and tell him so that he also could go to bring gifts, to pay homage. In reality, of course, when the Messiah comes, that places the rule of existing monarchs and emperors and all the rest of them at risk. He wanted to know where this Messiah was in order to eliminate a threat.
As a result, the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and they went back to their homes by another way.
The funny thing about this story is that it spends most of its time in Jerusalem with Herod and the Magi, and then Herod and his own scholars, and then Herod and the Magi again. That’s the bulk of the words. Yet the main event is the incarnation of God in Jesus. The main event is the child that they saw with his mother Mary. The main event is their recognition of God’s profound gift not just to Israel but to the world.
Herod wouldn’t see it. The Magi almost didn’t see it — if they had been content to simply accept Herod’s assurances that there was no new king born for Israel — but the Magi did follow the clues that were there: the star, the prophecy, the star again, and they found not just what they were searching for but something that was even greater than they could imagine.
As we approach this Epiphany, as we approach this recognition of God’s profound gift to the people of the earth, let us follow the example of those ancient wise people: continue our search for the manifestation of God here in the world, to continue our search, bring our gifts, and return to our homes with profound joy.
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.
