Matthew 2:1 - 12
When we look at our manger scene, we
see a newborn baby, shepherds, a few farm animals, Mary and Joseph,
and of course, three wise men. If we read the actual scriptures, we
see that the shepherds and the whole stable scene took place around
the time of Jesus’ birth. But it was almost certainly another time
when the Magi visited. According to Matthew’s gospel, Mary and
Jesus are now in a house somewhere in Bethlehem. Herod later orders
that all male children under two years old be murdered, so based on
the calculations of the scribes and advisers to Herod, it’s
possible that Jesus may have been as old as two years when this all
took place. When we put the shepherds and the magi together we miss
part of what each evangelist is saying: Luke who gives us the
shepherds is saying that the Savior first becomes manifest to the
outcasts, the lowly, the unclean – represented by the shepherds.
Matthew introduces us to the magi, who are learned, upper class, and
most importantly, gentiles. The Magi who come to see the Messiah
have learned about his coming through their observations of the sky
and possibly through some exposure to the Jewish scriptures. They
show that God is extending his salvation to all men, and
incidentally, God reveals himself to human beings in other ways than
through scripture. So on this feast of the Epiphany we rejoice in
the fact that we gentiles have been invited into the Kingdom along
with the Jewish people.
Matthew tells us that the Magi brought
Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They may have brought other
things as well, or maybe the infant Jesus decided to play with the
boxes that those gifts came in. But we know the gifts are symbolic.
Matthew is speaking to Jews from his own Jewish tradition. Gold
recalls David, the king. David was not the first king of Israel;
that was Saul. David was not the most powerful king of Israel; that
would be his son Solomon. In fact, much of David’s life was
running; he ran from Saul and his army, and he ran from his son
Absalom, who tried to take over the kingdom by force. David was
obviously a sinner, having committed adultery and murder. But to the
Jews David was first and foremost a hero. Under his rule the entire
Jewish people had been united and finally achieved peace, and David
had begun the effort to build the temple
Frankincense recalls the priesthood.
Priests kept busy sacrificing animals in the temple. One historian
said that over passover about 250,000 lambs were slaughtered. But
priests also burned incense. The rising smoke symbolized the prayers
of the people.
Myrrh was probably the oddest gift to
give a baby. It was used to embalm the dead. So Matthew’s message
in these gifts is to remind us that Jesus is king, high priest, and
will die for us. But we can look at these gifts in other ways. The
Magi, after all are bringing gifts to the Christ child. This is a
good time for us to ask what gifts we are bringing?
Certainly there is always a need for
our gifts of gold – our possessions, as it were. Our church needs
our support of course, but there are plenty of poor people who need
what we have so much of. Jesus told us that what we do for the least
of our brothers we do for him. God has blessed most of us with
abundance; we live in nice homes, drive late model cars, go on
vacations – some of us are willing to pay more for a specialty
coffee at Starbucks than it would take to buy a decent meal at
McDonalds for someone who is hungry. Is there an opportunity in your
life to be more generous? It’s a good time of year to ask that
question. In fact, that would make a great new year’s resolution.
Frankincense is associated with
worship. We come to the weekend liturgy faithfully. But giving God
an hour of our time once a week is sort of the bare minimum. How are
we advancing in our spiritual path? Do we have a time for daily
prayer? Do we say the rosary? We claim to believe the Bible is the
word of God; Do we open it once in a while? Do we commit to finding
out more about our faith through spiritual reading or listening to
some of those great CD’s that are in the back of the Church? How
about a little time before the blessed sacrament; maybe we could
commit to attending a weekday mass or two in addition to the Sunday
liturgy. In fact, setting more time aside for God would be a good
new year’s resolution.
Myrrh was used for embalming, but it
was more than a symbol of death. It showed that our human bodies are
sacred and were honored by this attempt to preserve them. The reason
our bodies are sacred is because they are meant to be used to build
up God’s kingdom on earth. How are we building God’s kingdom?
Some of you are catechists, some of you work in the soup kitchen or
with food for the soul. Some of us visit shut ins or those in
nursing homes or hospitals. Jesus made it clear that when we carry
out corporal and spiritual works of mercy it is as though we are
serving him directly. How are you building up God’s kingdom? Is
there room in your life to take on something that will bring God’s
mercy to someone else? That would make a good new year’s
resolution.
The Christ Child is God’s supreme
gift to mankind. The Magi brought gifts to Him. What gifts can we
bring him in this new year?
