Matthew 2:1 - 12
So we finally get to use our wise men, who stay hidden in the sacristy until the Epiphany. Then they will be out admiring the Christ Child for a week or so and back into their box until next Christmas. It seems as though the story of the Magi is kind of a footnote to the story of Christmas. And it seems almost like a myth; they came, probably from the Persian empire; they made their journey based on their understanding of astrology, which isn’t even a science; and they were led by a star and warned by an angel. And we don’t even know what magi were. Some authorities say they were advisers to the king of Persia; others say they were astrologers; still others say they were priests of the Zorastorian religion. Maybe they were all three, but after 2000 years we don’t know. And we have three statues, but the bible doesn’t say how many magi there were; and we have a camel, but nothing about camels in Matthew’s story.
Human beings like to fill in the blanks. Matthew says that the magi came from the east. We say Persia, because east of Rome was the vast Persian empire, and of course magi is thought to be a Persian word. But Persia was a big country, encompassing parts of Arabia and India, maybe even western China. So the early tradition grew that Balthazar was a king from Arabia, Melchior from Persia proper, and Caspar from India. Later, the three became associated with the known continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. And another theme was that one was very young, one middle-aged, and one elderly. Finally, legend had it that each of the magi gave a gift, although Matthew simply says they gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In some eastern churches, tradition has it that each of the three magi became Christians and went out as missionaries; they are honored as saints.
And there is one other thing to say about the story. We don’t know if Matthew had the old testament in front of him when he wrote his gospel, but a lot of the early Church Fathers did. They saw that Psalm 72 talked about “kings bowing down before him…” And Isaiah chapter 60 talks about dignitaries coming with camels and gifts of gold and frankincense.
If you are like me, you can’t unthink all the things you learned as a child about the wise men, the three kings, the magi. There will always be three, they will be young, middle aged and old, they will be european, asian and african; and there will always be camels.
But in fact, the story of the magi is sort of a summary of the themes of Matthew’s gospel; Jesus is rejected by his own people; the powers of the world oppose him and scheme against him; the Holy Spirit is inspiring the gentiles to seek God through their natural reason and observation of nature; and they are rewarded by being led to Jesus. The gentiles will become the heirs of the promise made to Abraham and his descendents; and there is an implied promise that in the end Jews and Gentiles will be united in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So perhaps we can learn something from just considering the text as Matthew writes it. He must have thought it important because it is part of the bracket around the story of Christ’s birth. The first bracket is the genealogy of Jesus -- showing that he is a descendent of Abraham and of David, and implying that he is the heir of King David, the answer to the promise that David’s reign would last forever. The first bracket also makes it clear that Jesus is identified with the history of Israel, and Matthew will go on to point this out explicitly in his gospel. But the second bracket, the story of the Magi, tells us something equally important; not only is Jesus the promised king of the Jews, but he is also raised up by God to be the ruler of all the nations. The fact that the magi bow down before him is significant; whether they are kings or delegates of kings or simply represent the rest of mankind, they represent what God wants for the world. When all of mankind accepts the rule of God through Jesus his son, his kingdom will finally come.
The magi teach us other things as well; they were not Jews, but sought the truth through their study of nature and history. When they became convinced of what they had discovered, they did something about it. When they arrived in Jerusalem and it seemed as though their quest had failed, they asked questions. And they were given the grace to recognize God in the presence of a baby.
Let us pray on this feast that we, who have been given our faith, who have the scriptures and the church to guide us, will be like the magi and set out to find Jesus in our own lives. And let us pray that we will recognize the presence of God in each other.
