Following the Magi in 2021
Isaiah 60: 1-6
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice,[a] because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Matthew 2: 1-11
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men[a] from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,[b] and have come to pay him homage.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah[c] was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd[d] my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men[e] and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,[f] until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped,[g] they were
overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Years ago when I was in Whitehorse, I was asked to speak on CBC radio about our Blue Christmas service. I talked about how Christmas was meant to be time of hope, how Jesus' birth brough light at the darkest time of year.
The host interrupted and said, but Jesus wasn’t born in December you know, most scholars say he was probably born in March. I thought, thanks for wrecking the nice imagery of light & hope in times of darkness I was trying to create. I know that's not the real date, but does it matter?
When looking at Biblical stories, we have several perspectives to choose from. We can look upon them as historical accounts or we can see them as myths, in the full sense of the word myth -- stories that point to a greater truth.
With the story of the magi, the wise men, many layers of tradition have been added to the original Biblical story. For one thing, the magi arrived quite awhile after the birth of Jesus. It says clearly in the gospel that they arrived after his birth, that his family is established in a house. In other words, the magi weren’t there in the stable with the shepherds, even though we like to put them there for pageants and nativity scenes because it looks nicer and is more convenient.
Another interesting detail is that nowhere in Matthew does it say there were three magi. Early artwork and references to the story speak of two or four or even more. In some Eastern traditions there are believed to be 12 magi! The number three in Western tradition comes from the three gifts.
Some of you may be familiar with the names for the magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Again, these come from traditiion, not from the Bible. There's no mention of names in Matthew or anywhere else.
Then there is the whole tradition of calling them kings. Despite all our hymns that speak of kings, nowhere in scripture does it indicate that the wise men who came seeking Jesus were royal in any way. That concept seems to come from attempts to link Jesus to Old Testament passages which speak of kings coming to worship the messiah, passages like the one today from Isaiah.
Finally, although we love the image of the wise men on their camels, it's highly unlikely they traveled on camels. Camels were used by merchants and traders in those days, anyone of the upper classes would use horses.
Take away all those wonderful details and we’re left with a simple story that many scholars feel not only isn’t historically accurate, but probably never happened and was invented by Matthew. Does that mean we should ignore it, because it isn’t historically accurate or perhaps even true in any way? Absolutely not. The Bible isn’t meant to be read as a history text. Biblical scholar Marcus Borg describes the entire Bible as the story of the relationship between God & God’s people.
Some stories are based on historical incidents, others are not. We don't know about this one for sure. Either way it doesn’t matter. What does matter is what these stories teach us about God and our relationship with God. They are meant to get us thinking about what it means to follow Jesus, to be the people of God.
The story of the magi is rich, layered in meaning. Today I would like to look at it more closely, discover it’s meaning and message both for those for whom it was originally written and for us today, for often those two are quite closely linked.
Let's start with the name, magi. While we have often translated it as “wise men,” many sources believe the word magi referred to Medean priests from Persia, followers of Zoroaster. These priests were universally respected for their wisdom, their skills in astrology and their honesty. That several magi would come seeking Jesus, wishing to worship him, would have a double meaning for the people who first heard the story.
Firstly, the visit of the magi would legitimize Jesus. We have to remember that would be Messiahs were a dime a dozen in 1st century Israel. The writer of Matthew needed to establish that Jesus was different, that he was the real thing. The story of Magi from the East bringing him gifts and worshipping him would validate the claim that he was the true Messiah. It fulfilled passages in the Old Testament such as the one from Isaiah for today, “Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
But even more importantly than this, having gentile, non-Jewish scholars, come and worship Jesus also made it clear to early Christians that they were to share Jesus and his message with all people, that he wasn’t just for his people, the Jews, alone. When you think of how hard Paul had to work to convince early Christians that it was ok for non-Jews to be baptized and become full and equal Christians, this story becomes very significant. Right from the beginning, Jesus was a messiah for all people, no one was excluded.
Note that the magi did not convert to Judaism in order to worship Jesus, they just came, worshipped, and left, still following own religion. I believe this says something about the relationship of Christianity to other religions. If the magi were able to worship Jesus and then return to their own religion, maybe that indicates that Christianity isn’t the only true faith. It would seem to support the idea that different religions are simply different paths to the same God.
The story tells us the magi recognized that through this tiny child God was made present in the world in a very powerful and immediate way. They believed in this enough to make the long and difficult journey from their own land with only a star and a prophecy to guide them. Somewhere out there God had come to dwell among humankind in the most immediate way possible and they were determined to experience that presence of the Spirit for themselves. It didn't matter to them that this child they were seeking was of another religion, they understood that God was bigger than that.
The story of the magi is indeed one of epiphany, of great revelation and light, but it is also a story of determination. The magi may not have expected to have to travel so far, and from their questions when they arrived in Jerusalem, they clearly didn’t expect to have to go digging for the newly born king. They thought he would be in the palace in the capital city.
When he wasn’t there, they could have given up. When they realized the star was shining over a simple house of a lower class family they could have turned around in disbelief, but instead they trusted the divine power that had led them and worshiped the child with open hearts.
I think their story is an important one for us to hold onto as we head into 2021. 2020 has been full of challenges we never would have imagined a year ago. Covid has changed way we socialize, exercise, work and even relax. It has definitely changed the way we worship. But when it comes to faith, I think, I hope, that if Covid has changed it, it has been in positive ways. Daily prayer and personal devotions have taken on new importance for many people. Although we can't worship together, many people have told me they actually appreciate worship even more now because it brings them a sense of connection and purpose. We aren't alone and we are still called to be the people of God, to do God's work in the world.
We've come so far, as a family of faith and as a society, and finally there's some light at the end of the tunnel! The calendar has changed over and vaccines are becoming available. Yet we're still not there, we still have to follow restrictions, we still have to worship online.
So if you have moments of feeling discouraged, of thinking, I don't know how much longer I can do this, I just want it to be over, think of those magi, of their incredibly long journey, getting to Jerusalem, sure the end is in sight, and not only is there no royal baby, but something is off with the king they do meet and they're re-directed to a tiny village of no importance.
It would have been easy to give up, but instead they re-calibrate their directions, try a new plan, go into the true unknown.
The next few months may well hold new hopes and disappointments for us. There are still so many unknowns. As we encounter possible roadblocks and hopefully some advances, let us draw on the story of the magi to give us strength and hope on our unexpected and uncertain journey.