The Gift of the Magi

Today is the feast of the Epiphany. This is the day that Christians celebrate the arrival of those three wise guys from the east. Actually, as I’m sure most of you know, it nowhere says that there were three of them. What it says is that Magi came from the east, whatever the hell Magi are. The Greek word, magios, refers to priests and wise men, “magicians”, with the ability to interpret dreams. It does not say they were “kings”. So much for we three kings. Matthew is the only gospel to mention them. But there is a reason for this. Here is the reading:

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”

When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:

And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”

After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.

Matthew was written in Antioch for a mixed community of Jews and gentile converts. Matthew’s main purpose was to establish the authority of Jesus for the Jews by showing them how Jesus fit all the ancient prophecies concerning a messiah. Moreover, he wanted to show that the gentiles were as acceptable to God as were the Jews, who hitherto had been the “chosen” people with whom God had made his first covenant through Abraham several thousand years earlier.

So, here in Matthew, we have the Christ child, the messiah, linked to the house of David, being born in Bethlehem, David’s city of birth. When the Magi come to King Herod and tell him of the messiah, Herod becomes frightened. Now why should a king, a man with great power and the authority of Rome be frightened? Because the Magi referred to the child as the “BORN” king of the Jews. Herod was not born into office. He was appointed by the Romans. Herod was not of the right dynasty. So any child born king would be a real threat to him among the people, who never accepted Herod’s claim to the throne.

Matthew also shows us that among the first to recognize the Christ child are gentiles from far away. He is not recognized by the temple officials. Thus, God accepts the gentiles because the gentiles accept Christ. So in other words, quit hatin’ on those gentiles, Jewish brothers! God likes them too.

These were all ideas that Matthew, or the writer of Matthew had in mind when he wrote the gospel. The truth is that there is little real evidence to suggest that the Magi existed at all. Many well meaning astronomers have tried to explain the Christmas star by trying to prove it was a special configuration of Jupiter and Venus, or that it was some kind of stellar explosion, or comet. They mean well, but more than likely, there was no Christmas star of any kind. The entire story was written to make a point. And yet that doesn’t make the story any less meaningful.

The Magi went in search for the messiah. Where do we find the messiah? Do we find him in our hearts, our homes, our actions? Here we find what were supposed to be three important wise men looking for salvation in the body of an infant. Here Matthew is telling us you don’t find salvation in a temple, you find it in a child. For the divine is present in every child. The salvation of humankind is present in every child. Hope for the future is present in every child.

And the Magi come bearing gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Each of these gifts had symbolic importance. The myrrh was used to anoint the kings of Israel. It is also used to anoint the body for burial. The frankincense was an offering to the divine. The gold…well, who couldn’t use a little gold? It’s a gift worthy of a king. We, however, also come before the divine offering gifts. Each one of us has gifts to offer. Both Matthew and Jesus make it clear that we offer our own gifts to God, or whatever you want to call that creative divine spirit, when we share ourselves and our material possessions with each other. And that is one of the real messages the Magi teach us.

Moreover, it is important to see in the story that the Magi return home by a different path. Because an experience with divine should change your life. Once confronted with the divine spirit, one does not go back along the same path. Your life is forever changed. You are not the person you were before. The experience should change you. So you encounter the divine and then you return to your life, but you cannot go back to being the person you once were. You are more aware, more clear on the things that have real value.

As always, the Bible is a book of truth, not a book of facts. You can blast holes in the history of the story. You can balk at the idea of these wise men coming from the mysterious east to pay homage to the infant king, the story of the Christmas star, and the myths surrounding the Christmas story if you want to. But then you miss the point of the story. So, as a Christian, I can say right here and now that these things more than likely never actually happened. The ancient Greeks never believed in the stories of their gods and goddesses either. The stories were meant to teach.

Whether or not these events actually happened has nothing to do with the divine nature of Jesus, the man called the Christ. The things he had to teach regarding the relationship of humankind with the creator are what really matter. And this story teaches us that we each have something to offer, that the quest for divine revelation is worthy of the journey, and that this journey will leave your life forever changed. Once you accept that God is, can you ever go back to life as you knew it? And this understanding of God is a real epiphany, in the truest meaning of the word.