Daily Prayer

Visitors from the East

(the Three Wise-Guys Who Came to Town)

It’s hard to imagine that just yesterday we were still celebrating Christmas. Yes, December 25^th all the way through to January 5^th is the Christmas season, despite what your local retailer may be trying to convince you of.

Today is the Christian celebration of Epiphany – the visit of the Magi to the newborn Jesus and his family. But how much to we really know about this visit by these wisemen?  First: the story, as recorded by the author of the Gospel of Matthew.

1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 

6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” 

7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Matt 2:1-12 (NLT)

Let's begin with a quiz (which I have shamelessly borrowed from an online lectionary group colleague - Ron McCreary) about the story that Matthew tells about the wise men. You can cheat and look at Matthew's story above if you like.

Ready?

1.      According to Matthew how many wise men were there?

2.      Where did they leave their camels when they went in to visit King Herod?

3.      Who in the story knew how to read scripture in order to tell where Messiah would be born?

4.      When did the wise men arrive at the stable to see Jesus?

5.      What did Joseph say to the wise men?

Some of those are trick questions.

1. Matthew only says that there were wise men. He doesn't say how many. There were three kinds of gifts.
2. Matthew doesn't mention camels. Camels probably come to the tradition from the Isaiah 60 reading for this week. Also from Isaiah, and from Psalm 72, is the idea that the wise men might be "kings".
3. The "chief priests and scribes of the people" know how to read and interpret scripture. But they work for Herod, who as it turns out wants to destroy this newborn usurper to his throne. Neither they nor Herod will find him. But the wise men, with their help and led by a star, will find him.
4. There's no stable in Matthew's story — that's Luke's story. According to Matthew the wise men find Jesus and his mother in a house (verse 11).
5. This part of Matthew's story mentions the child and his mother Mary but it doesn't mention Joseph being present when the wise men arrived. Which is interesting, because Joseph plays a prominent role in the rest of Matthew's nativity story.

Herod, the King of the Jews, is very upset at the news the wise me bring him. Nobody told him that such a person had been born! Heads will roll! As the rest of the story and other histories of the time show Herod is paranoid about keeping his throne, and is willing even to murder his own sons to keep it.

Notice something interesting about the way the Christmas story works, both here in Matthew and also in Luke: the action keeps escaping the expected boundaries. In Luke the angels announce Jesus' royal birth to — shepherds. In Matthew the birth is announced to the royal palace, but the announcement causes great consternation instead of joy; and the child is found finally, not in Jerusalem, but in Nowheresville — Bethlehem.

Do we think we can contain this story in a lovely creche or in a cute-baby story?

Meanwhile, it's foreigners — pagan astrologers — who find and worship the young Jesus. Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere for all of us.

God-With-Us, let me rejoice this day in the gift of yourself in the Christmas-Child. Like the visitors of long ago, may I humbly place before you my gifts – my life – in honor of the Savior born to the world.

Amen.

Rev. Michael Kirchhoff