Matthew 2.1-12
“Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.’” The visit of the Wise Men puts the finishing touches on the 12 Days of Christmas. Today is that 12th day. But instead of twelve drummers drumming, we have mysterious visitors from a faraway land bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. All very exotic.
The author Evelyn Waugh, a devout Roman Catholic, wrote that Epiphany is a great feast for artists—writers, poets, visual artists. It seems like every well-known painter from history has explored the wonder of this scene. Modern artists, too, capture royal visitors following a heavenly light in search of the Light of the World; in the child Bethlehem, hope is renewed As for the music? It ranges from the ethereal to the robust. The carol we just sang, ‘We Three Kings,’ definitely belongs in the category of robust. It was written by John Henry Hopkins, an Episcopal priest. Sometime before Christmas I read a description of this carol that said the melody was ‘artless’ and ‘plodding’, but a whole lot of fun to sing. For my part, that includes parody versions, too, including the one about a rubber cigar. The story of the Wise Men is my favorite part of the Christmas story, hands down.
“Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem.” Only the Gospel of Matthew tells us about these visitors. Where in the east they came from, no one is quite sure. As for how many there were, we don’t know exactly. The number three is traditional because it matches the three gifts given: one giver per gift. But Matthew never specifies. We only had two at the pageant on Christmas Eve. That works. Matthew’s word is plural so we know there was more than one; there could’ve easily been more than three. Why not get a group of people together and pool your money? Those are expensive gifts, after all. Maybe six—one for each end of each box! Some Christian traditions suggest seven, others twelve, while some artists show a whole caravan of visitors in a scene that looks something like Bison fans on their way to Frisco.
Most translations call them Wise Men. Some say Magi, which is quite literally the word Matthew uses. They were certainly regal but probably not kings, at least Matthew doesn’t say that. That detail comes from an Old Testament passage in Isaiah. “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn…They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.” And in one of the psalms, “Kings shall bow before him and offer gifts.” With spirit-filled imagination we can look at the scriptures that the gospel writers knew, look at the Old Testament, and see how old texts are given fresh meaning in Jesus.
Even though we don’t know whether there were three Magi or more, and we’re not sure where they came from, we do know something about them—who they were and, most important, what they were seeking. As to who they were, a historian from a hundred years or so before Christ says that Magi, as a group, were ‘wise and learned men.’ They were scholars devoted to the study of the natural world: medicine, math, and astronomy. We might call them scientists, our word ‘science’ coming from the Latin word for knowledge. And that is what they were seeking: knowledge in all its forms.
So despite how exotic they might seem to us, at a deeper level they probably aren’t that different from us. Aren’t we all trying to figure out the world and our place in it, using our best knowledge to make sense of what happens to us, seeking wisdom and purpose that holds everything together and gives meaning to our lives? That’s especially true at the start of a New Year. What is ahead in the next 365 days? What will this year require from us? How will we make our way through it? The Magi took seriously the life of the mind and the world around them. They put their knowledge to work in search of wisdom and truth. “When you search for me, you will find me,” the Lord says through the prophet Jeremiah.
And it leads them to Jerusalem, the capital of Judea. “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.” Now since the Magi were looking for a child of high degree and royal birth, it makes sense to go to a king’s palace. The trouble, as we heard in the story, is that no one at the king’s palace had any idea of what the Magi were talking about; King Herod least of all.
And don’t think for a minute that Herod was sincere in his request to find the place where this Infant King was born so that he “might go and worship him, too.” Herod had a well-established reputation for insecurity and anxiety and the bullying that goes along with it. He probably choked on his morning coffee while hearing the news of a newborn king. Matthew says, “He was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” How troubled? In the verses after today’s reading and after the Wise Men leave, Herod orders the death of all children under the age of two. He would accept no challenge to his rule and reign. Herod’s puffed-up self-importance pales in comparison to the true King that the Magi are seeking.
So the Magi continue their quest, a heavenly light leading them to the Light of the World, their knowledge turned to the search for truth. Their scientific investigation took them to Jerusalem. But they weren’t quite in the right place. There was one piece missing to get them where they wanted to be, to the wisdom they were seeking. They needed the scriptures. That’s true for us, too. Take your own quest for knowledge and meaning and beauty—all the ways you try to make sense of the world and your place in it—and bring it to the scriptures.
Now the Bible isn’t an easy book, not the sort of book you can just sit down and go through like a novel. But, when approached in the right spirit, the scriptures have depth and wisdom, they open up a world that is different from the world that we are otherwise given, a world we are expected to conform to. You will, of course, find meaning and beauty in nature. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19. “Frost and chill, bless the Lord,” says another biblical song. St Paul tells us that God was revealed to the Gentiles in nature. So, too, for the Magi; they were Gentiles. They learned about, and were led close to, God through their scientific study of the world. But to get to the fullness of God revealed in Jesus Christ they needed the scriptures. “For so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem.” The Word of God leads them to Jesus, God’s Word made flesh. God speaks through the written word so that we can know the Living Word. “In him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” says Colossians. “In him all things hold together.” Jesus is the fullness of wisdom and truth for you.
We call the Magi ‘wise’ because that is what they were in following the star, hearing the words revealed in scripture, then acting on those words. “Going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” The culmination of the Magi’s search ends with worship and adoration. In showing us this, the Gospel of Matthew portrays the newborn child in ultimate terms. No one else worthy of worship except him; such adoration is reserved for God alone. And the fact that Jesus, at this point, is a totally helpless, dependent infant highlights the contrast between puffed-up, self-important politicians like Herod compared to the wonder and glory revealed by the star and the word and found in Jesus Christ.
The gifts that the Magi offer show who Jesus is for them and for us. St Irenaeus, who lived shortly after the gospels were written, says the gifts of the Wise Men are a summary of Jesus’ own life: gold, a gift suited for a king; frankincense offered to a god, “let my prayer rise before you as incense,” says Psalm 141; myrrh used to prepare a body for burial, Jesus offered wine mixed with myrrh when he was on the cross. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are perfect gifts for a child born both God and King whose life leads to death on the cross for our sake. “King and God and sacrifice.”
At the culmination of their search, the Magi come to Bethlehem with the treasures of earth in their hands. They leave with the treasure of heaven filling their life: wisdom and truth and the fullness of God dwelling bodily in Jesus Christ. What brought the Magi to Jesus? The power of God revealed in nature and in scripture. Their quest was a response to the God who was already calling them. The grace of God, prior to all human seeking, has drawn them to worship the newborn Son. That same power is at work today in you. God, in kindness and grace, is leading you to the Son.
At the start of this New Year, we do not know what the next 365 days will bring, but we do know who will be with us through it: Jesus the Son, ‘God with us.’ We can come to Jesus in the same spirit of worship and adoration as the Magi. All our searching—bringing the best of our heart, mind, and soul to the quest for truth and wisdom—is turned to adoration. With the Magi who fall down and worship the infant Son of God, we kneel before Jesus Christ at this altar. He is the culmination of our quest as we are drawn by God’s grace.
We may not have the treasures of earth. But through the sacrament of Jesus’ body and blood in bread and wine, we are filled with the treasure of heaven: forgiveness, new life, and strength for each day; and in the year to come—the fullness of God’s wisdom and truth for you so that your hope might be renewed. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we…have come to worship him.”
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