Matthew’s Gospel is the only one that records the
story of the Magi. Right from the get-go, this story has the makings of a
Hallmark special movie. It has high
drama, a plot which features long journeys, astrologers, a guiding star that is
possibly a remnant from an explosion from a Super Nova, a dark force of
threatening danger, political intrigue, divine dreaming, holy whisperings, and
a vulnerable newborn child.
We recently heard in Luke’s Christmas story that
shepherds came to the stable. Shepherds were regarded as unclean and could not
take part in Temple worship without undergoing purification. Therefore, his
emphasis is on Jesus being God’s revelation to the poor and the rejected. While in Matthew, the emphasis is on the
universality of Jesus’ mission.
Over several hundred years, Christian imagination,
legend, and tradition have embellished Matthew’s story – for in his revelation
he does not tells us that the Magi were
wise, or men, or kings, or that there were three, or that they were from the
Orient, nor does he speak of their mode of transportation, and he certainly
misses the mark by not providing names of the Magi . . . it is not so much the details that are
important; it is the meaning of Matthew’s message.
Among Matthew’s Jewish community, they were finding
it difficult to accept that God came for all, and not just a few. They were
clinging to the idea that if you want to follow Jesus, to be one of his
disciples, you had to first be a Jew.
And if you were male, then you had to be circumcised; then if you were
to become Christian, you had to continue to fulfill all the rules of the
law. This is why Matthew writes this
story . . .this is the mystery, that God is now revealed to all nations, and
God has come to transform all of human history, all peoples of all times.
These Magi were Gentiles- they were from the Persian
priestly class from the East, which is present day Iraq and Iran. They were star-gazers who observed the
movements of the planets and stars. They
were wisdom figures, interpreters of dreams, skilled in medicine, natural
science and astrology. This was
condemned by the Jewish religion.
In the ancient world, it was believed that the Magi
could foretell the future from the stars, and they believed that a person’s
destiny was determined by the star under which the person was born. Scholars do not know which star the Magi saw,
but it spoke to them about the entry of a king into the world.
The Magi represent the whole Gentile
world. According to medieval legends,
they were named Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar. Each of them came from a
different culture: Melchior was Asian, Balthazar was Persian, and Gaspar was
Ethiopian, representing the three races known to the old world at that time.
Author John Shea writes that there is a
legend that the Magi were three different ages. Gaspar was a young man,
Balthazar in his middle years, and Melchior a senior citizen. When they
approached the cave at Bethlehem, they first went in one at a time. Melchior
found an old man like himself with whom he was quickly at home. They spoke
together of memory and gratitude. The middle-aged Balthazar encountered a
teacher of his own years. They talked passionately of leadership and
responsibility. When Gaspar entered, a young prophet met him with words of
reform and promise.
The three met outside the cave and
marveled at how each had gone in to see a newborn child, but each had met
someone of his own years. They gathered their gifts in their arms and entered
together a second time. In a manger on a bed of straw was a child twelve days old.
God whispers to the Magi in their dreams
and warns them of the danger they will meet if they return to Herod. Having been in the presence of God, they
discover that they need to let go of old routes of travel, the familiar, the
comfortable, and return home – not by the same way they came, but ready to
follow new paths, new stars!
They depart with a new inner knowing;
they are filled with joy and awe and try to hold the meaning and mystery of
this personal encounter with the one who is beyond all galaxies, the Prince of
Peace!
Today’s feast tells us that for God there
are no foreigners, no strangers, no aliens, and no outsiders. We all belong to our God no matter what
external physical or cultural differences there may be between us; we all
belong to God no matter what our religious convictions or lifestyle differences
may be. Our God is inclusive,
unpredictable, imaginative, compassionate, forgiving, and creative.
This feast means that we are all called
to be “epiphany people.” There is no
turning back; just an on-going commitment to “shine forth” with courage,
compassion, vision, and hope and to live with a restless Spirit, so as to be
intensely engaged with humanity each in our own unique way.
So let us embrace the graces of these readings
and this celebration, because it is in this liturgy of joining with one another
in the sharing of the Word, and in the breaking of the bread, that we, too,
become “epiphany people.” Here we
encounter our God – Holy Mystery– and in this place we are all changed, and we
can reflect on the seasons of our own lives when God has shown forth to us and
invited us to walk new paths under the guidance of a new star.
Finally let us pray in a poet’s words- Macrina
Wiederkehr:
Creator of the Stars; God of Epiphanies
You are the Great Star; You have marked
our paths with light
You have filled our sky with stars naming
each star
Guiding it until it shines into our
hearts
Awakening us to deeper seeing
New revelations
And brighter epiphanies!
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