Wise Men

Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-12

Christmas is over for most people
I suspect that for most people, Christmas is well and truly over by now. The final party was on New Year’s Eve, the next day was a chance to sleep it off over a Bank Holiday, and then it was all over at last for another year.

Mind you, the build up probably started at least by the beginning of December, and probably even earlier with the Christmas shopping. Then as Christmas Day grew ever closer there were the parties and the Christmas lunches and the school nativity plays and the carol singing, until at last the great day itself came and went.

It does seem that for most people, the Christmas season is before Christmas, ending perhaps after Boxing Day with the added fillip of New Year just to let us down gently and to ease us back into work.

Epiphany
But for the Church, Christmas ends with Epiphany, which we’re celebrating today, having transferred it from the coming Wednesday. Epiphany marks the visit of the Magi — the Wise Men — to the stable at Bethlehem to see the new baby.

Epiphany also marks Twelfth Night, when the decorations are traditionally taken down It’s considered to be bad luck to leave them up after Twelfth Night.

Our Christmas season has long been a rich mixture of the spiritual and the secular, of folk traditions from way back mixed with traditions from the Bible. And somewhere into all that mix of Christmas and Twelfth Night, legend and story, come the three Wise Men from the East, riding their camels and bearing their exotic gifts.

Three Wise Men?
At least, tradition tells us there were three of them and even reveals their names to us, immortalised in the carol, “We Three Kings of Orient are”, but the Bible never mentions a number let alone a name. Originally the word “Magi” referred to a Persian priestly caste, but it gradually changed its meaning as so many words do, and eventually came to refer to those who were regarded as having supernatural knowledge.

Matthew’s Magi might have been astrologers who studied ancient manuscripts from around the world, but who had copies of the Old Testament in their land because of the Jewish exile some six-hundred years earlier. Or they might have been Jews who remained in Babylon after the exile and knew the Old Testament predictions of the Messiah’s coming.

Some scholars believe the Magi were from different lands, representing the whole world bowing before Jesus.

Whoever they were, they were men who recognised Jesus as the Messiah when most of God’s chosen people in Israel failed to recognise him.

A new star
It was a common ancient belief that a new star always appeared at the time of a ruler’s birth, but in his story Matthew also draws on the Old Testament story of Balaam, who had prophesied that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24:17), although in this context the star doesn’t refer to an astral event, but to the king himself.

Whatever the Old Testament story meant, apparently there was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in 6BC (thought by many to be the year Jesus was actually born). That conjunction would’ve produced a bright enough light in the heavens to be seen throughout much of the ancient world.

Herod
When the Magi arrived with the unwelcome news about a potential threat to Herod’s autonomy, Herod hurriedly consulted with the chief priests and scribes. They recall the Jewish legend about the baby Moses, some 1,450 years earlier. In this legend the “sacred scribes” warn Pharaoh about the imminent birth of one who will deliver Israel from Egypt, and Pharaoh makes plans to destroy this child. It may be that this legend is based on the destruction of the first born at the time of the Exodus, and texts which refer to this (such as Psalm 72:10, 15 and Isaiah 60:6) are those texts which led to the interpretation of the Magi as kings.

If the Magi were of Jewish descent and came from Parthia (which, next to Rome, was the most powerful region), they would have welcomed a Jewish king who could swing the balance of power away from Rome. Being far from Rome, the land of Israel would have been easy prey for a take-over bid from any nation trying to gain more control.

And since Herod’s title of King of the Jews was granted by Rome, but never accepted by the Jewish people, most Jews, both within Israel and elsewhere, would welcome a new pretender to the throne.

Although Israel benefited from Herod’s lavish building programme and his efforts to repair the temple in Jerusalem, he was despised for rebuilding various pagan temples and for his cruelty. And, of course, since Herod was only partly Jewish, he was never really accepted by the Jewish people.

But the Magi weren’t bothered by Herod and the threat he posed, they went on their way regardless of the danger because reaching Jesus was more important to them than anything else, and they were prepared to take any risks to find him.

When they found him, even though he was only a baby they worshipped him, and presented their gifts to him.

Symbolic gifts
The gifts were highly symbolic. Gold represented kingship and was a gift for a king, incense represented spirituality and prayer and was a gift for a deity, and myrrh was a spice used in burials. So all three of the gifts foreshadowed both Jesus’s life and his death.

After finding the Saviour they were seeking, the Magi were warned by God to return to their own land a different way, rather than through Jerusalem as they had intended.

Finding Jesus
Finding Jesus means taking risks in life, and may mean risking all simply to find him. But once he’s found, life may have to take a different direction, one that is responsive to and obedient to God’s call.

So as we move away from Christmas and more fully into this new year, are you willing to seek him out and be led in a different way, like the wise men of old? Are you?