Gospel, Matthew 2:1-12 The Magi were not themselves kings but, rather, a priestly group who sought knowledge from every imaginable source (the word “magic” is derived from their practices)and the ability to apply that knowledge to predict and prepare for the future. One of those sources of information came from watching the stars. According to the popular cosmology of the time, people believed the earth to be covered by a dome, across which God or gods caused the heavenly bodies to move in patterns thought to contain coded messages. Such was the logic behind astrology. From a science acceptable in our day, astronomers tell us that in 6 B.C. Magi in the region of Assyria and Babylonia would have been able to see Jupiter (which represented royalty) pass through Aries (representative of the Jewish people, perhaps due to their history as shepherds). The Magi would have interpreted this as a divine sign of the birth of a great Jewish king. On reporting their findings, their own king may have sent them as his representatives bearing gifts, a common way from kings of past to build alliances and secure peaceful relations.
King Herod ruled as King of Judah from 37 to his death in 4 B.C. Tyrannical and suspicious to the point of paranoia, he had all actual and presumed opposition eliminated including his wife and several other members of his own family. He built fortresses, Herodium and Masada, in locations in his kingdom to which he could escape and secure himself in case of a popular uprising. I have read that he had a list of the most popular people in every town and city of Judah with a standing order that they be killed in the event of his own death…a unique sort of life insurance policy. His soldiers wisely refused to carry out the order when he did die. Such a person would be capable of commandeering soldiers to kill babies in Bethlehem on the possibility of one being a future king. No wonder both he and the people of Jerusalem, for different reasons, were troubled at the news brought by the Magi. Placing Jesus’ birth a couple years prior to the death of Herod (the family was living in Egypt when they heard of Herod’s death) would put the birth of Jesus around 6 B.C. which aligns well with the appearance of the star. When the monk Dionysius Exiguus was commissioned by the pope in 525 A. D. to figure out the year Jesus was born and renumber all years accordingly, he was off by those six years…not bad given the information he had to work with.
Many years ago I saw a marquee sign in front of a church in St. Paul proclaiming “Wise men still seek him”. Matthew’s gospel sets up an interesting contrast between the Magi and the Jewish chief priests and scribes. Non-Jews from a distant land discerned the birth of Jesus and his uniquely important role in God’s plan. Those most expert in the Jewish scriptures and prophecies missed the signs and then failed to follow up on them once the birth of the long-awaited king had been pointed out to them. Wouldn’t it seem logical that, on hearing that the Magi were headed to Bethlehem just six miles down the road, at least one or two of them would have thought to ask if they might accompany the Magi? Of course, knowing King Herod’s ways, they might have thought it better not to have such information. Whatever the case might have been, Matthew’s account encourages readers with non-Jewish backgrounds to be wise and recognize Jesus as Messiah even though most Jewish people had not come to such belief.
God, inspire me to be more an active seeker like the Magi than a storehouse of religious information like the chief priests and scribes. May I respect and be motivated in my own faith by all who honestly search for God, whether or not they do so in the same religious path I follow. Grant me wisdom and focus to seek out Jesus every day and to offer him the gift of myself…a gift more precious to God than gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Reading 1, Isaiah 60:1-6 The Midianites were a nomadic group that originally lived in the Sinai desert. Ephah was a branch of the Midianite tribe. When Moses fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian overseer of Jewish slaves, he found shelter with the Midianite chieftain Jethro and eventually married his daughter Zipporah (Ex. 2:15-23; 4:18-23). Centuries later when the Israelites had settled in the Promised Land, Midianites would raid Israelite camps and villages on their camels and make off with grain and sheep. Being adept with camels and life on the move, many Midianites became merchants, transporting goods from far-away lands on their camels. Sheba, located in the SW of the Arabian Peninsula, became prosperous as a port for international trade. Frankincense is the resin of a variety of rather scraggly desert trees found in the southern area of the Arabian peninsula. It was used by Jews only for liturgical purposes. The imagery is of a renewed Jerusalem, prosperous as a center of trade and renowned far and wide in a golden era, resplendent as a brilliant sunny day after the cold cloudy season.
Old Testament texts, especially those more prophetic or Messianic in tone, are often quoted or referenced in the New Testament to show that Jesus and the new covenant through him are the fulfillment of the old covenant. The practice of drawing parallels between the Old Testament writings and the Gospel story did not end with the writing of the New Testament texts but, rather, was enhanced as Christians sought to fill out the scriptural story with more and more detail. This text from Isaiah is a good case in point. While Matthew’s account in today’s gospel reading clearly indentified the visitors as Magi, popular religiosity promoted them to being kings as a more perfect parallel to this Isaiah text.
We Christians certainly consider Jesus as the light…“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)…fulfilling this prophecy, but what does that mean for each of us personally? It must be more than an intellectually satisfying insight into biblical interpretation. God, help me recognize the areas of darkness in my life. Guide me to “walk by your light”. May faith in Jesus and his word truly enlighten my mind, heart and soul to the extent that I am “radiant” (a great image, radiating the glory of God out to others as a radiator heats a room) at what I see and my “heart shall throb and overflow”.
Reading II, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 The word “Gentiles” means “the peoples” and referred to all who were not of the Jewish race or religion. Such people were allowed to enter the Temple of Jerusalem (the first large area on entering the Temple was called the Court of the Gentiles) and could join the Jewish religion as full members through circumcision or as associates or “God-fearing” members who, short of circumcision, shared beliefs and could attend the synagogue services. This latter group was rather numerous in the areas Paul visited on his missionary journeys and comprised a high percentage of those who became baptized Christians. Paul carried their cause to the Council of Jerusalem (c. 46 A.D.) which determined that they could be full members of the Christian community without need to be circumcised and follow the details of the Mosaic law.
Paul clearly understood his ministry as a “stewardship of God’s grace”. He invested himself 100% in that ministry. His dedication was more like a person who might be named “employee of the year” than someone striving to become CEO. My ministry…and the specific ministry given to each of us…is, likewise, a stewardship of God’s grace. May Paul’s dedication to his ministry inspire us.
Beads of St. Dominic 