“Following the Magi Following the Star”
“Following the Magi Following the Star”
Matthew 2.1-12
In the name of the Living God and who has appeared among us. Amen.
This account from St. Matthew of the Magi’s journey is filled with the mystique of the Christmas season. Strange stargazers’ journey from a far eastern land, the miraculous appearance of an astrological sign arising to lead their way. We also get the picture of a larger, darker cosmic conflict overshadowing the story. “Herod the King, in his raging” threatened by the arrival of this new “king of the Jews”, lies and plots and eventually murders to try and thwart the light and the star and the work of God.
But this familiar story also carries with it a deep conviction/challenge about our Christian journey: How shall I now seek him, the babe of Bethlehem? What study, what journey shall I take, what difficulty will I face, what danger, what gifts shall I bring?
You see, as I re-read and re-studied this account afresh, I was deeply moved and convicted as I contrasted my life of seeking God with that of the Magi. Consider their journey of faith and contrast it with your own.
Theirs was a distant journey. We’re not told specifically where it began — Matthew just tells us “…from the east.” The likely candidates are Persia or Babylon, or perhaps Arabia. In any case, they traveled for months up to a thousand miles along the established trade routes of the ancient world. This would have required a large caravan of great planning, detailed organization, expense, and execution. It required just a bit more than catching an uber to get to church.
It would have been a difficult journey — perhaps as many months of planning as the journey itself took, with tremendous personal sacrifice required for all. How easily they could have turned back; how discouraged they could have become! What fire within inspired them onward in perseverance and commitment!?
Their journey, as all journeys at that time, was dangerous. The crossing through the boundaries of two empires and many countries in all kinds of weather, with political instability and possible robbers and highwaymen harassing them along the way. It makes catching a flight to Florida for spring break sound like a cinch, doesn’t it? (They would have rejoiced to have to remove their sandals to get through security.)
Their danger didn’t end when they arrived in Jerusalem either, for although they don’t immediately know of Herod’s plots, we’re told that all of Jerusalem is stirred up at their arrival. Who are these strange, foreigners? What business have they among us? It’s a public commotion/ upheaval as well as the secret plots from the highest authorities which potentially threaten them.
Their journey was distant, difficult, and dangerous in its execution, but before it even began it required great diligence. Magoi were scholars of the stars. They combined the greatest of the science, language, literature, history, and theology of their world to seek after this king. We’re not told specifically the nature of the “star” that appears — the word could signify a comet, a conjunction of planets, a supernova, or any kind of astronomical sign. It’s likely that they also would have had access to the Hebrew scriptures, as the Jews were exiled to this part of the world several times throughout the centuries. Passages found in Isaiah, Micah, Numbers, and the Psalms may have guided them as much as the star. It was the job of Magoi to employ all possible knowledge to try and determine the course and significance of human events. In any case, it’s clear that they worked tirelessly, diligently to use all they had at their disposal to seek after this king.
Distance, difficulty, danger, and diligence all characterize their journey. Once they arrive, their response to discovering the child is even more remarkable. The original language Matthew uses says it clumsily but exuberantly: “They rejoiced a great joy, exceedingly.” Can you remember that last time you felt that much joy?
Moreover, what they do with their joy is the great culmination of their whole, arduous journey. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were all expensive tributes, but here in their gifts to Jesus they are saying something about Jesus. Their worship was also a confession of faith. Gold, fit for a king but even more, for the King of Kings. Frankincense was used for the worship of Yahweh in the temple. Myrrh was a rare and expensive perfume, used for a variety of reasons, but especially to prepare a body for burial. So, Gold for a king; Frankincense for a God; and Myrrh for a burial — for this babe would become a king of a different kind, his reign culminating in his own death for the life of the world.
I describe the distance, difficulty, danger, and diligence of their journey, as well as what they deliver Jesus, all as a way of contrasting our seeking after the Christ child. Seeing them, knowing how difficult this was, makes me reflect on my own seeking, recognizing, worshipping of Christ. How easy we have it! How lazily and lethargically we treat it! How sparing our gifts, slack our study, unfervent and joyless our worship, in comparison! How little effort we make when our journey of faith is by orders of magnitude easier than theirs — and all this when we know even more than they the full significance of who the Christ child is.
He is born not just king of the Jews, but king of kings and Lord of Lords for all people. He was anointed Messiah, set apart for the special purpose of working God’s salvation for the whole world. His rule and reign begin in the manger but culminate on the cross where he draws all people — not just the Magi — to himself. And not Herod, or Caiphas, or Pontius Pilate, or Ceasar, nor any ruler or ideology can thwart his rule or darken his light. Risen now from the dead to validate every prophecy made, this same Christ child lives and works among us as his people in this place and even to the ends of the earth.
What journey too far to make for him? What sacrifice too costly? What witness too dangerous? What gift too great? All that we have now belongs to him; all that we are, now reoriented, redirected towards seeking him. May the journey of the Magi both inspire us and convict us, as we also follow the star, live in the light and worship the king.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.
