On this second Sunday of Christmas, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Who were these strange men—the Gospel does not say they were kings—who followed a star to baby Jesus? Well I had four blog posts on the reading of Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s book, The Mystery of the Magi. If you really want to know who these mysterious men were—not the fable of Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior—but the real history, read my posts. Here is blog post #4 on Fr. Longenecker’s book, and from there are links to Posts one, two, and three. The real history is more astonishing than the legend.
However, Matthew’s spiritual significance is just what epiphany means. Epiphany is a revelation of God, a theophany, and here the Magi reveal to the world that baby Jesus is the Christ, King of the Jews.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived
in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the
Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and
the scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Christ
was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea,
for thus it has been written through
the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people
Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time
of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the
child.
When you have found him, bring me
word,
that I too may go and do him
homage.”
After their audience with the king
they set out.
And behold, the star that they had
seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the
place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the
star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his
mother.
They prostrated themselves and did
him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by
another way.
~Mt 2:1-12
Fr. Geoffrey Plant as
usual does a thorough of explaining the historical and biblical significance of
the Epiphany.
Fr. Geoffrey gives a handful of theories of where the Magi came from but none of them agree with Fr. Longenecker’s research. I would go with Fr. Longenecker.
Now for a sermon on the spiritual significance
of the epiphany, let’s turn to Jeff Cavins.
It occurs to me that the light given off by Christ shines through the Magi. Let the light of Christ shine through you. Let your person be a manifestation of Christ, an epiphany to the world.
We don’t see much of how the Magi are
transformed by their visit, but the poet T.S. Eliot speculates on how one
particular Magus (singular for Magi) is transformed in his great poem “The
Journey of the Magi.” I provided a detailedanalysis of the poem here if you wish to read and understand this great work of
poetry.
Solemnity Meditation: “Where is the
newborn king of the Jews? We saw his
star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Instead of a hymn this week, I am going to
provide a reading by someone named Arthur L. Wood of T.S. Eliot’s he Journey of the Magi.”
I selected this clip since it provided the
words, but that is also an excellent reading.
