Matthew
2:1-12
1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For
we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and
all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the
chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah
was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem
of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 `And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the
exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently
for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go
and pay him homage." 9 When they had
heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they
had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were
overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw
the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then,
opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Read verse
one very carefully: there is something missing.
Find it? For
those of us who know some grammar, here’s another hint: it’s an adjective.
Ponder, while
I give you a hint. Many Christians display nativity sets as part of their
Christmas decorations. If they are (rather smug) keepers of Advent and
Christmas proper, they don’t place the little baby Jesus figurine in the crèche,
or feeding trough, until the night of the 24th of December. And
there we leave Mary and Joseph, surrounding a little half-naked baby (and if
you’ve ever had a newborn around, you KNOW that just isn’t right). There are
some other figurines: an angel up on top, perhaps, and some animals: donkeys
and cattle and oxen and sheep, especially if there’s also some shepherds. And
then, around January 5th, or better yet, 6th, they add
some new figures: the Wise Men. Now, here’s what’s missing in that first verse—nowhere
did it say HOW MANY Wise Men there were. Tradition has it that there are three
(but some others say 12), and so we usually put three guys in turbans into the
nativity sets on January 6. But Matthew’s Gospel just says there are more than
one. That’s it.
I saw an
awesome picture of a nativity set that a kid had put together, which frankly is
a little less accurate. Enjoy.
Our selection
from Matthew (and only Matthew of all the gospels includes this story) tells
part of the story of the (indeterminately numbered) Wise Men. Why are they
wise? Because, as non-Jews, they know something the “king” of the Jews, Herod,
should know. They obviously expect Herod (and everyone else in Jerusalem) to
know, and stop in Jerusalem so that they can fine-tune their directions. Yet,
they get their first surprise, for not only do the people of Jerusalem and
their king NOT know about the birth of this new king, they are
completely terrified by the possibility that there could be a new king on the
horizon. One has to wonder why, if the Wise Men WERE indeed so wise, they might
not have foreseen this possibility—since the birth of a new king means the end
of the reign of the current king, and kings usually don’t take being deposed
too well.
Sometimes,
these visitors are called “Magi.” This word referred to a priestly class in
Persia—which lay to the East of Jerusalem in the country we now call Iran. Over
time, the word for magi became applied to sorcery or witchcraft, and is the
root of the word “magician.” The wise men have read a sign in the sky—which is
why some portray them as astrologers, or “magicians,” although these two things
are actually quite different. But these guys are religious. And the star in the
sky heralding the birth of this new king (bright shining lights in the sky were
often taken in the ancient and even medieval world as a portent of something
amazing about to happen) has led them here to Jerusalem, a well-known religious
center. So they ask around: where is this newborn king?
Herod would
like to know too, so he gathers together his own religious advisors, and the
chief priests and scribes relate this prophecy, a paraphrase Micah 5:2:
But you,
O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans
of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
However,
Matthew’s rendering of this prophecy uses slightly different wording that we
can look at here for comparison’s sake:
And you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah,
are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people
Israel.'"
Bethlehem, in
the area of Ephrathah, was located in Judah. Notice the difference in the
second line, however: “who ARE one of the little clans” versus “are by no means
the least among the rulers.” Also notice that the original prophecy does not
mention “shepherd[ing] the people of Israel--” language that could be used
either to describe a king, or the Messiah—but simply says the rule will have an
ancient origin.
But it’s
close enough. Herod then secretly meets with the Wise Men on the pretext that
he wants to worship this new king, too, and asks when they first saw this star.
He then sends them on their way, and the star leads them straight to that baby
in Bethlehem—but here’s another little glitch: verse 11 says “house,” NOT “stable”
or “manger” (feeding-trough, from the French word manger, which means “to eat”). Also, let’s face it, that trip from
the East must have taken days or weeks, or even months, especially if the Wise
Men had gotten lost a couple of times. So the baby by now could be several
months old. But he’s in a house, so there goes the animals from our little
scene. The pay the baby homage, and offer him three gifts: gold (worthy of a
king, signifying wealth); frankincense, a resin-based incense which was part of a combination
burned on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem (symbolizing worship), and myrrh,
a preserved wood resin that was very expensive and used for perfume, medicine,
as well as an embalming spice for the dead. As we discussed last year, Gold
symbolizes wealth and power; frankincense symbolizes worship, and myrrh
foretells Jesus’ passion and death.
As is often the case in scripture, and even today (Carl Jung, anyone?)
dreams are seen as significant and meaningful, and out gospel reading ends with
a dream: a dream warns the Wise Men not to go back home through Jerusalem, and
the Magi do not come back to Herod to reveal the location of the child,
demonstrating their openness to God and right intentions. Dreams often work in
Matthew as warnings: Joseph is warned not to put Mary from him in 1:20; Joseph
is going to be warned to flee to Egypt to save Jesus from Herod’s murderous
designs and then an angel in a dream tells him to return when Herod dies; and
Joseph is warned in a dream that one of Herod’s sons is ruling Judea and urged
instead to Galilee; and in chapter 27, Pilate’s wife is warned in a dream to
have nothing to do with Jesus (which he ignores).
Here are the notes we closed with last year when we read the same
readings on Epiphany: It is important to note that it is Gentile wise men who
are the first to recognize and proclaim of the special quality of Jesus at his
birth in the version told here from Matthew, which is used in all three years
of the lectionary. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ Jewish roots as a way to attempt
to mediate the relationship between this new sect and its Jewish roots. Thus
Matthew starts with demonstrating Jesus’ historical claim as a son of David,
but doesn’t stop there and continues back to Abraham. For Matthew, Jesus is the
fulfillment of the Law. In Matthew, Jesus is the new Moses—he goes up to a
mountain and preaches from it rather than from a plain, he proclaims himself as
not seeking to overturn Mosaic law but fulfill it. The coming of the Magi
unifies the idea of Jesus as Jewish Messiah foretold in prophecy and Jesus as
savior for ALL nations and people, since they, though Gentiles, are the first
to worship Jesus and recognize him as being someone worthy of worship. Gentiles
are thus assured that they are included in the divine plan through the gift of
God’s son (as Paul always insisted); Gentiles reveal that gift to those who
should already know and themselves offer gifts and worship.
And finally, a little humor: What would have happened if it had been the
3 wise women? They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped
deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical
gifts.
Links for more information:
NT Wright , Matthew for Everyone
