The Magi – again
In a previous post[i]
I wrote about the story of the Magi in Matthew’s gospel. However, some articles I have recently read
prompted me to think more about this story – as well as the feast, of course. The
Christian Church celebrates this event as The Epiphany, THE showing forth of Jesus
– King and Divine.
The liturgy emphasises this feast
as the revelation of Jesus to the gentiles and uses texts from Isaiah and
contemporary prophets. However, there
are other, less obvious allusions as the story is awash with connections to the
Jewish Scriptures.
I wonder how differently first
century Jews and gentiles would have heard this coming from different cultures.
The Magi.
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| Huqoq Synagogue |
Gentile royal courts had
astrologers/astronomers/soothsayers/scholars i.e. magi to advise the
ruler. The Israelites were not to use
such people. Leviticus 19:31 prohibits
the use of soothsayers – ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for
you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.’
Josephus records the astrological
signs foretelling the fall of Jerusalem.[ii]
Philo, a contemporary of Jesus, writes
disparagingly of magi. He refers to Balaam
(Nb. 22f.) who was a gentile prophet called to curse Israel but instead under
the influence of God prodigiously blesses the approaching people. Philo calls Balaam a ‘magus’ and turns him
into a figure of ridicule. Balaam’s she-donkey
had more intelligence than he.
It is also interesting that
Balaam came from the Euphrates River – the east – to Moab.
However, the reality was that by
the first century synagogues were decorated with zodiacs and some Rabbis used
astrology.
So, this is the lens through
which the visiting Magi would have been viewed.
They were astrologers and gentiles to be looked upon with suspicion, if
not ridicule.
The Magi, seeking the King of the
Jews, went to the normal place one would find a king of the Jews – the royal
court in Jerusalem. Ironically, Herod
was Idumean, not a Jew. He was one of the most brutal, murderous and paranoid
of rulers so these travellers actually put the child’s life at risk with their
questions of Herod and set off a chain of mass murder and escape.
It is interesting that Matthew
writes that Herod and all Jerusalem (not one of Matthew’s favourite places) were
frightened – terrified - by the news. This
new king could only be seen as a political threat. Already Matthew is contrasting the kingship
of Herod with that of Jesus.
It took a dream to warn the magi
not to return to Herod with their discovery of the child. In turn, this increased Herod’s fury at being
duped and precipitated the slaughter of the children.
So, the magi are not presented in
a very positive light by Matthew.
Looking at this background, with
a murderous king, a vulnerable family and a group of court astrologers who initially
got it wrong, we see one of the great themes of the Gospels – the great
reversal. Jesus is not to be found in
the places of power. His reign is
completely antithetical to that of Herod.
The gentile astronomers, outsiders, for all their mistakes, worshipped.
The magi acted out of their own
cultural and class expectations. While
it is obvious from the text that they knew the Jewish Scriptures or at least
the Jewish expectations, it was obvious that they did not understand.
After seeing the child and his
mother, worshipping him and giving their gifts, Matthew writes that ‘they
returned to their own country by another road’.
This is more than safety against pursuit, this is for all who have encountered
Jesus, we return to our own country, our own lives changed. We take a different road, perhaps seeing
differently, more thoughtful, more observant of the great reversal brought
about by this birth.
The Star
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| Star of Bethlehem flower |
For people of this period, stars
were not as we understand them. Stars
had a ‘voice’. They were living beings. Philo wrote that ‘stars are living creatures,
but of a kind composed entirely of mind’.
In the Scriptures, all creation
is under the Creator’s authority. Unlike
pagan belief, stars, trees, etc. are not of themselves divine. When God takes Job on a voyage through creation,
God asks, ‘On what were its (the earth’s) foundations laid, or who set its core
in place while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted
for joy?’
Balaam pops up again. At
the end of his many blessings of Israel he proclaims that 'A star will
rise from Jacob; a sceptre will emerge from Israel.' (Nb. 24:17)
Much literature has been
generated establishing the star as a supernova.
It may be so, however, for Matthew the star is at the service of the
Holy One. Here creation is revealing the
identity of Jesus. The magi worshipped
him because they, in the contradiction of a child born in a humble house, is
not only a king, but divine. So,
creation, in the star, is proclaiming Jesus as the Holy One of God.
For the Jews, stars act as guides
and do God’s bidding. So, the star
leading the magi, is understood to be this being who is doing the Creator’s
bidding in leading the magi to Jesus.
The gifts
The gifts brought by the magi
have antecedents in the Scriptures. The Queen
of Sheba (like them, a gentile) came to Solomon to test his wisdom.
Now when the Queen
of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she
came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with
a very large caravan, with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and
precious stones. (1 Kings 10:1)
Never again
was such an abundance of spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to
King Solomon. (1 Kings 10:10)
These are the gifts fit for a
king.
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| Queen of Sheba Orchid |
However, there is also another
association with this story. The Queen
says:
She said to
the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and wisdom is
true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own
eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity have far
exceeded the report I heard. How blessed are your men! How blessed are
these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your
wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you
on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, He has
made you king to carry out justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:6f)
Conclusion
So, like the magi, we will make
mistakes. For Matthew, the astrologers’
visit to Herod unleashes murder and the escape of Mary, Joseph and Jesus to
Egypt. Matthew invites the reader to see
that God’s salvation is not impeded by evil.
Both gentiles and Jews fail to
understand this momentous event until they come to worship and contemplate.
I take heart in this as we live
in a time when disaster seems to be more prevalent than goodness. This Fleshtaking of the Holy One asks us to join
in this Reign of God and like the magi and the Queen of Sheba contemplate
Wisdom incarnate.
And go home another way.
[ii]
Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied
God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were
so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men
infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the
denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword,
which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. (Book IV,
Ch 5, Sec. 3)
