Epiphany

When we really look at the Christmas season, it really is an incredible story.  Angels appearing and guiding people, a miraculous virgin birth, incredible dreams that warned people of upcoming events, and then the three kings.  There are some parts of the story that are simply so incredible, that they simply have to be true.  If they weren't, no one would have ever believed the story in the first place.  One of those, is the feast we celebrate today, the visit by the Magi.

As the traditional story goes, the Magi saw a star rise in the east, that led them west to visit Jesus.  So basically, three kings saw a strange star in the sky, and went on a journey together to find out what was at the other side.  When we hear that version, it seems a little hokey at best, yet, if we look a little closer into the story, and if you'll forgive me for going into some of the technicalities, I'd like to share one explanation I found recently, because I really believe it gives us a much clearer vision of the story.

We've often translated Magi as Kings, but in reality the name means more like High priests of a religion in Persia called Zoroastrianism.  They were astrologers, a group that studied the stars for signs of events that would happen in the world. 

According to our modern astronomy, we can estimate with pretty good certainty where the stars were around the time of Jesus's birth, then with a little bit of knowledge of Zoroastrian symbols, suddenly it becomes clear.  At the time when the Magi saw the star, the planet Jupiter passed though the constellation Aries in a particular way, it rose into the constellation. 

Now to those Magi, Aries, the Ram, represented the Jewish people.  I hope we remember the story of Abraham and Isaac, where the father was willing to sacrifice his only son on the mountain, but at the last moment, and angel told him to stop and he sacrificed a ram instead.  Then, Jupiter, represented the highest of Kings.  So they had an image of the high king of all the world rising among the Jews, a king who would die for his people.  So that would explain one of the gifts the Magi brought….Myrrh….an ointment used for burial.

So they started on their journey, and imagine when they walked into the palace, and told Herod, the king, that they had come to worship a king that he had never heard about!  Then, just after the reading we hear today, is the story of the holy innocents, when all the children under the age of two were killed, in an attempt to stop this new king, but why children under two….because Herod asked the Magi when they saw the star.  So that means that those Magi must have seen the star at least a year before, and been travelling for nearly a a year to visit this child.

Yet, after that, comes, for me, what is the most amazing part of the entire story.  These Magi, who studied everything from the stars were warned not to return to Jerusalem, but they weren't warned by their old ways, by the stars.  They were warned in a very different way, they were warned in the very same way that the Lord told St. Joseph to take Mary as his wife, and the same way the Lord told Joseph to fly to egypt to keep the child safe, they were warned in a dream.

So then, these men who came seeking a king, by using pagan methods, would, upon encountering Christ, experienced God in a completely new and different way.  They weren't warned by their starts, They were warned in a dream.  So, what can we learn from these wise men, these Magi?  What does it mean to us today?

All too often we encounter those who don't quite understand our faith yet.  Often, like the Magi, they come and are excited.  They want to know more.  They feel a burning desire, yet, have no idea what to do with it.  Yet, sometimes we like to dampen their excitement, we tell them how terrible things are.  We complain about how our Church does this or doesn't do that.  We even go on the defensive.  In a way, we're like Herod, when we see something that might make us change, we like to crush the problem before it starts.  Instead, perhaps this new year, we can be like those three Magi, giving without reserve.  Being willing to embark on a journey for God, not knowing where it might lead.  Realizing that we really do have a faith and a God worth being excited about.  When was the last time we really opened up to someone our excitement about our faith, not condemning them, not fighting to defend ourselves, but simply inviting them to share in the excitement.