It’s the turn of the Magi to get to the heart of this subversive message

Today we leave Luke’s account of the Christmas story to return to Matthew’s. Matthew makes no mention of the shepherds visiting the baby Jesus. Instead, he gives a detailed account of the visit of the Magi.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written:

‘“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”’

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.’  Matthew 2:1-8

There’s been much speculation about the timing of the  visit of the Magi. Some scholars believe it was up to two years after Jesus was born. As I look at this passage today, I feel that the when is much less important then the who. Forget the kings and camels: there’s no mention of them. The Magi – often translated as wise men – were astrologers from the East. They studied the stars and drew conclusions from what they saw there. They were foreign. They were from a different religions context. They were outsiders. They were different. They stood out from the crowd. And they were coming to worship the king of the Jews.

They were the first Gentiles to encounter the Son of God in human form. This was massive for the Jews – that’s why Matthew writes about this story in such detail. Up until now, the one true God had been exclusively the God of the Jewish people: a jealous God who had guided His people in how to live differently from the surrounding nations. He had not wanted them them to be influenced by them or tainted by them or compromised by them.

And now their God was coming to earth in human form as the light of the world for ALL people. Even the foreigners and outsiders who thought differently and acted differently.

Who would ever have imagined that these suspicious foreigners would recognise Jesus for what he was and come to seek a face to face encounter with Jesus? The truth has cut through race and status and philosophy and tradition to reach the very heart of a human being, for strip everything away and we are all at heart essentially the same.

The Magi came to Jerusalem as the centre of the Jewish world to ask around about this new king. If anyone knew exactly where to find him, the people of Jerusalem would. When the news reached Herod’s ears, he was understandably put out. A new king of the Jews? But he was the king of the Jews (a puppet king in practice as the real power lay firmly in the hands of the Romans). A new ruler? How could that be? He was the ruler. He needed to know who this threat to his position and power was. He needed to know where this potential rival was. He needed to know what he was dealing with.

The Magi have been informed by a star. The Jewish priests and leaders turn to the Scriptures for information. It’s all there in what we call the Old Testament that we’ve been studying for the last three years.

The truth of the living Jesus cuts through the institution of religion and rocks the boat, making life uncomfortable for those leaders who are supposed to know it all and be leading the way. Knowing it all is never the same as living it, experiencing it, breathing it, you see. These religious leaders rely on tradition and institution to give them the respect and authority they believe they deserve. But sometimes the truth cuts through all the religious stuff like a searing light, revealing Jesus to the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of situations.

This is subversive stuff.

Herod has no intention of going to worship this new king of the Jews. He needs to silence him, to remove the threat, to maintain the status quo. There are religious and political leaders out there today doing the same: trying to keep the subversive, revolutionary teachings of the Son of God in a neat, little box, so that they can carry on living and ruling the people in a way that suits them – a way that is often exploiting and abusing and manipulating the very people they are called to serve.

There is only one leader who will ever be a true shepherd to his people – the only 100% Good Shepherd out there who will provide and protect the people as his sheep. Who knows every sheep by name. Who would lay down his life for his sheep. Who loves them that much.

Let’s strip away all the half truths and outdated traditions that dumb down the subversive message of the Christmas story and get in the way of being able to see Jesus for who he really is.

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.