Biblical Text: Matthew 2.1-12

It’s a familiar story that we hear in our Gospel reading today. Visitors from the East see a star in the sky, they travel a long way bringing gifts, to a baby, one they proclaim the “King of the Jews.”

Were they kings? Probably not. Magi were astronomers and astrologers who looked for signs in the night sky. A momentous event in the sky meant a momentous event on earth, and vice versa. If you saw one, you’d look for the other. After seeing a star and interpreting it, they had set out to find the King of the Jews. 

Were there three of them? Possibly. But even so, three gifts were brought to point to different aspects of Jesus’s life: Gold for royalty, frankincense for divinity, and myrrh for his death.

But this isn’t the whole story. Matthew, the only gospel writer to include their visit, tells the story because it points to Jesus being good news, for all, not just Jews.

This celebration of Epiphany is not, ultimately, about the men themselves, but the fact that they weren’t Jewish. An “epiphany” is not about magi specifically, but it’s a revelation or a realisation of the truth! And these Magi are the first Gentiles, non-Jews, who Matthew records as understanding who Jesus is. In Matthew’s gospel, it won’t happen again until the final chapters, when Pilate orders his soldiers to put a plaque above Jesus’s head as he is crucified. “King of the Jews,” that plaque will read, and despite our understanding of the importance of this claim, both proclamations of Jesus’s kingship are swiftly followed by threats to his life. One unsuccessful, another successful, but only in the short term.

Rulers play an important role in the story of Jesus. Herod is no different. This is not the same Herod that will behead John the Baptist, or speak to Jesus in his final days, but nonetheless he plays a crucial role in the story. The magi travel for days, maybe weeks, to get close to Jesus, but in their final miles they cross paths with this less than ideal king. He’s good to them. They have information he wants. After all, if a new king has been born, he’s a threat. Herod is worried, and so, says the text, is the whole city. (Probably because he’s an awful king. Bad tempered leaders are rarely good news.) And so he asks the magi to return once they have found this new king, so he too can go and “honour” him.

The magi, full of joy and expectation, go off to find Jesus, and when they do, they give gifts. They lay them at Jesus’s feet. A long journey has finally come to an end, they have found the one for whom they were searching. Warned in a dream, they don’t go back to Herod, and he loses his chance to stop Jesus there and then.

The celebration of epiphany, the story of the magi, gives us two very different responses to the birth of Jesus. On the one hand we have the magi, who are full of joy and expectation. They travel hundreds of miles to see this newborn king, the messiah, the one whom is predicted to bring peace and justice. They bring gifts, and they worship him. There is a sense of joy as their journey comes to fruition!

Herod, on the other hand, has no such joy. For him, Jesus is a threat. His legitimacy as king is in question. His position, his status, his way of life is challenged by this newborn baby, and his reaction is perhaps not surprising. He responds out of fear for himself, and just a few verses later we hear of his order to kill many innocent children in Bethlehem in an attempt to keep his position.

One pronouncement, the birth of a baby, the king of the Jews, and two very different responses. During Advent we await the coming of the Son of God, and now, he’s here. The Christmas story is a comforting one in many respects, but this baby will not remain in the manger, he will be proclaimed as Lord. As Lord he demands a response. So what is our response? Are we going to react with fear, as our status and way of life is challenged by the King of Kings? Or do we embrace the birth of Jesus? Do we welcome him with joy as the one who brings peace and justice, for us and for all?