The Magi (Matthew 2:1-12)

Sixteenth Day of Advent

Matthew 2:1-12 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 in the east 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 Christ 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 be the shepherd of 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 make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

There is probably no element of the birth story of Jesus that’s been more embellished by tradition than that of the Magi. In recent years, however, these embellishments have become a stumbling block to faith. That they were kings with the names Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, and that they traveled hundreds of miles through the desert, on camels, with servants, in a great entourage, following a star so bright that you could see it in the daytime but which somehow didn’t get recorded by anyone but Matthew, seems absurd to many. Add to this the notion that these “kings” arrived in a little town like Bethlehem, and hung out in a stable with shepherds to see a baby in a manger, and modern credulity is strained beyond the breaking point.

But Matthew’s story – the magi appear exclusively in the Gospel of Matthew – is actually very simple, much more like Luke’s humble account of the shepherds. And everything we know of them is related in the 12 verses above.

1. They are magi. – This is a word used to refer to a cast of Persian priests. They were not uncommon in Jesus’ day, and were rather like wandering Gypsies who traveled about telling fortunes and such. We find two similar characters in the Book of Acts; Simon (8:9-24) and Elymas (13:6-12).
2. There was more than one. – The word Magi is plural, but there is no indication that there were three.
3. They are from the east. – Magi were generally from Persia but Matthew does not actually say that they had come specifically in search of the new king. Magi from the East were a common feature of Palestinian life.
4. They had seen a star indicating a new king had been born in Israel. – The phrase “star in the east” might be translated “star at it’s rising”. Jews had nothing to do with astrology, so it’s hardly surprising that Matthew gives less detail than is needed to say precisely what the star was.
5. They first went to Jerusalem. – We are not told that the star led them to Jerusalem. Apparently, having seen the star, they simply went to where you would expect a new king of Israel to be born.
6. They were directed to Bethlehem by those who knew the Old Testament prophesies.
7. They found Jesus in a house. – The magi did not got to the stable, but appear to have arrived some time after Jesus’ birth when the family was in a house. The word “child” used of Jesus, rather than “infant” as in Luke’s Gospel, also indicates an older Jesus.
8. They presented gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. – These gifts were probably tokens rather than costly treasures. This is the sort of thing a traveling troupe of fortunetellers might do to stir up interest in a town.
9. Because they’d been warned in a dream to avoid Herod, they left the country without returning to Jerusalem. – If what we know of the historical Herod is accurate, the dream probably confirmed what they already suspected; they had made a terrible mistake in spilling the beans in Jerusalem about the birth of a rival king.

The coming of the magi is a simple story, really just an incident, that illustrates the impact of the coming of the Prince of Peace. Even magi, who are immersed in practices that are abhorrent to God’s people, are drawn to Messiah, while the king in Jerusalem, who should have been among the first to recognize Messiah, aligns himself against him.

Who could ever have imagined that the coming of the Prince of Peace could bring about such a radical reversal of the spiritual order? Well, Mary did. In fact, she pointed it out just yesterday.

Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.