The Feast of the Epiphany, Sunday, January 3, 2021

Matthew 2:1–12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”  Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his Mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

The word Epiphany comes from a Greek word for “appearance” or “manifestation”, and the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates three such manifestations of the Son of God to the world.  Primarily, it celebrates the visitation of the Magi to the Infant Jesus, but it also commemorates his baptism by John in the Jordan, traditionally said to have taken place that day, thirty years later, and also the Lord’s first miracle, at the wedding at Cana, said to have taken place on the same day a year after his baptism.  The Universal Calendar gives the ancient date for this feast as on January 6, but the U.S. bishops have moved it to the first Sunday after January 1. 

“Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews?’ ”  The magi (from the Latin magus, meaning “learned man”, “astrologer”, or “magician”) came from “the east”.  Some say that these men originated in Persia, but they may have come from a nearer location, perhaps Arabia.  “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”  Now, it does seem odd that these Magi would leave their homeland and follow this star (for it “preceded” them), but the ancient people commonly believed that portents in the heavens indicated some significant event on the earth.  The “star” that they saw must have had a low altitude if they were able to follow it and stand beneath it.  It must also have stood out in size or in some other way from the others, as well.  Certainly, it seemed to move, but it could not have moved too quickly or it would have vanished over the horizon.  If it moved too slowly, it would have been too difficult to follow.  The appearance of the star could not have been caused by a planet or a conjunction of planets.  The ancients knew their planets very well and would not have confused this with a star, particularly as they could have watched the planets near each other over the course of several nights.  The Magi associated this sign in the heavens as indicating the birth of a king, and this was logical since it was a new star that had not been seen before.  Seeing it move with some speed, they decided to move with it, as this was an unheard of phenomenon, meaning something of very great importance had occurred.  It seemed to stop over Jerusalem, and so they assumed that this meant the new king had been born there.  Perhaps they did not know that Herod the Great still reigned in Judea.  Their question would certainly have stirred up Herod’s fear of being overthrown.

“Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.”. It is notable that Herod seems at once to have identified this newborn Child as the Messiah.  The expectation of the Messiah was evidently quite high at the time.  Non-biblical Jewish  writings like the Book of Enoch fed a populace hungry for hope that a new age of freedom for God’s people was imminent, and various short-lived messianic movements erupted here and there in the countryside, but they did not last (cf. Acts 5, 36-37).  The high priests referred Herod to Micah 5, 2, which is a relatively obscure passage in the work of one of the minor prophets.  This tells us of how ardently the high priests and the scribes themselves had searched the Scriptures for information about the Messiah who was to come — not unlike, in our own day, how some folks search the pages of the Bible for information about the identity and signs of the Antichrist, and for the date of the end of the world.  

“Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.”  Herod wanted to know when the star first became visible, which would tell him the age of the Child.  At this point, Jesus would have been no more than two weeks old.  “He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.’ ”  Jesus would later refer to Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and the ruler of Galilee at the time of the Lord’s ministry, as a “fox”, and here we see the father of the “fox” at work, as Herod the Great intends to let the Magi do the hard work of finding the Child, and then killing him when they reported back to him.  Herod speaks to them “secretly” out of fear that some of those at his court might see this as a chance to plot against him.  Note that Herod does not offer to go with the Magi: he wants to seem uninterested in the Child and unconnected with the massacre he is planning, lest that bring about a rebellion.  “And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.  They were overjoyed at seeing the star.”  Again, the mysterious star, which some of the Fathers believed to have been an angel guiding the Magi.

“On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his Mother.”  Luke does not say that Joseph was present or absent, but merely mentions that the Magi saw Mary and Jesus when they entered the house.  We see here that the Holy Family is now residing in a house, two weeks after the birth of Jesus.  They have prevailed on someone, perhaps a distant relative, to let them stay at this house.  The houses in Bethlehem were not very spacious or fancy.  Working people and their children dwelt in them.  They would have been built of stone and may have included small, walled courtyards.  The Magi must have been taken aback at the idea of a king being born here.  The star is described as “stopped over the place where the child was.”  Again, this indicates its relatively low altitude.  What did they see when they looked at Mary and Jesus?  There would have been no signs of royalty such as they were used to.  They saw a woman with her infant, an everyday sight.  And yet they saw more than that: “They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”  The prostration was an especial sign of obeisance in the East at that time.  But why did these educated, wealthy men fall on the floor before a mere woman and her child, foreigners to them?  Because they understood the significance of their star, a new star announcing the birth of a king, but also a miraculous star that filled them with joy when they looked upon it.  If the star was a wonder, then how much greater the One whom it signified and pointed out.

“Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  The fact that three distinct gifts are listed has caused generations of believers to think that there were only three Magi, but we do not know their number.  Traditionally they are also thought of as kings, due to Psalm 72, 10: “The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts.”  The Fathers saw prophetic meaning in the types of the gifts they brought to the Lord Jesus: gold for a King; frankincense for a Priest; and myrrh for a Sacrificial Victim.  St. Thomas Aquinas also mentions that “some commenters assign a literal reason for these gifts.  These say that the Magi found a dirty house, a weak child, and a poor mother.  They offered the gold to sustain the mother, myrrh to strengthen the limbs of the child, and frankincense to take away the stench.”

“And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”  St. John Chrysostom, fourth century Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote that the Magi lived into the time of the Apostles and that they assisted St. Thomas when he began his work in Persia.  Their relics are housed in the the magnificent cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

So few people followed the star to its destination, and yet it must have been very visible and highly unusual.  All of Jerusalem, including the high priests, awaited the Messiah, and yet none of them accompanied the Magi to see him.  These days, the Faith is spread throughout the world, and Bibles are easily available, but how many people actually believe, how many folks read the Holy Scriptures?  Let us follow the star — the words and deeds of the Lord Jesus.  And let us ourselves become stars to lead others to him.