The
Magi were astrologers, people who read the signs in the sky. And from what they
saw in a rising star, they were prepared to make a life-changing journey. These
men were convinced that God was communicating to the world that someone great
had been born. When they came to Judea,
and its political capital Jerusalem, they expected to find the Great One
there.
Instead,
they found Herod, who was not willing to come out of darkness into the light.
You can almost smell the fear in Herod, from the story. His darkness was so deep that he would
attempt to kill the baby, challenging God’s plan rather than trusting in
God.
As
for the Magi, they were still willing to find the light, which they did in
Bethlehem, in a stable. The light of faith, not of a star, led them to the child.
And in doing so, they put their lives in the hands of a baby boy and of God’s
kingdom, and not in the hands of Herod and of the world. Their lives were
changed – nothing would be the same – and from then on they travelled by a
different road.
This
change is beautifully captured in some words of TS Eliot, in his poem ‘The
Journey of the Magi’:
All
this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down this, were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
And I would do it again, but set down this, were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
From a helpless child lying in a
manger through to a young man dying on a cross, Jesus was the epiphany, the
revelation of God. Jesus is the ultimate revelation that God's glory is an
offering of life-changing love – a love that welcomes, a love of peace and
forgiveness, a love that seeks for goodness, trust, faithfulness, communion.
But such an offering requires a
response; the ongoing epiphany of the Lord awaits the response of our hearts.
Will it be that of King Herod who perceived it as a threat to his power? Or,
will it be that of the Magi who were prepared to search and to accept and to
return home by a different way?
God is looking for
our response to his offer. How will we participate in the ongoing Epiphany of
God – of making God visible in our world? Every one of us, in our own unique
situations and circumstances, can reveal an aspect of God's truth, goodness and
beauty that otherwise would remain unknown. This is the real journey of the
Magi, and our journey too: not a journey of kilometres or activity, but a
journey from darkness to light. It is an inner journey of discovery of the
light of Christ.
