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“Les rois mages en voyage” (The Magi Journeying) by James Tissot is in the Brooklyn Museum.
A NOTE FROM CELESTE LETCHWORTH:
As most of you know, Tom went to be with the Lord in June, 2018.
Since the lectionary cycles every 3 years, I am able to copy Tom’s SOAR studies from the archives and post them each week with our current year’s dates.
Unfortunately — the lectionary passages selected for January 2, 2022 are different this year — they’re using the Scriptures associated with “The 2nd Sunday after Christmas” instead of using the Scriptures for “the 1st Sunday in January.”
On the 1st Sunday in January, he always chose to go with the “Epiphany Sunday” Scriptures (which used to be selected for the Sunday immediately preceding January 6). He loved Epiphany! It was one of his favorite holidays — right up there with Trinity Sunday.
So here’s his SOAR for the Epiphany Gospel selection for the 1st Sunday in January.
HOWEVER! I was able to find a SOAR he wrote for John 1:1-14 (the Gospel selection for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas is John 1:10-18 with verses 1-9 as optional) in the archives. CLICK HERE to go to Tom’s SOAR for the Gospel for December 25, 2016: John 1:1-14.
I pray that the Light of Christ will shatter whatever darkness you encounter this year. And that God will use each of us to shine the Light of Christ as a beacon to the lost and the last.
START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 2:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM
OBSERVE:
What a strange story! Non-Jewish Magi who come from the exotic east, shrouded in mystery. Almost no detail is given about their background, their motivation, or their beliefs. The reader is left to speculate about their brief appearance on the stage of this salvation history.
We only really know about the Magi from sources outside of Scripture — the Greek historian Herodotus, for example, tells us that the Magi were once a separate ethnic group in what is now modern-day Iraq and Iran, whose resistance to the more powerful Babylonians and Medo-Persians proved futile. That they were relegated to a kind of caste-like status as priests. That they were likely followers of the teaching of Zoraster, who believed in the cosmic struggle of good and evil, light and darkness represented by the gods Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, but that eventually the good deity Ahura Mazda will prevail. At the end of time a “savior figure” would arise who would renew the world and revive the dead.
So much for their identity. Another question we ask is how did they know that this star presaged the birth of the one who has been born king of the Jews? And why would they come to worship him? Was it because they had rubbed shoulders with Jewish scholars who had been exiled to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.? And because they shared with the Jews a hope for a coming savior at the end of time? Our only answers are pure speculation.
But none of this is explored or interpreted in the Gospel. The arrival of these ancient astronomers is simply declared as a fact, without explanation.
However, their instincts, though logical, are wrong! They travel between 500 and 1000 miles, only to arrive five miles away from the real destination (the city of David, Bethlehem Ephrata). They go instead to Jerusalem, the capital of Judea!
Herod is depicted here much the way he is depicted in the literature of the time — wily, cunning, deceptive — and ruthless. He is troubled for obvious reasons. He is not the rightful heir to the throne of David, and he knows it. He is an Idumean. If the presumptive Jewish heir of David has been born, and the Jewish people find in him a champion, it could mean serious trouble for Herod’s uneasy reign. Remember that he is a client king under the sponsorship of the Roman empire. He serves at their pleasure alone.
And when Herod is troubled, everybody in Jerusalem is troubled!
Curiously enough, Herod has enough sense to consult the Jewish priests of the temple that he is trying to reconstruct and renovate. And they turn to their own ancient scriptures, specifically to Micah 5:2 and 4. The Scriptures all point to the City of David, and the rightful heir of the throne.
Herod’s request of the Magi is worthy of every Hollywood villain we have ever met:
“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.”
As we come to discover, his motives are diabolical — in Matthew 2:16 he gives orders for his soldiers to slaughter all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two. He will not tolerate the possibility of a royal rival.
But it is not the priests, or King Herod, who go to worship the newborn King. The Gentile Magi, strangers from a strange land, come to worship him and spread their gifts before him.
Again, much may be made of the three gifts that they bring. Incidentally, it may go without saying that we are not told how many Magi there are, just that there are three gifts. The gifts are quite expensive, worthy of a king. Gold, the currency of that age and every age; frankincense, used in temples and presumably by the Magi themselves to be burned on occasions of worship; and myrrh, an expensive perfumed ointment often used for healing and for anointing the wealthy dead.
It is interesting to note that in Matthew’s Gospel there is no description of stable or manger. The Magi come to a house where they find Mary and Jesus. Time may well have elapsed between the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the Magi — which may also explain why Herod commands the murder of two-year-olds and younger.
Matthew’s Gospel, in these early chapters especially, features the importance of dreams as a means of divine communication — the Magi are warned, just as Joseph is, by means of a dream that Herod means to kill the child. And they slip away, escaping detection by Herod’s spies.
APPLY:
There are many rich levels that we might explore as we seek to apply this passage to our own lives.
First, that the Magi are Gentile foreigners who, despite their exotic culture and ancient religion, are nevertheless drawn to this Jewish Messiah. This is a reminder to us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends our parochial, ethnocentric, or nationalistic boundaries. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for people of every tribe, nation, language and culture.
Second, we find it irresistible not to think of the Magi as modern-day scientists. Their search for truth is like ours — they follow the “signs” that are presented. And they come so close! But not close enough. A miss is as good as a mile when it comes to finding Jesus.
So it is through the guidance of Scripture — God’s own self-revelation — that they are directed to Bethlehem. The Bible is a sufficient rule both of faith and practice, we believe.
But ultimately, they must take the journey of faith for themselves. Reason and Scripture may direct us toward God, but we must experience him for ourselves through worship and by giving our best offering possible — ourselves, our souls and bodies.
RESPOND:
I find in nature many compelling reasons to believe in God’s existence. I find in Scripture confirmation that this God loves me and wants to have fellowship with me. But I find in coming to God and worshiping him the direct evidence of my relationship with him.
Our Lord, you have given us various hints and signs of your presence in our midst. But ultimately we must respond to reason and Scripture by faith. Then we may truly worship you. Amen.
PHOTO:
“Les rois mages en voyage” (The Magi Journeying) by James Tissot is in the public domain.
SOAR Lectionary Bible Study 