There is
one last bah humbug to our story – and this time it is not Ebenezer Scrooge –
it is someone by the name of King Herod.
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, it seems like everything just
happens, all of the prophesies from Isaiah and the other ancient prophets, just
seem to align and it all just naturally falls into place. But actually, there was road block after road
block standing in the way of this birth: an unwed mother, a census close to the
time she was to give birth, a long journey, no room in the inn, and now, a King
that wants to do everything in his power to make sure this new born king does
not rise to power. Despite all of these
road blocks, despite the world saying no to God’s yes, the child is born, and
the prophecies are fulfilled, and the word spreads across the region that
something amazing is happening.
And so,
as one last prophecy is being fulfilled: arise and shine, Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. These Magi travel from distant lands. Some say they are kings, some say they are
wise, most likely they were astrologers, and it is possible there were more
than three. But whoever they were, they
came from afar because they saw something of great interest in the sky and from
it, they interpreted the star to signify the birth of the king of the
Jews.
Now, the lands from which they came had once been
conquerors of Israel, so some even proclaim that these magi were spies, coming
to seek information on the political future of Israel. Yes, Rome was in control, but lands always
seemed to be influx, rulers came and went, and nations rose and fell. Would this new king be a future threat to
their own lands? It was definitely a day
and age where you would not know who to trust.
And so, when these magi arrived in Jerusalem and questioned about the
whereabouts of the birth of the king, Herod was greatly disturbed and so was
all of Jerusalem.
In a not so distant past, when the Greeks ruled
over the land, there had been an uprising called the Maccabean Revolt, which is
now partly celebrated through Holy season of Hanukkah. Would this king be yet another rebel bringing
together the people to try and overthrow the Roman rule? One
commentator writes: Medes, Babylonians
and Persians do not come to David’s town to worship, they come to spy and conquer.Yet on reaching, the place where Jesus is,
they do what they say they came to do. They offer him homage and present
him kingly tribute.
Whether they were spies or not, they came, they
came because of something in the sky.
How often do we even look at the sky anymore? Would we even notice of a new star appeared? Have we paid attention to when Mars or
Jupitar are brighter than usual? Just a
a
few weeks ago we had a super moon – maybe some of you saw it. The next really big moon will be in 2034 – some
people got some great pictures, but was it really a big deal? Did people really pay attention. Or what about Halleys comet – 1986 and
returning in 2061 - or a solar eclipse –
As this
story unfolds, what we learn is that it is foreigners that are paying attention
to signs of God’s work in the world.
Foreigners are on the move and willing to travel and see what is
happening at great expense for themselves.
They leave safety and come to the land of their enemies in order to
encounter whatever it is that is happening.
They have an amazing openness to themselves. Perhaps the sign was so intense to them that
they were just sure beyond a doubt that this was a journey that they had to
make. And so they came, and God
reinforced their journey by speaking to them in a dream.
The Wise
Ones found what they were looking for by following the lighted path. When we
trust the “star” that God hung out for us, we move toward life in its fullest
and discover joy beyond imagining. What paths is God shining light upon for
you? We will take the next month to implement movement toward a brighter future
than we can imagine.
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