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.

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.”

The wise men came to do him Homage…, I don’t think that the word “homage” in this translation does justice to what is actually being said here. The word in greek (proskynēsai), means to “lay down in front of” or “worship”. The Douay Rheims version of the bible translates this word as “adore” which I think is much better. So why were strangers coming from distant lands to adore the new king, when at the same time, the people that He was promised to, were trying to kill him. Well the answer is humility and reverence on one side and pride and power on the other.

The Magi were wise learned men. Sages that had read all of the prophecies and recognized the signs and were humble enough to recognize their smallness and God’s greatness, and as a result, chose to come and honor the new king. They had, in fact, nothing to gain, and much to lose by this gambit, but they came anyway because their love for God was more important than any of their wealth or power.

Herod on the other hand, was a usurper to the throne of David. He was not even a jew, he was an edomite that descended from the line of Esau. He had much to lose and nothing to gain by coming to recognize Jesus as the new king. He loved his power and his wealth, too much, to recognize Jesus as the rightful king of the Jews, and heir to the throne of David. Because this king, would be heir to “his” throne, and that was in intolerable reality for him to contemplate. You could say the same thing for the pharisees and scribes. They too were usuprers. They were not priests of the tribe of Levi, and they only had their power because the Romans and by proxy Herod gave it to them.

Then the star arises in the east. Much speculation surrounds this star. Was it a comet or a planet, or an angel come to lead the magi to the new born king? We do not know…, but the one thing was certain, that this king was prophesied in many places and prophets from many religions foretold of this moment. Fulton Sheen once said that Jesus was in fact the only person in all of history, from any religion who’s birth was foretold. And that is why the magi were coming, because they had been waiting for this moment for many years, and the star was the sign that the time had come. The jewish people too had prophesied this moment. The prophet Balaam in numbers 24:17 foretold this star…, he said: “A star shall advance from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, That will crush the brows of Moab, and the skull of all the Sethites, Edom will be dispossessed, and no survivor is left in Seir.”

This is a prophecy that every jew would have known if not had memorized. Numbers is part of the torah, which was the most important 5 books of the Jewish people. And so…, and it is easy to miss in this reading, but when Herod first assembles all of the scribes and pharisees, to hear the news from the magi, it says that “all of Jerusalem was greatly troubled by this news.” The faithful Jews that have been waiting thousands of years for this moment were likely not distressed by this news. But to all of the usurpers that had unjustly taken power at this time, the Romans, King Herod (an Edomite), and all the leaders of the temple…, knew that if a new king were to rise, a king that all of prophecy had foretold, a king from the line of David, a king that is the one true son of God…, then that would mean that all of their authority would be questioned, and their tenuous hold on power would be threatened. And that is why they all started scheming a plan to eliminate this infant child.

So what is the message for us today? I think the answer is in the gifts the magi brought to the infant king. St Irenaeus described the gifts as symbols of Jesus’ three-fold office of Priest (incense) Prophet (myrrh) and King (gold). And that in giving of these gifts they honored God’s gift of His son Jesus to us. St. Gregory the Great, said that these gifts represent the same gifts that we faithful christians give to Christ in our daily lives. “Gold is Christ’s wisdom, which shines in us, frankincense is the prayer and adoration we give him, and myrrh is our daily self-sacrifices.” And so we too must choose, do we choose the world, and the ephemeral things it offers…, power, and wealth, and allow those temptations to pull us away from right relationship with God? Or do we recognize the Lord, when He comes into our lives, and humbly respond to His offer of eternal happiness with Joy and praise. Choose wisely, your eternity depends on it.

Oh lord, help me today to choose you and eternal perfection with you in Heaven forever.