Epiphany- Who are the Magi?
Epiphany is actually celebrated on January 6th, which is next Tuesday, but the Anglican Calendar has recommended us moving the celebration to today. Generally, that’s done so that we can talk about Epiphany on a Sunday when more of us are present, rather than expecting people to come for a service on Tuesday. … It’s a bit awkward because it cuts short our celebration of the 12 days of Christmas.
We had a hint towards our Gospel reading last Sunday when we remembered the killing of the Holy Innocents, when we read about King Herod ordering the killing of the baby boys 2 years and under in and around Bethlehem, which cause the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The arrival of the Magi was what alerted King Herod to the birth of a child that might be a rival for his throne.
The Magi are mysterious. It seems likely that the Magi are Persian priest-sages. They would be involved in observation of the sky and the interpretation of any signs they might see there. They would interpret dreams (and in the story we see that they correctly interpret a dream warning them about King Herod). The Persian Magi would advise the royal court, and they would likely lead Zoroastrian religious practices. They were the intellectual elite of their society.
A connection that I recently learned about was that the Prophet Daniel, while in exile in Babylon, was called a Magus in the Greek version of the Old Testament (Dan 2:48 LXX). A number of Church Fathers speak about Daniel as the Chief Magus in Babylon and see the Magi who come to see the Christ Child as heirs of the tradition that Daniel once led. Some even suggest that something about Jewish prophecy may have been passed down to them. In some way (maybe a small way), they might be considered the spiritual descendants of the school Daniel once led.
I’ve often been confused about the Magi coming into a part of the world where I thought they would be treated very suspiciously. But, there really isn’t any hint of that in the gospel. When I think of an astrologer, I tend to lump them in with psychics, mediums, and fortunetellers. But that isn’t quite accurate to the ancient world. They weren’t looking at the stars to predict someone’s love life. They were looking for signs in the sky a kind of map of God’s creation and rule. They interpreted heavenly phenomenon.
There was even a type of Jewish astrology that looked at the sky as an expression of God’s cosmic order. The heavens were closer to God. The heavens were closer to the heavenly temple. There was a connection between the stars and angels in ancient Jewish thinking. In Genesis 1:14,
“God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years”.
The Jewish astrologers were wanting to read those signs and times, and that seems to be what they recognized the Magi as doing.
The Magi saw something in the heavens that drew them to Israel. They say to Herod, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising [or in the East]”. We really don’t know what the Magi were looking at when they saw the star. Craig Chester, an astronomer for the Montaray Institute of Geophysics and Astrophysics, has stated that every astrophysical event between 7 and 1 BC has been proposed to be the Bethlehem star.[1] We don’t know if they were looking at a supernova, or a comet, or at some configuration of the planets.
Though, this star does seem to have some strange qualities. The star seems to move, it leads them, and then it stops over a specific house. This led some early church commentators to say that it was actually an angel that led the Magi.[2] I mentioned that in ancient thinking stars and angels were connected. The idea is that just as the pilar of smoke and fire led Israel in the wilderness, this may be a similar manifestation of an angelic being leading the Magi to the Messiah.
So, there is a sense that the seeds planted by the Prophet Daniel in exile in Babylon are bearing fruit in the arrival of the Magi to visit the Christ Child. Here we see Gentiles being drawn to the Jewish Messiah, which points to the vision of Isaiah 60, where we read:
The song we often sing on this day speaks about “three kings”, but Matthew doesn’t actually say that they were kings. They do, however, point towards the day when the nations and their leaders will be drawn to Christ. In the Magi, they saw the Gentile nations coming to bow before the Jewish Messiah.
Many preachers have used their imaginations to fill in the gaps. “Three” Magi have been imagined because there were three gifts. The three Magi were even given names by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. One was “Melchior” and was described as an old man with white hair and long beard. “Gaspar” was young and beardless with a rosy complexion. “Balthasar” had dark colored skin and a big beard. The multi-ethnic group was a kind of representative group. They represented the Gentile world that would benefit from Jesus’ saving action, alongside the Jewish people.
The Magi are the firstfruit of the nations. They offer the Christ Child tribute gifts, and they bow before him as a king. This is the beginning of the nations being drawn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The nations were lost after the fall of the tower of Babel, but in the Messiah, God will draw them back to Himself.
We often think about these gifts in symbolic terms. Frankincense is incense offered to a priest or a god. Gold is offered to a king. And myrrh is offered as an oil for preparing a body for burial, pointing towards the cross. … But these are actually tribute gifts that would be offered to a king or a deity in the ancient world.[4] … These are also gifts that were used in the Jerusalem Temple. Frankincense was used in temple incense (Ex 30:34). Myrrh was used in anointing oil (Ex 30:23). Gold was used in Temple vessels and ornamentation. … The Magi believe they are coming to see a king, they fall down and worship him, and they offer gifts appropriate for royalty and worship of a god.
Epiphany means manifestation. It is a season when we pay attention to the revealing of who Jesus is. We stand with the Magi at the threshold of a great mystery.
They come from far away, guided by signs, carrying gifts, following a light that didn’t behave like other lights. They come because God has been drawing the Nations back to Himself. They come because the heavens declare the glory of God. They come because the God of Israel has never stopped calling His world back to Himself.
And when they arrive, they fall down and worship. … They don’t understand everything. They don’t know the whole story. They don’t see the cross or the empty tomb, but they know enough to bow down.
Epiphany is about a veil lifting to reveal something that was hidden. The light of Christ is revealed even to “outsiders”. The Messiah won’t just belong to the nation of Israel. No one is too far, too foreign, or too unlikely to be drawn by the light of God. Epiphany is the feast that tells us that the long exile of the Nations is ending, and that in Jesus Christ, God is gathering His whole world back to Himself.
Today, we join the Magi. Led in our own way, we bring what we have to offer as gifts, and we bow in worship before the Child who is our King and our God. Amen.
The Magi saw something in the heavens that drew them to Israel. They say to Herod, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising [or in the East]”. We really don’t know what the Magi were looking at when they saw the star. Craig Chester, an astronomer for the Montaray Institute of Geophysics and Astrophysics, has stated that every astrophysical event between 7 and 1 BC has been proposed to be the Bethlehem star.[1] We don’t know if they were looking at a supernova, or a comet, or at some configuration of the planets.
Though, this star does seem to have some strange qualities. The star seems to move, it leads them, and then it stops over a specific house. This led some early church commentators to say that it was actually an angel that led the Magi.[2] I mentioned that in ancient thinking stars and angels were connected. The idea is that just as the pilar of smoke and fire led Israel in the wilderness, this may be a similar manifestation of an angelic being leading the Magi to the Messiah.
So, there is a sense that the seeds planted by the Prophet Daniel in exile in Babylon are bearing fruit in the arrival of the Magi to visit the Christ Child. Here we see Gentiles being drawn to the Jewish Messiah, which points to the vision of Isaiah 60, where we read:
3 Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
[…] the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
[…] They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.”[3]
The song we often sing on this day speaks about “three kings”, but Matthew doesn’t actually say that they were kings. They do, however, point towards the day when the nations and their leaders will be drawn to Christ. In the Magi, they saw the Gentile nations coming to bow before the Jewish Messiah.
Many preachers have used their imaginations to fill in the gaps. “Three” Magi have been imagined because there were three gifts. The three Magi were even given names by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. One was “Melchior” and was described as an old man with white hair and long beard. “Gaspar” was young and beardless with a rosy complexion. “Balthasar” had dark colored skin and a big beard. The multi-ethnic group was a kind of representative group. They represented the Gentile world that would benefit from Jesus’ saving action, alongside the Jewish people.
The Magi are the firstfruit of the nations. They offer the Christ Child tribute gifts, and they bow before him as a king. This is the beginning of the nations being drawn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The nations were lost after the fall of the tower of Babel, but in the Messiah, God will draw them back to Himself.
We often think about these gifts in symbolic terms. Frankincense is incense offered to a priest or a god. Gold is offered to a king. And myrrh is offered as an oil for preparing a body for burial, pointing towards the cross. … But these are actually tribute gifts that would be offered to a king or a deity in the ancient world.[4] … These are also gifts that were used in the Jerusalem Temple. Frankincense was used in temple incense (Ex 30:34). Myrrh was used in anointing oil (Ex 30:23). Gold was used in Temple vessels and ornamentation. … The Magi believe they are coming to see a king, they fall down and worship him, and they offer gifts appropriate for royalty and worship of a god.
Epiphany means manifestation. It is a season when we pay attention to the revealing of who Jesus is. We stand with the Magi at the threshold of a great mystery.
They come from far away, guided by signs, carrying gifts, following a light that didn’t behave like other lights. They come because God has been drawing the Nations back to Himself. They come because the heavens declare the glory of God. They come because the God of Israel has never stopped calling His world back to Himself.
And when they arrive, they fall down and worship. … They don’t understand everything. They don’t know the whole story. They don’t see the cross or the empty tomb, but they know enough to bow down.
Epiphany is about a veil lifting to reveal something that was hidden. The light of Christ is revealed even to “outsiders”. The Messiah won’t just belong to the nation of Israel. No one is too far, too foreign, or too unlikely to be drawn by the light of God. Epiphany is the feast that tells us that the long exile of the Nations is ending, and that in Jesus Christ, God is gathering His whole world back to Himself.
Today, we join the Magi. Led in our own way, we bring what we have to offer as gifts, and we bow in worship before the Child who is our King and our God. Amen.
[1] I
heard the preacher Darrel Johnson mention this
[2]
St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Matthew 2; St. Gregory the Theologian
(Nazianzus), Oration 38 (On Theophany); St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the
Ephesians 19; St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on the Nativity 4; St. Augustine,
Sermon 202; St. Thomas Aquinas (summarizing the Fathers), Summa Theologiae
III.36.7
[3]
See also- Psalm 72: May the kings of
Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and
Seba bring gifts.11 May all kings fall down before
him, all nations give him service.
Num 24:17: a
star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel
[4] “These
same three items were… among the gifts… that King Seleucus II Callinicus
offered to the god Apollo at the temple in Miletus in 243 B.C.E.” Why
Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh? - Biblical Archaeology Society
In the Jerusalem Temple: Frankincense was used
in the Temple incense (Exodus 30:34). Myrrh was used in sacred anointing
oil (Exodus 30:23). Gold was used extensively in Temple vessels and
ornamentation.
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