But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

- Matthew 2:1-12

Yesterday, we read the end of the Gospel of Mark:  Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.  Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into the all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.

 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, . . .   My study bible tells us, "Matthew anticipates Jesus' mission to the Gentiles.  The wise men, or Magi, who come from the East, that is, outside of Israel (perhaps from Persia), are the scholars of their time.  In the Old Testament, Balaam (Numbers 23; 24) was one of their predecessors, a Gentile who also anticipated the Messiah.  The worship of the Lord by the Magi is symbolic of the Church, the true Israel, in which membership is determined by faith, not by ethnic lineage."

. . . behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  My study bible says,  "The star signifies the extraordinary importance of the birth of the Christ Child.  In ancient times a star signified a god, a deified king (Numbers 24:17).  The star is a sign of the Messiah Himself, signifying the light He will shed upon the world."

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.   A note here tells us:  "Knowing little of the Jewish Messiah and fearful of losing his throne to a newborn king, Herod asks the chief priests and scribes . . . where the Christ was to be born.  The chief priests of the temple in Jerusalem are the political and religious leaders of the Jews.  They include the high priest, who alone can enter the Holiest of All (Hebrews 9:7).  They have no idea that the Messiah has been born.  The scribes, high cabinet officers (2 Kings 22; Jer. 36:10), know the Messiah is to be born, and where.  But they have no revelation that He has come.  God reveals His truth to those with 'a noble and good heart' (Luke 8:15)."

So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not least among the rulers of Judah;  For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"  Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.  My study bible says, "Matthew, writing for Jewish Christians, cites Gentiles as the first worshipers of Jesus.  Luke, writing for Gentile Christians, cites as the first worshipers the Jewish poor -- shepherds from surrounding fields (Luke 2:8-17).  The Magi, firstfruits of the Gentiles, come to Christ bearing gifts:  gold, for a King; frankincense, for God; and myrrh, for a Man who is to suffer and die.  The wise men have received some knowledge about the newborn King through their observation of the star, but when they see Him, they recognize Him as the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), the Orient (the rising sun) from on high (Is. 59:19), the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)."

At the end of Mark's Gospel (yesterday's reading) we noted the unlikely characters who populate the story of the Resurrection, the ones who still surround Jesus after His death, and who are given the first good news of the Resurrection.  There is Mary Magdalene -- a woman out of whom had been cast seven demons -- and the women with her,  who are the first ones to be told, He is risen!   Mary Magdalene goes to the Twelve with this good news, which they fail to believe.  There is the centurion who proclaimed at Jesus' death, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"  There is Joseph of Arimathea, who was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, who asks permission from Pilate to take Jesus' body, who donates a new grave made of stone, and fine linen for burial.  These three populate and dominate the story of death and Resurrection, and the great good news that He is with us always, He is risen.  All unlikely, none are the chosen Apostles we know as members of the Twelve.  And yet God was working through them.  So it is today in our reading that we have the three Magi or wise men from the East, who understand that something powerful and important is happening.  They have news of this babe to whom they come to present gifts.  It is through these Gentiles, as my study bible points out, that the good news comes to Israel.  As so many pilgrims are to do in the centuries after Christ's birth, and continue to do today, they come not only to bring treasures, but to worship Him.  Though Jesus is a newborn, they worship Him.  It is fitting that such a lesson comes after the ending of Mark's Gospel, in which so many who seem so unlikely -- those whom we could not have predicted -- are the ones who populate the story, the characters about whom we can marvel, as well as we marvel and ponder the mystery of the Resurrection itself.  So it is in today's reading.  And, as well, we have the leadership that behaves only suspiciously, jealous of its own power and position, the religious leadership of the temple working also at the behest of Herod.  Already at His birth, we have the tension between the power of the world and the power of God.  The stories of the Old Testament tell us the same.  But Jesus' birth and all His circumstances, and those who surround and support Him, tell us the good news that God's spirit, as my study bible points out when it quotes from Luke, can be at work in those with a noble and good heart.  The wisdom of the Magi is also contained in their capacity to hear that truth when it comes to them in a dream, to avoid Herod and depart for their country another way.  May we all cultivate that noble and good heart that is willing to hear truth and practice obedience to it.  May we all recognize God in the most unlikely of circumstances, in the bitterest of circumstances, in the weakest and smallest among us, and in contrast to what appearances may tell us, that wisdom is justified by all her children.