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"

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 the 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.

- Matt. 2:1-12

Yesterday we read that when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, that they might come and anoint Christ for burial.  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 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, 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."  Today we leave Mark's Gospel and begin readings in Matthew.  This Herod the king is Herod the Great, the father of Herod Antipas, who will be the eventual ruler of Galilee during Christ's ministry.  Herod the king was also known as Herod the Great, and Herod the Builder.  He ruled Judea from 37-4 BC.  Among other achievements, he rebuilt the temple into one of the wonders of the world.  He was also known for his cruelty, even in a time of cruel and ruthless rulers.  The wise men from the East are the scholars of their time.  Also called magi, they are most likely from Persia.  In the Old Testament, my study bible tells us, Balaam (Numbers 23; 24) was one of their predecessors, a Gentile who anticipated the Messiah.  These foreigners prefigure the Church, in which membership is determined by faith and not by ethnic lineage.  The star proclaims the birth of Christ as extraordinary.  For the ancient pagans, a star would signify a god, a deified king (Numbers 24:17).  This star signifying Christ's birth fulfills prophecy in Psalm 110:3; both the Latin Vulgate and the Septuagint versions (109:3) speak of His creation in the womb before the morning star.  It shows all of creation participating in the Incarnation (see also Psalms 19:1, 148:3).

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 the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"    My study bible says that he had to summon the Jewish leaders because he knew little about the Jewish Messiah and he feared losing his throne to this newborn King.  Throughout the several centuries prior to Herod's rule, Israel was a battleground of kingdom against kingdom, constantly under strife as conquerors battled against new challengers.  The chief priests were the political and religious leaders of the Jews, and the scribes were high cabinet officers.  They were the experts in Scripture, knowing where the Messiah was to be born.  But in spite of all the signs being in place, they had no idea that He had come (see 16:3).  They quote to Herod from the prophecy of Micah (Micah 5:2). 

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 points out that whereas the Jewish shepherds worshiped the Savior in the cave on the day He was born (Luke 2:8-20), the Gentile magi came to worship Him some time later.  By then, Joseph and Mary had found a house in which they dwelt.  It's an illustration that Christ first came to the Jews and afterward was worshiped by the Gentiles.  An Eastern hymn sung at Compline of the Nativity tells us "Gold is for the King of ages.  Frankincense is for the God of all.  Myrrh is offered to the Immortal One, who shall be three days dead."

It's quite remarkable how consistent the Gospels are.  That is, what we find going from one reading to another.  Yesterday we read the ending of the Gospel of Mark (see above), in which Jesus gave the Great Commission to go to all of creation preaching the gospel.  We know that at His Ascension He has assumed lordship over all of creation.  In today's reading, through prophesy, we are given to understand that all of creation participates in the Incarnation, in this birth of the divine-human baby Christ.  It is fitting that it should be so.  It is fitting that Gentiles come from another far off place to welcome Him and to worship Him, bearing gifts for a King.  It will be Christ who prays to the Father to give us the Holy Spirit, who is "everywhere present and filling all things," and these Gentile scholars from another tradition entirely surely have the Holy Spirit working with them in their own way.  We are even told that they were divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and so they departed for their own country another way.  It is fitting that surrounding His birth, the whole world in some sense participates, while the powerful and the authoritative, the "wise and prudent" do not know what is happening.  The Gospels reach out to give us a true sense of the mystical, that which works under our own even best-honed radar to make something visible, to reveal, but without our "hands on" understanding of how it came to be so.  It is always a lesson in the work of God to read these narratives of Jesus' birth, and to understand the signs that appear, the knowledge that is present, and particularly how all this happens.  Visions and wisdom are given in dreams, there are those for whom prophesy is revealed, and others to whom that prophesy is well-known but are blind to its perception as it manifests.  This is the way God is at work in the world, somehow not quite within our hard-working "radar" range, but always manifesting and creating.  It is the participation of all of creation in this birth that is truly fascinating, all of the elements in creation, and also the Gentiles who come from afar, and the shepherds who come from the hills near Bethlehem.  Let us be truly thankful, and marvel at what is truly marvelous, and remains so.