Reading
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Meditation
Named for the first time in the Bible in connection with the death of Rachel (Gn 35,19), with the name of Efrata ("the fruit-bearing one"), Bethlehem of Judea is thus cited to distinguish it from a locality of the same name in Galilee. Bethlehem is the place of messianic continuity: the birthplace of David, the birthplace of Jesus. The prophecy mentioned in this passage of the Gospel of Matthew refers to the book of Micah (Mi 5:2) and was associated by the scribes with the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem. King Herod mentioned in this Gospel passage is Herod the Great. Born in 73 BC, he ruled Palestine from 37 BC. until his death (4 BC).
Herod calls the chief priests and scribes to himself. The former were the most influential members of the priestly families of Jerusalem; the latter the accredited interpreters of the law. The dissimulation of him with the Magi shows that the greatest wickedness often cloaks itself in religious piety. Although he consulted with the wise men of Israel, he does not understand the particular kingship of Jesus, a king without a crown, whose kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36), but to whom all power has been given by the Father in heaven and on earth. Herod wants to know the place where the child was born not to worship him but to kill him, because he sees it as a threat to his throne.
The Magi, members of the Persian priestly caste, come from the East searching the sky and understand what Israel did not understand even though they possess the Scriptures. Thus the Magi prefigure the pagans, who unlike the Jews, immediately recognize Jesus as that "light to enlighten the nations" sung by Simeon (Lk 2:32). Their number is not mentioned, the traditional notion that they were three derives from the three types of gifts brought. It was assumed that they were kings on the basis of some prophetic passages of the Old Testament (Is 60:6; Ps 72:10-15), but there is no explicit information about them.
Looking for the king of the Jews, the Magi pay homage above all to the kingship of Jesus. The ancients believed that when a new king was born a new star would rise. The unusual brightness of the star announcing the birth of Jesus testifies about the child's royal origin. Although some modern critics suggest an astronomical event in the celestial phenomenon, this hypothesis is to be excluded since the star seen by the Magi guides them moving to the town where the child Jesus is and stops there. We can think of a supernatural reality, such as the luminous cloud that led the Israelites into the wilderness.
The gifts of the Magi recall some Old Testament passages (Is 60:6 and Ps 72:10) and were interpreted by the Fathers of the Church as symbols of the kingship, divinity and suffering humanity of Jesus. Gold was in fact given to kings, the frankincense was used for divine worship and myrrh for the burial of bodies.
Jesus came among his people but was not recognized (Jn 1:11). The Magi do not find an adoring multitude around the king of the Jews, but have to ask, door to door, where he is. Often precisely those who should lead to Jesus are strangers to him, while those who are far away pass by, guided by the light of grace, that light that illuminates every man (Jn 1:9).
Bethlehem, literally "the house of bread", welcomes the true manna, the living bread which came down from heaven (Jn 6:51), given for the life of the world. The manifestation of Christ to the people, the Epiphany, invites us to read the events of our life and to search the Scriptures in search of God, who displaces our expectations and our fears, showing himself in the humble form of a child.
Prayer
O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
