Matthew 2:1–12
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, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Matthew 21–12 ESV – Bible Gateway
This Gospel invokes so much imagery for us that and so much of this imagery passes on concerning the Magi and the star is simply false. So much conjecture concerning the star that starts on false premises.
Jimmy Akin recently wrote an article in the most recent Catholic Answers magazine titled “Why the Magi Came” which addresses some of this.
Summarizing these myths:[1]
- The Magi were following the star.
- The star moved in an unusual way.
- The star was a new one and never appeared before.
- The star was an angel or supernatural phenomenon.
- The star was a fixed star.
He also covered some of this in an episode of Catholic Answers Focus “The Real Star of Bethlehem” which also weighs evidence of what the “star” actually was.
There is also a lot of speculation regarding the homeland of the Magi. There is a tradition of them being Persian, but there is much less certainty regarding this now and it is an open question. We don’t even know the total number of them other than tying this to the gifts given. Considering the time frame that Herod used regarding the slaughter of the innocence, when they arrived was likely long after Jesus’s birth up to two years later.
There has also been a lot of speculation on the gifts the Magi brought and their significance. The first reading from Isaiah has a Messianic prophecy regarding the nations that would come to him and bring him gifts of gold and frankincense.
Dr. John Bergsma writes:
The gifts that the magi bring are rich in biblical symbolism. As stated above, frankincense and myrrh are only mentioned together in the Old Testament in the Song of Songs, where they are nuptial perfumes employed by Solomon and his bride to prepare for their marriage. Here in Matthew, Jesus is being marked out as Bridegroom King from his birth.[2]
The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible brings out some of the traditional allegories:
Allegorically (St. Irenaeus, AH 3, 9, 2): the gifts of the Magi signify the mystery of Christ incarnate. Gold, a symbol of royalty, represents the kingship of Jesus. Frankincense, used in the worship of God, points to his divinity. Myrrh, a burial ointment, signifies the humanity of Christ, especially in his Passion and death. Morally (St. Gregory the Great, Hom. in Evan. 10): the treasures signify the gifts we present to Christ in our daily lives. Gold is Christ’s wisdom, which shines in us, frankincense is the prayer and adoration we give him (cf. Rev 8:3–4), and myrrh is our daily self-sacrifices (10:39; cf. Rom 12:1).[3]
What is much more significant than the gifts is that fact that the Magi worshipped the Christ-child.
Dr. Brant Pitre comments on this:
They go into the house with the child, they find Mary his mother, and they fall down and they worship him. Now this is extremely important because the word used here for worship, proskyneō , literally means to bow down prostrate before someone. It actually means to get down like a dog before another person. So you bow down before them prostrate.
and
And in some contexts the word proskyneō can be used for the kind of homage that you pay to just an ordinary king, but in the Gospel of Matthew he uses this term for the kind of expression of adoration and veneration that you give to God and God alone. So for example, just a couple chapters later in Matthew 4:9, the devil says to Jesus that if he just “bows down and worships him, he will give him all the kingdoms of the world.” And Jesus responds by saying “No. God alone shall you worship.” And yet we see the Magi in chapter 2 here worshiping Jesus the Christ child. So what is the implication? The implication is that they recognize that he’s not just the king of the Jews, they are not just venerating him as King, they are worshiping him as divine, as the divine king.
St. Peter Chrysologus in one of his sermons, wrote:
“Today the Magi find crying in a manger the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars.
Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.
So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.”[4]
God used the Magi to give witness to the incarnation and the birth of the Messiah. Their own theological understanding was incomplete, but it moved them to worship. They sought this sign using their own arts, but it lead them to truth, in fact, the incarnate truth. God also entered their lives by warning them off to not return to Herod. I would guess that after meeting Herod, it would not have taken much convincing that he was a bad dude to avoid.
The word epiphany includes a range of meanings. There is a specific context in how the Church uses it as Dr. John Bergsma references:
The word “Epiphany” comes from two Greek words: epi, “on, upon”; and phaino, “to appear, to shine.” Therefore, the “Epiphany” refers to the divinity of Jesus “shining upon” the earth. In other words, it is the manifestation of his divine nature[5]
Leaving off with a paragraph from the Catechism:
528 The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi’s coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning toward the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that “the full number of the nations” now takes its “place in the family of the patriarchs,” and acquires Israelitica dignitas (are made “worthy of the heritage of Israel”). [6]
Sources
- Catholic Answers November-December 2022
- Catholic Answers Focus “The Real Star of Bethlehem”
- The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
- Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
- Catholic Answers November-December 2022, Jimmy Akin “Why the Magi Came” ↩
- The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma ↩
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament ↩
- Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 160, PL 52:620–62. As translated in Office of Readings:Non-Biblical Readings for Christmas Season, reading 8 in Christian Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1976), 1965. ↩
- The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, First Reading ↩
- Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference. ↩
