Posts Tagged ‘kings’

Following a star – taking risks

January 4, 2025

Epiphany – 2025

Matthew 2:1-12

Marian Free

In the name of God, tantalisingly mysterious, and always out of reach. Amen.

“If the wise men gave Jesus gold, why was he poor?” This was a question that my great nephew posed recently. My sister deferred to me for an answer. I confess that I was stumped. In over 50 years of teaching Sunday School and Religious Education and over 30 years of preaching, no one has ever wondered (aloud) what happened to the gifts of the magi. Scholars have pondered over the number of the magi (we know there were three gifts, but not how many magi there were) and have speculated on their role in Matthew’s story. Song writers have given meaning to the gifts and names to three magi, but to date I do not recall anyone wondering what happened to the gifts.  

The magi are exotic and unfamiliar.  They appear only in the account of the birth of Jesus but are never mentioned again.  There are tantalisingly few details to the story. We know almost nothing about these three strangers, where they came from, whether they knew each other before their journey, or why they noticed the star (when no one else appeared to see it). We are not told how they got to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem.  Did they travel by foot, by donkey or by camel?  Not knowing from where they came, we do not know whether or where they stopped on the way. We assume they were well off because they have treasure chests, but we have no idea how well off. If they were wealthy, did they arrive with a retinue of servants and if so, were there places in ancient that could accommodate large numbers of important guests?

The magi capture our imagination simply because they are mysterious. They have access to secret knowledge, they not only notice, but they understand the meaning of a new star in the sky, and they are in possession of treasure chests of rare and wonderous gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. They appear out of nowhere and then disappear out of view. 

It is only Matthew who mentions the magi and the star, and he tells us only what he wants us to know.  We want to know so much more. Instead of trying to understand Matthew’s purpose in including the magi in the story, we are tempted to focus on the details – the missing details. In art and song, theology and story we have named three of the magi – Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar – have given them countries of origin – Arabia, Persia and India and have built legends around them. Matthew’s expression “magi” (Gk magous), meaning wise man or magician can make us uncomfortable. So based on Old Testament texts like those we’ve read this morning, we are tempted to call them kings. Alternatively, we try to give definition to the notion of “wise men” – suggesting that they were astrologers, philosophers, students of the mysterious, or the intellectuals and scientists of their times. 

The truth is that we do not know any more than Matthew chooses to tell us and Matthew tells us only what he wants us to know. Matthew did not envisage that his magi would delight his readers to the point that they would build myths around them. Matthew’s intention was that the magi, and their visit to the Christ child would (rather like the star) point us to the deeper meaning of their presence in the story. If we focus on why the magi are part of the story, we will see that that they play a number of roles, roles that both inform and challenge our faith.

In no particular order: 

  1. The magi study the scriptures and pay attention to the changes in the world around them. They discern that a change in the heavens suggests that the divine is at work in the world.
  2. The magi are open to God’s action in the world and do not limit their understanding of God to a narrow, formulaic, static vision of the divine. They see the possibility that God might be known in ways they have not yet experienced or thought of. 
  3. The magi have the courage to step out of their comfort zone, to take risks of faith, to follow a sign even though they do not know where it will lead.
  4. The magi pay attention to the voice of the divine communicating through a dream. 
  5. The magi contribute to Matthew’s desire to demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfilment of prophecy; “so it has been written by the prophet” he claims of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.
  6. The magi introduce Matthew’s intention to defend the inclusion of the Gentiles in the emerging church. (Even though he will have Jesus say to the disciples: “Go only to the lost sheep of Israel.”) In this, the most Jewish of the gospels, Matthew begins and ends with those outside the fold. Here at the beginning, these non-Jewish magi seek Jesus out and pay homage to him. As the gospel concludes Jesus will send the disciples out into every nation.
  7. The magi identify Jesus as the “King of the Jews”, the title which will be given to him by Pilate on the cross. At the same time, their presence sets the scene for conflict. Another king in Palestine, however legitimate, will create divided loyalties, something that cannot be tolerated in Caesar’s Empire.
  8. The magi give to Jesus gifts that are precious and rare (and which may have the deeper meaning that have since been attributed to them.)

Our fascination with these mysterious and wondrous characters is intended to encourage us to delve deeper – not to be distracted by creating legends – filling in the gaps with names, professions and countries. Our task is  to ask ourselves what purpose they serve in Matthew’s account, what they have to tell us today, and how might they challenge our own faith lives.

Do we continually study our scripture so that we might see what we have not yet seen? Have we allowed our image of God to become calcified, limited and unchanging? Has our faith become limited by creed and dogma? Can we allow ourselves to believe that just as the ancient faith of the Israelites expanded to include Gentiles, that God might yet have something new in store for us? Are we willing to take steps into the unknown, confident that God will lead us? When we see Jesus are we overwhelmed with joy?

If we answer “no” to any of those questions perhaps it is time to seek out the star and follow wherever it is that God is leading us.

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A sovereign like not other

November 16, 2022

The Reign of Christ
Luke 23:33-43
Marian Free

In the name of Christ, whose reign is like nothing we might have imagined. Amen.

Two sovereigns, two very different deaths.

We have witnessed in recent times all the pomp and ceremony that is attached to royalty – at least as it is known in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The passage of the Queen Elizabeth II’s body from Scotland to Westminster, the lying-in state, the respectful crowds, the funeral attended by dignitaries from all over the world and the procession that preceded and followed the funeral were the most amazing spectacle in the best sense of the word. It is difficult to begin to imagine the amount of organisation required for the whole affair to run seamlessly and impossible to imagine how much it all cost.

How different from the death of Jesus – a sham trial, a brutal whipping, mocking guards and jeering crowds, a humiliating procession to the cross and a disgraceful, drawn-out death. As it was the Passover, Jesus’ body was not even afforded the dignity of anointing. The only solemnity afforded this king was the removal of his body from the cross and its burial in a new tomb. A shocking scenario, that seems as far from a royal death as possible. Yet it is here, during Jesus’ trial and subsequent execution, that Jesus is identified as king, and if only in order that charges might be brought against him and the presumed threat that he poses to the church and empire might be eliminated.

The Israelites had hoped for a time in which God would send a king who would restore the splendour and might of David. Such a king would indeed be a threat to the Empire. A king of David’s stature and power would not hesitate (empowered by God) to take on the might of Caesar. Jesus, however, is not that king, which is why the religious leaders do not recognise him for who he is but see him simply as a nuisance. Jesus was born in humble circumstances to very ordinary parents, he lived the life of an itinerant preacher. His choice of followers and his behaviour were not what might be expected of someone who would lead the people of God and who would break the yoke of the oppressor. Jesus is so unlike the expected king, that few recognise that he is indeed the anointed one, the one promised by God.

To most of his contemporaries, and. especially. to the leadership of the church – the Sadducees and Pharisees, Jesus is at best an irritation and at worst a threat. Jesus directly challenges their authority, questions their interpretation of scripture, and refuses to observe purity laws and to disassociate himself from sinners. It is the fact that he bests them in argument and undermines their position that most gets under the skin of the religious leaders. Almost from the beginning of the gospel account, they have been looking for a means to discredit him and to diminish his influence on the crowds. Worse, almost from the start they (the religious leaders) have been looking for an excuse to kill him.

The religious leaders certainly do not believe Jesus to be a king , but when they bring Jesus to Pilate it suits their purpose to accuse Jesus of insurrection – of claiming to be a king when he is not. They know that Pilate will have to take their complaint seriously if they suggest. that Jesus is a threat to Rome. “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the anointed one, a king.” Pilate resists condemning Jesus, and finds no evidence against him, yet he succumbs sufficiently to the pressure from the crowds that, according to the inscription above Jesus’ cross, Pilate has Jesus crucified on the basis that he is “King of the Jews.” (Presumably, the religious leaders and the crowds who have bayed for Jesus’ death don’t see the not-so-subtle slur implied by that inscription. Pilate has taken their words and turned them against the crowd. Indeed, Pilate has given the Jews a king – a king who is degraded, powerless, beaten, and naked.)

The irony is that it is here, on the cross, that we learn what sort of king Jesus is – a king who so identified with our condition that he became one of us and one with us. A king who did not seek power and glory but who allowed himself to be crucified rather than raise an army to defeat the Empire. A king who offered forgiveness to those who so barbarously nailed him to the cross and whose compassion compelled him to promise Paradise to the thief who was crucified with him. A king, who above all placed his trust in God and not in himself.

As we enter Advent and begin to focus on the Christ who comes in glory to judge, it is important to remember that the Christ who will come in glory is the Jesus on the cross, and that one who now reigns from heaven is the Christ who still bears the scars of the nails and the mark of the spear.

A crucified king is a contradiction, one that constantly reminds us that Jesus chose our existence and that, however exalted, continues to be intimately aware of our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and failures, our hopes and our fears. A crucified king reminds us that following Jesus does not shield us from heartache, persecution and isolation. A crucified king is a paradox topples our certainties, prevents us from confining Jesus to either to the exalted one or to the humble one and keeps us open to the endless possibilities of who Jesus is.

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