Epiphany 6 January, 2007
This is 12th Night-- Epiphany-- the 12th of the "12 Days of Christmas." I credit a Greek Orthodox friend in Florida many years ago with my delight in Ephiphany, magi and the Feast of Lights (when young guys from Tarpon Springs dive into deep waters, after a priest has prayed a blessing and then flung a cross far into the waves). Dying and rising again, traveling to new depths, the mystery of the Gospel as it is flung throughout the world.
Matthew alone of the Gospel writers mentions the magi (the plural of magus)-- a hereditary, priesty class among the Persians and Medes, showing up in Jerusalem. They made not only Herod nervous and upset but "all of Jerusalem with him."
Rome wouldn't quietly acquiesce to another pretender to Jerusalem's throne and no one wanted or needed more civil unrest. Despite the obvious tension, these "wise men" insisted on knowing where exactly the King of the Jews had been born.
The magi (more than one of them and bearing three gifts) are cloaked in mystery and are usually seen by the Christian church as indicators of the vast gentile world looking for the Savior who came for them, too. People in the early centuries of the church simply understood the magi to be Persians -- mosaics and artwork of the era always show them in Persian attire. It's rumored that the Church of the Nativity in Jerusalem was spared sacking by a Persian army in the 7th century because the lovely fresco inside showed the magi, the three kings, dressed as elegant Persians.
Marco Polo, during his 13th century ramblings, named the city of Saveh, southwest of Tehran, as the final resting place for these magi. Other Persians maintained that the magi were buried in Ecbatan-- a bit farther southwest, near the tomb of Queen Esther. Tonight I sit here in southern Virginia and ponder them once more. Were they Zoroastrians? Searching for the Messiah-King that the Jews had made known? Skilled astrologers and astronomers, certainly. Magicians, conjurors, wise men? And if so wise, why did they come to a Roman collaborator like Herod?
Imagine these wealthy gentiles, used to casting astrological charts for royalty and noble families-- planning the most auspicious times for weddings and contracts, predicting the destiny of a child. Their services were highly valued and well paid. Yet something in the heavens caught and kept their attention. Leaving court and palace for the boondocks of Palestine, they continued west until they entered the occupied territory of Jerusalem and then Bethlehem, overwhelmed with joy to be in the presence of the Christ child.
The magi, in their long and odd journey (what other wealthy gentiles would have left lovely and sophisticated Persia for the backwaters of Bethlehem?) ask a central faith question: how far are we willing to travel, how much discomfort will we endure, to be in right relationship with God and with one another? The magi seemed to know what they had seen among the stars and to trust that God was working hard on humanity's behalf. They wanted to show up and cooperate with what this mysterious God was doing.
Epiphany -- the "shining forth" of the star and of the Christ child that the magi found, reminds me that the Christian gospel holds out hope not just for "us" but for all of humanity. Agape love can never be privatized. We are given the ability to love what and whom we should love as a free gift of this amazing God who continues to come into a world that has broken itself. For the nature of God's unconditional, gracious love, is to make all things new.
Matthew alone of the Gospel writers mentions the magi (the plural of magus)-- a hereditary, priesty class among the Persians and Medes, showing up in Jerusalem. They made not only Herod nervous and upset but "all of Jerusalem with him."
Rome wouldn't quietly acquiesce to another pretender to Jerusalem's throne and no one wanted or needed more civil unrest. Despite the obvious tension, these "wise men" insisted on knowing where exactly the King of the Jews had been born.
The magi (more than one of them and bearing three gifts) are cloaked in mystery and are usually seen by the Christian church as indicators of the vast gentile world looking for the Savior who came for them, too. People in the early centuries of the church simply understood the magi to be Persians -- mosaics and artwork of the era always show them in Persian attire. It's rumored that the Church of the Nativity in Jerusalem was spared sacking by a Persian army in the 7th century because the lovely fresco inside showed the magi, the three kings, dressed as elegant Persians.
Marco Polo, during his 13th century ramblings, named the city of Saveh, southwest of Tehran, as the final resting place for these magi. Other Persians maintained that the magi were buried in Ecbatan-- a bit farther southwest, near the tomb of Queen Esther. Tonight I sit here in southern Virginia and ponder them once more. Were they Zoroastrians? Searching for the Messiah-King that the Jews had made known? Skilled astrologers and astronomers, certainly. Magicians, conjurors, wise men? And if so wise, why did they come to a Roman collaborator like Herod?
Imagine these wealthy gentiles, used to casting astrological charts for royalty and noble families-- planning the most auspicious times for weddings and contracts, predicting the destiny of a child. Their services were highly valued and well paid. Yet something in the heavens caught and kept their attention. Leaving court and palace for the boondocks of Palestine, they continued west until they entered the occupied territory of Jerusalem and then Bethlehem, overwhelmed with joy to be in the presence of the Christ child.
The magi, in their long and odd journey (what other wealthy gentiles would have left lovely and sophisticated Persia for the backwaters of Bethlehem?) ask a central faith question: how far are we willing to travel, how much discomfort will we endure, to be in right relationship with God and with one another? The magi seemed to know what they had seen among the stars and to trust that God was working hard on humanity's behalf. They wanted to show up and cooperate with what this mysterious God was doing.
Epiphany -- the "shining forth" of the star and of the Christ child that the magi found, reminds me that the Christian gospel holds out hope not just for "us" but for all of humanity. Agape love can never be privatized. We are given the ability to love what and whom we should love as a free gift of this amazing God who continues to come into a world that has broken itself. For the nature of God's unconditional, gracious love, is to make all things new.
posted by Quakers in Qom at 12:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home