The visit of the Magi was revelation of the identity and mission of Jesus: Jesus is true
king of the kingdom of God and his mission of redemption extends to all peoples of the
world. Visit of the Magi shows Jesus as light of all nations, fulfillment of prophesy of
Isaiah, ‘the nations will come to your light’ [Isaiah 60:4]. Magi were Persian astrologers
who studied the movements of stars and planets. A star shining through darkness
draws them to the source of light, Christ. Light travels beyond borders, symbol of
God’s presence, grace that reaches out to all. The star was a universal sign from God
that the birth of Christ was a cosmic event for all creation, a new light for the renewal of
creation! There is a story that when Persian army attacked Jerusalem in the 7th
century, they entered the church of Nativity in Bethlehem; when they saw wall paintings
of the Magi in the church, the soldiers recognized their fellow countrymen worshiping
child Jesus; they withdrew and did not destroy the church. Christ first reaches out to
the gentile world through the Magi, the first ones to believe, the first ones to worship
him, proclaim him as king of a universal nature. Visit of the Magi indicates that Jesus
the messiah stands out unique even among the gentile believers; Jesus belongs to all.
While the Magi risked their lives to pursue the star to find Jesus, King Herod seeks to
destroy the light-Jesus and unleash terror on the innocent babies. Herod was a very
insecure man. He killed his wife Mariamne and two of his sons, a cruel, abusive
husband and parent. Roman emperor Augustus said of Herod: ‘I would prefer to be his
pig than his son’. We see God fleeing from an earthly king and in the plight of the holy
family we see the refugees, the oppressed, the terrorized. From birth on Jesus
encountered rejection of his light; darkness in human hearts try to suppress light of
Christ but no darkness is capable of extinguishing his light that shines through the
darkness of suffering and death in his resurrection. His light is there for the grieving,
lonely, hopeless, poor and marginalized. Invite him to the many experiences of
darkness in life. In a dramatization of the visit of Magi, a group of beggars and street
children came to see baby Jesus and the chorus cried out, “Close the door, Joseph,
they are thieves and vagabonds, coming to steal all we have.” But Joseph said,
“Everyone has a right to this child - the poor, the rich, the unhappy, the untrustworthy.
We cannot keep this child for ourselves. Let them enter.” Birth of Christ is God
welcoming all humanity to himself because he is the savior/light. Christ continues this
mission through us Christians who received his light!
Everyone has the potential for an epiphany to behold the light of Christ and fill life with
hope and direction. But it requires risk taking like the Magi. Gracie Allen played the no
so bright wife in a comedy show with George Burns. Once Gracie called in a repairman
to fix her electric clock. The repairman played with it for a while and said, there is
nothing wrong with this clock, you did not plug it in. Gracie replied, I didn’t want to
waste electricity, so I only plug it in when I want to know what time it is! To remain in
the light of Christ is a constant challenge and not just once in a while attempt or if we
feel like it; it demands courage, perseverance, patience and above all love to allow him
to guide us! We become epiphanies of Christ, to radiate his light through us and
illumine the darkness around us!