Showing Forth: SALT's Commentary for Epiphany
Epiphany (Year C): Matthew 2:1-12
Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” episode that includes this passage in Matthew: ”Understanding Christmas: Part Four.”
Big Picture:
1) This story from Matthew — the visit of the Magi — is the reading for Epiphany this year (traditionally celebrated on January 6th, and this year, observed by many churches on Sunday, January 4th).
2) Epiphany means "showing forth." Historically, the day has included the celebration of three things, all of which are considered key moments — key “firsts,” we might say — in which Jesus’ true identity shows forth: the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism (which we’ll tackle next week!), and Jesus’ first canonical miracle of turning water into wine during the Wedding at Cana.
3) One of the Gospel of Matthew’s major themes is that God’s salvation extends beyond Jesus’ immediate Jewish community to include the Gentiles as well (in other words, to include everyone!). The visit of the Magi (likely Zoroastrian astronomers from Persia, present-day Iran) foreshadows this broad message of inclusion, and together with the great commission at the end of the story (Matthew 28:16-20), frames the story of Jesus’ life. Within these two bookends, Matthew's message is clear: Not only supposed insiders, but also supposed outsiders are within the great circle of divine love.
Scripture:
1) Despite the well-known carol, in Matthew’s story of the Magi there are only two kings: King Herod and Jesus, the rumored “king of the Jews.” The Magi are not kings but rather “wise ones,” scholars who study the stars for signs and omens. So they aren’t “kings” — and they aren't necessarily “three” either. The story mentions three gifts (or rather, three types of gifts), but doesn’t specify the number of people who carry them. The gifts themselves are telling, however: gold for a monarch, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for one who will suffer and die (in Mark, for instance, Jesus is given wine mixed with myrrh at the crucifixion (Mark 15:23); and in John, Nicodemus and Joseph wrap Jesus’ dead body in myrrh and aloes (John 19:39)).
2) Indeed, the cross is foreshadowed in this story in at least three ways: in the myrrh; in the fact that not only King Herod but “all Jerusalem” are frightened at the Magi’s news of the child’s birth; and in Herod’s murderous plot, masked as adoration.
3) Many Christmas cards feature a bright star hovering over the holy family, but Matthew’s story suggests otherwise. Only the Magi notice the star among the thousands of others visible on a clear night, and King Herod’s dependence on the visitors to lead him to the child indicates that neither he nor his assassins could follow the star without help.
4) Matthew’s theme here is the hiddenness of Christ, the small and often unnoticed ways God enters our lives in epiphanies large and small. This hiddenness is a kind of divine signature: instead of "showing forth" conspicuously at, say, the Jerusalem Temple or a Roman palace, God slips into the world by way of a poor family in a tiny town, under the authoritarian thumb of Roman occupation (see Luke's Christmas story). And instead of "showing forth" to a crowd of supposed insiders, God will be noticed first by strangers from another culture, another religion, “wise ones from the East.” God does indeed show forth — but in a hidden way.
Takeaways:
1) As Epiphany approaches, this may be the perfect week to reflect on “epiphanies,” the ways (great and small) God shows forth in our lives, and the ways (great and small) we notice or overlook these showings.
2) What are the marks, the signatures of divine presence? For starters, simple, subtle wonders, sometimes hidden, often unnoticed. And what are the modes of attention that may help our eyes to see? Careful, patient study and contemplation of the world around us, like the Magi studying their star charts. And openness to learning from “wise ones” from other places, cultures, and points of view.
3) And the insiders, the prestigious, the powers that be? They find Jesus’ arrival threatening — and the tyrant, King Herod, sets out to destroy him. Roman tyrants (Pontius Pilate, and Caesar behind him) will eventually do the same. Thus Matthew signals that the Gospel isn’t only about wonder and joy; it’s also about justice and love for all people — and precisely as such, Jesus is a threat to tyrants everywhere.
4) Accordingly, this might also be a great week for reflecting on how Christians should conceive and relate to people from other religious traditions, or from no religion at all. Here at the very heart of the Christmas narrative, and at the outset of a new year, is a story that emphasizes how God’s love and “showings forth” extend beyond conventionally understood religious boundaries. God arrives in hidden, often overlooked ways — and is sometimes recognized by wise ones from afar, alleged outsiders from another culture and religion entirely, who can and do help show us the Way.
Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” episode that includes this passage in Matthew: ”Understanding Christmas: Part Four.”