Traveling With the Magi

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

Our pastor encourages us to try a 5-5-5 plan in which we read the Bible for five minutes a day, pray for five minutes, and then spend five minutes in silence, listening for God. It shouldn’t be difficult to set fifteen minutes aside for God, but life is busy, and some days it can be a challenge to make that time. That’s why even though the holidays can be hectic, I am happy for the reminders at every turn. Christmas cards, carols, pageants, nativity scenes.

As a child, I’d arrange figurines in the creche in the living room in preparation for Christmas. Baby Jesus in a basket, securing his rightful position at the center of the holiday, his mother Mary kneeling beside him, and Joseph admiring his new family, the realization of the angel’s prophecy to him. I’d add the sheep and shepherds, the donkey and the ox. Then I’d add the three wise men to the scene around the newborn king.

My fascination with the Epiphany began at an early age. I was delighted to know that even after the Christmas packages had all been opened and we found our weary selves back at school after the break, there was still something to celebrate. January 6 marks the Feast of the Epiphany, the time when the Magi visited the baby Jesus. We learned the poetic names of the gifts they presented to him in Sunday School--gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I remember being so happy to learn that like children at Christmas, Jesus received presents, too.

I’d love the exotic notes of “We Three Kings” in church. The song was so different from the hymns we sang the rest of the year.

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

I sang the lyrics but never stopped to consider the weight of those words.

As I got older, the star of wonder held even more wonder for me. I learned that, in spite of my placing the magi by the baby Jesus’s side in the manger, they may not have arrived that night. They probably traveled 500 miles from where they began, most likely in Persia, to the manger in Bethlehem. They made the trip by camel.Why would they travel so far, enduring such harsh conditions as weather, environmental dangers, and, likely, hunger?

It most likely took them a month or two to make the journey. They would have had to camp out with limited resources, in weather conditions that were new to them. Did they meet people who were unfriendly and possibly dangerous? They were sure to speak languages foreign to their own.

Now as an adult as I contemplate the Epiphany, I am downright amazed. My faith is substantiated by facts, thereby increasing my faith. Here were a group of pagan astrologers traveling great distances to visit a newborn Jewish king. They were polytheists traveling to a monotheistic land. Why travel such a great distance to bow down to a Jewish king and offer him costly gifts? I’ve read that this was a common practice of sages at the time, to visit and worship kings as an act of respect and reverence. Their gifts were meaningful. They gave him gold because Jesus was prophesied to be a king; frankincense because he would be a priest; and myrrh because he was to be a prophet.

Contemplating this pilgrimage through my own cultural lens of an American woman living in the 21st century, I am struck by the determination, reverence, humility, and singularity of vision of these men. I wonder about their thoughts and their conversations along the way and how that journey affected them. Were their ideas about God different after visiting Jesus that night?

Although historical accounts confirm the Magi’s visit, it is impossible to know all the details. Of this I am sure: When God moves in the hearts and minds of men and women, nothing is impossible, and anything can happen. God has a plan, and although his ways may seem random or foreign to us, he orchestrates the universe, working all things together. I find peace when I settle into his plan rather than assume I know how every story ends.

Lean not unto thine own understanding.

I often wonder why God works things out the way he does. Some things don’t add up, don’t make sense. When I read about the Magi, I am reminded that it is possible for those who are far from God--whether it be 500 miles or 50 painful years--to make the journey to Jesus. To gather around the manger and behold the face of God incarnate. Maybe it’s easier for some to visit the manger than the cross.

We know Jesus’s own people turned against him in his last days. We don’t find Jewish religious leaders in the manger scene. The Pharisees and the Sadducees knew of the prophecy of Jesus’s birth; they had spent their lives learning the sacred texts. Why didn’t they travel the five miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to worship the Christ? The wise men from the East traveled hundreds of miles over several months to bow down to the Prince of Peace. What a sacrifice. Would I do the same?

Can I even make five minutes to pray? To read Scripture? I don’t have to travel 500 miles on the back of a camel to worship Jesus. I can worship him at my church a few miles away. Or, better yet, I can worship him right here. Since he has been resurrected, bowing in reverence to him is no longer a matter of distance. His Holy Spirit lives in us. It’s only a matter of setting aside the time to worship him. O, Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.