READINGS

Matthew 2:1-12

HOMILY

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men (or Magi, Astrologers, Kings) from the east came to Jerusalem.

The role of astronomy, the studying of the stars, was much more important than we realized at the time.

These things were taken very very seriously and were part of incipient science in a way which now seems to us to be odd, but that was a very very important part of the philosophical world of learning, the world of studying, the world of understanding what is.

So the wise men come from Persia, but these people may have come from Arabia, which didn't refer to what we now think of Saudi Arabia, further south, but something much more like Jordan, the area around Petra.

There's a wisdom there to do with much studying, much meditating and the relationship with stars.

What's going on here is that the prophecy of Numbers 24 is being fulfilled.

the prophet balaam himself, not an Israelite, had announced that a star would arise

This was his prophecy and it was made to Balak, a merbite King, a thoroughly nasty piece of work - one who had evil in his heart for the people of Israel.

So here is the prophecy of Balaam from Numbers 24:

i see him but not now 
i behold him but not near 
the star shall come out of jacob and the scepter shall rise out of israel 
it shall crust the borderlands of moab and the territory of all the shatthites 
edom will become a possession 
serra possession of its enemies 
while israel does valiantly 
one out of jacob shall rule and destroy the survivors of ear

Well, why was this important? Because Herod was not a Jew; he was not an Israelite; he was from Edom.

He was a foreign usurper much hated and disapproved of in many ways by israelites, because they knew he was not one of them, he got into his place by making suitable friends with Caesar.

Although being a considerable builder and great on the economic side of things, he was a particularly nasty, cruel, brutal and very disturbed man. He had three of his sons killed, amongst many others.

The arrival of wise men who had thought much about the stars and their meaning from the east, when they should see the sign and come to him saying:

where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?

This was a prophecy that had a personal touch for Herod as well.

Israel was assumed to be a messianic province; and Herod himself had shown interest in the past when the temple priesthood had attempted to work out when the prophecies of the book of Daniel - the 490 year prophecies, the weeks of days - would be fulfilled.

In fact, he had tried to get the information from them privately and had had a number of the prophets, the priests killed.

THe massacre of the temple priests in 34 bc precisely because of his concern about prophecies.

So Herod is not a present person and he's very susceptible to the notion that the real thing is going to come along and it's not him.

So the magi come and say:

we've worked out that this is the one, this is the fulfillment, we've come to pay him homage

When Herod heard this, he was frightened, he was perturbed, this is going to be one of the persistent features of the arrival in our midst of the light that it perturbs some and brings joy to others.

Remember when we had the angel coming to the Virgin Mary in Luke: she was mega buttered, but then was full of grace and joy.

Here likewise you have Herod being perturbed; then, later when the Kings arrive, they were overwhelmed with joy.

These two effects of the shining comes in harmonies and it perturbs some and produces joy in others.

And he was perturbed and all Jerusalem with him - not necessarily out of loyalty to him -, but no doubt out of concern about what he might do when unhinged.

No one quite knows what he's going to do next.

So Herod calls together the chief priests and the scribes of the people and inquires of them where the messiah was to be born.

He's taking this threat seriously and they say to him:

in Bethlehem of Judea

They put together a quote from Micah to indicate that that's the place and a quote from Samuel to indicate that it's a Davidic fulfillment.

We saw how luke brought out the relationship of the David to the shepherding.

So they're on the same track here: they know that the real thing is to happen not in Jerusalem, but in the house of David and it's to be linked with the shepherding.

Now Herod - or Balak - calls Balaam and the prophet who announced to him the star to learn from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

Note: this is one of the interesting things that actually we have very good reason to think:

In the year 7 bc, which was about three years before Herod died, there was a particular conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter such that they came together and were inseparable, otherwise a very bright star.

This was visible on three occasions during that year: spring; autumn; beginning of winter.

This was seen in Jerusalem: a very striking star was seen and this was a considerable question as to whether this was one of the stars that was fulfilled particularly as it was in Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction in pisces, which was supposed to be the constellation of the Hebrews.

So ancient knowledge concerning stars was much in operation at the time.

That Herod sent them to Bethlehem saying:

go and search diligently for the child and when you found him bring me word, so that I may also go and pay him homage

The hidden malice is very clear when they'd heard the King: they set out there ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising and it stopped over the place where the child was.

Apparently, if you were in Jerusalem at the time of this particular conjunction, it would have appeared over Bethlehem.

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother.

Interesting that they don't mention Joseph.

This too is part of the prophetic fulfillment of what's going on here; in the Hebrew royal imagery, the first lady was the mother, not the wife of the King. If you were to see the royal couple, it would be the mother and the son. Strangely the mother became the bride of the son.

So when they go in, they're seeing the real royalty: the Davidic royalty, the birth of the firstborn and his mother.

This is the definite sign that the real royalty is here.

They knelt down and paid him homage.

Then opening their treasure chest, they offered him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh.

A huge amount of commentaries is taken up with indicating what these signified. The traditional is:

Gold for royalty because he was a King;
Frankincense for his temple function so he was a priest;
Myrrh, because of the prophetic nature of his death (myrrh would be the symbol of anointing a prophet for dying).

There's another possibility, which is at least as interesting and at least as plausible.

These three were people from part of the long-standing diaspora of exiles from the first temple.

They were bringing him back the signs that the first temple would be coming back in his person.

The vessels for the temple were:

Gold,
Frankincense: a little bit of frankincense put in amongst the other incense indicates the presence of the most high;
Myrrh: the anointing oil especially for the Holy one in the Holy Place: it was the oil, which brought forth holiness from the Temple.

They're indicating not only that the royal one, but the Holy one is back.

The new temple is about to be fulfilled.

And Matthew's a subtle fella. He has little textual references to his to his own gospel.

One of the really interesting things that Jesus teaches (this is in Matthew 13 after He's finished explaining parables to his disciples) is what's the good household like, what is a disciple like, he says:

every scribe who's been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure; what is new and what is old

So we have these three householders giving what is new. We called the frankincense and the myrrh, but it also come from something very very old - the first temple.

And, as they give it, they are becoming radiant. They are seeing the radiant one, they are the first disciples.

The first disciples are gentiles who are bringing back the old and the new and becoming discipled for the Kingdom.

This is the radiance as the radiance of the one who looks upon them causes his face to shine in them.

They find themselves becoming radiant as they take out the old and bring in the new.