Today is Sunday, January 6. So today we celebrate the ancient feast of Epiphany on a Sunday. The Feast dates to the early church. Two of the big feasts, Easter and Pentecost, date to the time of Jesus. Easter, of course, (because He rose from the dead and that is the sort of thing that makes an impression) and Pentecost (which is a Jewish Feast day, but on that day there was an amazing Holy Spirit event with the apostles) were remembered because they were events experienced by the early church. The Jewish faith had a liturgical calendar and the first Christians were all keenly aware of the importance and power of "remembrance." [note, not in the sense of bringing to mind but of particating in a past event which lives on today.] Epiphany was celebrated early on, probably in the second century, as the manifestation of the new born Jesus to the world.
The Gospl reading is about the Three King who come to baby Jesus' manger in the stable and bring him gifts. Well, sort of, because we "know (assume)" so much more about this than we really know. Gaspar, Melchor and Balthasar are their names. The little statues under our Christmas tree: one is black, one white, and the other brown. They road camels. And, of course, none of that is actually in the Gospel of Matthew, the place where the story originates.
The Gospel calls them magi (where our word magician comes from) and it implies people who are "wise" and adept at discerning things. Astrology is no doubt included in their bag of tricks. The origin of the men is much debated, but "from the East" implies Babylon or Iran to many. The racial makeup no doubt is generated by the desire to show "all the world" comes to worship the baby Jesus.
Matthew gives no desription of the birth. He says that Joseph had an angel explain that God was involved and then he says "after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea." Chapter 2 recounts the events of the magi as they first encounter Herod and then find Jesus. Notice, however, in 2:11 that they enter "the house" to greet the baby. Without reference to Luke, one would assume that they lived in Bethlehem and the house is their own. The wisemen lay out three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrh. Three gifts. There is no similar count of the wisemen (or mention of camels). Probably over time it was assumed each one brought his own gift (3 gifts=3 men). This is, of course, not a proof. When my wife and I go to someone's home we bring one gift, There may be two of us, or up to five, but the family unit brings one gift. There is no reason to think that a group of men would not have brought the three gifts in unison. So there could have been two, or ten, or more. Instead of the gifts signaling the number of magi it is better that we see them as symbols. This is where reading the bible more widely is helpful.
When we gather in my church we have a lectionary, a group of three readings plus a psalm. Today's readings are most helpful. The first, Isaiah 60:1-7, has played a part in shaping the original story in Mathew into one we are more familiar with. Isaiah is prophesing about the return from exile (in around 500 BC) and the promise of God that the (v5) wealth of the nations will be an aid in rebuilding the fallen city. There (v6) we find mention of camels. We also find the (v9) mention of gold and frankincense. [myrh a resin was used by Egyptians for mummies] Psalm 72, whih is a song of praise and petition for the King of Israel includes mention of kings coming (in verses 10&11) with gifts. With that the magi are kings! However, both Isaiah and Psalm are part of the interpretation of the meaning of the event. As I wrote some time ago on "fulfillment" of Scripture, what is spoken of in the Ancient (Old) Covenant (Testament) text is Fully-Filled-Up in Jesus. Matthew's story of the magi is rife with images from his Scriptures. Since the Exodus a recurring theme has been the nations (Egypt, later others) will give their wealth to the Jews as God raises His chosen people up. In the end, this is the means by which the One True God (the God revealed to Israel and by Israel) will also be glorifed. God's King (David and descendents, perfectly in Jesus) is God's representative (fully incarnated by Jesus). So bringing the gifts to Jesus is about fulfilling the Scriptures! The 'Nations' have come with their gifts. [bonus: Isaiah 1 speaks of the ox and ass knowing the master, but Israel does not recognize her God. Guess who else appear under our tree? ox and ass!]
Legends begin with history. Later on elements are added, with significance which can easily be lost. The process of legend the Biblical text (like with the Three Kings) is an import thing to keep in mind as we wrestle with history and written expression. Legend can sometimes communicate not a fact but a truth. In the end, facts are data, truth is life. We do well to read the Bible. We do well to see what is actually written there. We also do well to be familiar with the bigger story, to see the themes weaving in and out, to see the parent (OT) in the child (NT) and realize we cannot know the son without the father, we cannot know The Son without The Father.
No comments:
Post a Comment