The Shepherd, December 2005
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST, 4
Unlike the religious leaders, Herod actually did believe that the new King might have been born within a short distance of his own palace. Intending to use the Magi as spies and unwitting accomplices in his wicked plans, he questioned them closely in private. Putting on a pretence of being religiously-minded and wishing to pay homage to the Child himself, he directed them on their way, fully expecting them to return in a short while with the information he required.
Leaving Herod’s palace, with its walls, towers, collonaded courtyards and two hundred marble approach steps, the Magi set out on the last part of their journey, undeterred by the apathy of those from whom they might reasonably have expected help and encouragement. “And lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them,” causing them to “rejoice with exceeding great joy” at this blessed confirmation of their quest. Reassured that they were under heavenly guidance and would be led to Him Whom they sought, they followed the star until it came to rest over the cave-house at Bethlehem and they knew with certainty that they had reached their journey’s end. We do not know what they expected to see. Externally everything was entirely commonplace and unremarkable - a primitive dwelling, a manger-cradle, a young Jewish mother with her child.
Entering the humble house, the Magi were granted to behold, face to face, the King of the star, “the young child with Mary his mother.” Not relying on their own wisdom, and not misled by external appearances they were able to see beyond the poverty and simplicity and to understand something, at least, of the truth. Kneeling on the bare floor, they bowed to the Child not just as to a king, but as God, prostrating themselves at His feet, before offering their gifts. We are not told that they paid any such high regard and reverence to Herod on his magnificent throne in his glittering palace.
“Gold and frankincense and myrrh.” In the costly gifts presented to the Christ Child, Christians have always seen a special significance. Gold was the tribute paid to a king, in this case the King of the Jews, - “King” being also one of the Divine titles. Frankincense is regarded as a symbol of the Child’s Divine Nature, an emblem of the worship to be paid to God. It was the most valuable of many kinds of incense, and used in the Temple worship. A resinous substance obtained from the trunk of a tree, it brought to the parts of Arabia, where it was grown, wealth comparable to the wealth oil brings today. Myrrh is seen as a symbol of Christ’s human nature, foretelling His sufferings and death. It was used for embalming the dead, but was also used as a perfume and sometimes in medicine, mingled with wine to deaden pain. True myrrh, the kind brought by the Magi and used by Nicodemus for the burial of the Lord, was another resin derived from a tree. Its value, as with frankincense, was second only to gold.
The office of the star had ended at the manger. Guidance would now be given in another way. The Magi were “warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod.” They had seen “The Great One Who became small,” “The Mighty One Who put on insecurity” (St Ephraim the Syrian). Humanly speaking, they themselves would be the cause of His immediate insecurity, involving the Holy Family in a sudden flight during the hours of darkness to the safety of Egypt. The dream doubtless confirmed their own grave suspicions concerning Herod’s possible actions. They had surely seen through his hypocritical pretence of wishing to pay homage to the Infant King, and must have shared these misgivings with Joseph. This in turn would have prepared Joseph for his own warning dream, in obedience to which he fled with “the young child and his mother” to Egypt to save the Child from the vengeance of Herod which resulted in the horrifying massacre of the children of Bethlehem.
First guided by a star, then taught by the Prophet Micah, and finally warned in a dream, the Magi “departed into their own country another way,” and their subsequent history, - as distinct from the many legends that grew up around them - is not recorded in the Gospels.
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