January 8, 2017
We find the story of the magi only in Matthew. Mark, Luke and John write their gospels for Christians who had not been in the Jewish religion before, for the so-called Gentiles. Also, Paul in his letters writes for these Christians coming from the Gentiles. Only Matthew writes for Christians who had been in the Jewish religion before. And to them the story of the three magi must have been like a sledgehammer. Why? When we face things and person who are beyond us, then we naturally try to restrict these things and persons so that we can handle them. We put a safety frame around them. We put them into patterns of behavior with which we are comfortable. God's relationship with us certainly falls into that restricted category – it is difficult for us to handle this relationship. Many Christians, for instance, believe God works only through and on behalf of Christians. And I presume many Muslims and Hindus fall into the same trap – for Muslim God only works through Muslims, for Hindus God only works through Hindus. There's no doubt many Jews at the time of Matthew were also guilty of restricting God's actions to their specific religion. For Jews God only works through Jews. This was certainly also true for some Jews who had committed themselves to imitating Jesus. Let us go back to the reading from the prophet Isaiah. He is one of the classic Jewish prophets who tried to expand the vision of the Chosen People to include non-Jews in Yahweh's plan of salvation: “Nations and kings will come to the light of your dawning day” (Is 60,3). In other words, "If you live your Jewish faith correctly, even non-Jews will be compelled by your example to give themselves over to Yahweh." Not only that. When Isaiah wrote this, Jerusalem and its temple are nothing but a pile of rubble. And nevertheless, the prophet believes those enlightened Gentiles will provide the means to be a mighty nation for Israel. “Treasures from across the sea and the wealth of nations will be brought to you” (Is 60,5-6). Yet, the presupposition is, such Yahweh-oriented Gentiles will eventually convert to Judaism. So, when in the Old Testament the non-Jewish Gentiles were supposed to convert to Judaism, does this mean that the non-Jewish followers of Jesus also were supposed to convert to Judaism first? Indeed: At first, non-Jews who were interested in Christ were expected to convert to Judaism before they could imitate the risen Jesus. Only after the men were circumcised and both men and women committed themselves to keeping the 613 Mosaic laws could they become Christians. But in the running of the decades, it became clear that this was not how the Holy Spirit was guiding them. In the case of Gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus the Holy Spirit did not demand of them to become members of the Jewish religion first. Eventually a different point of view won the day. Paul and Matthew and many other members of the Christian community argued that Gentiles, as Gentiles, could be followers of Jesus. Paul in today’s reading to the community in Ephesus states: “Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body.” (Eph 3,5) So: One no longer must be a Jew in order to be a Christian. And that's where Matthew's magi come in. They are uncircumcised, pagan, Gentile astrologers who travel many, many, miles to discover "the newborn king of the Jews." The Magi travel many miles, while Herod and his Jewish Scripture knowledgeable court refuse to go the relative short distance between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to find the child. Not only that, the magi reach their destination by following a star: a practice forbidden to Jews under pain of death! Matthew's message is clear: God works through people and means which some in his community would restrict God from working. Those who correctly follow Jesus must constantly go beyond such limits in order to discover God working in their everyday lives. Cf http://www.dignityusa.org/breath/january-8-2012-epiphany
Fr. Wolfgang Felber SJ