A Homily for the Epiphany
[“Adoration of the Magi” by Rembrandt]
My first Saturday near at St. Mary’s, I was invited to the monthly “Men’s Bagels and the Bible,” and at that gathering we watched a fascinating video, “The Star of Bethlehem.” Obviously, from the title, the focus of the documentary was exploring the Biblical and scientific evidence for the Star of Bethlehem. One section of the video, however, examined something very relevant for today’s celebration of the Epiphany: who were the three Wise Men?
Often the three Wise Men are described as astrologers from the East. This could seem to raise some problems from us, since throughout much of the Bible astrology is condemned. Astrology is a form of divination that believes that the movements of the planets, stars, sun and moon influence human affairs and determine the course of events. For the Jewish people, and for us Christians, this belief is an affront to God’s sovereignty. We know that God controls the destiny of all creation.
So why would St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel mostly for Jewish Christians, include this account of astrology, which his audience would find offensive, being associated with Jesus’ birth? Mostly because St. Matthew did not see this as an incident of astrology. Even as the Bible, both Old Testament and New, condemns astrology, it also records many incidences in which the stars bear witness to the work of God. The celestial objects are signs of God’s greatness.
Besides, St. Matthew does not call the men from the East astrologers, but rather he calls them “Magi” which is better translated as wise and scholarly people. During the time of Jesus there were many schools of Magi in the Middle East, especially in Egypt and Babylon. Because many of these schools of magi did believe in astrology, many Jewish and early Christian writers condemned them, yet one Jewish philosopher who lived at the time of Jesus, named Philo, had high praise for one particular school of magi, located in the east, that is Babylon. Philo praised this school because instead of looking at the stars and planets as determining events, they investigated the works of nature for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the truth, and tried to introduce people to the “divine virtues.”
Some scholars of today have hypothesized that this eastern school of magi may have had Jewish roots. Several hundred years before Jesus, Israel was conquered by the Persians and many Jewish people were taken into exile to Babylon. From the Old Testament account of Daniel, we know that the Persian, and then Babylonian, kings took some Jewish young men into their service, training them in the sciences. In fact, Daniel is described as a magus, or wise man. While after about 70 years of exile, some of the Jewish people did return to Israel, it is likely that many others remained in Babylon. There is no record of Daniel leaving Babylon. It is possible that he, or other Jewish magi, did establish a school of magi, integrating the wisdom of the sciences with Divine Revelation. As such, they would have been awaiting the Messiah, and they would expect God to put a sign of His coming in the stars. The documentary, “The Star of Bethlehem,” does a very thorough job at looking what these signs likely were, so encourage you to look at the DVD.
Whether or not the three Wise Men were descendants of Daniel’s school of Jewish magi (if they even existed), does not change two things that we do know about these Wise Men; they were searchers and they were discoverers.
As searchers, the Wise Men were not content with the ordinary world. They knew that there was something more than just the natural world. They looked deeper than the ordinary routine of everyday life, and searched from something more. They recognized that their hearts were yearning for something more than anything in the natural world could ever satisfy. They were searching for God.
People today are still searching. Too often they are searching in all the wrong places, but they are searching. They seek answers to the mysteries of life. Modern science has made remarkable breakthroughs. It was just a little over 50 years ago that we discovered DNA, one of the great mysteries of life. Modern science is a good thing, yet we need to be careful to keep it in its place; we do not want it to become like astrology, where we think that it can provide all the answers for determining human destiny. God is still God, the creator of all. Science is but a tool, meant to help us discover more fully the glory of God.
Probably more importantly, the Wise Men were discoverers. Undoubtedly they experience much difficulties and challenges in their searching, but they continued searching. Their perseverance paid off, and they found the one they were looking for. They put aside their preconceptions of what they were looking for, and were open to finding Him who they sought no matter how He might look. And when they encountered the One for whom they searched, St. Matthew tells us that they were overjoyed. Many years later, the baby they discovered would speak about joy often; the joy of the shepherd finding his lost sheep, the joy of the woman finding her lost coin, and the rejoicing of the angels at the repentance of one sinner. The One they encountered promised Joy to those who follow Him unreservedly.
Our own searching is for the One whom the Wise Men found. He is still here, waiting for us to find Him, so that we too can enter into His joy. Like the Wise Men, the search may be long. We will likely experience setbacks and discouragements. Yet if we persevere, our searching will not be in vain. We will find God, because God wants us to find Him.
