Since Advent 1, way back at the end of November (seems like long
ago, doesn’t it, with all the holiday busy-ness in between), we’ve looked at
how God interacted with some of the major players in the Nativity drama through
the lens of the ‘Vias’ of Creation Spirituality. There was Zechariah &
Elizabeth who discovered God does answer prayers, even seemingly impossible
ones. We met Mary and Joseph who responded in faith to God’s surprise. Around
Christmas we considered the response of the innkeeper and the shepherds. Last
time, we saw how the prophets Simon and Anna recognized Jesus in the Temple.
Today we come to the final actors in the drama-the 3 Wise Men or Magi.
In the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew we learn, “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was
born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his
star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’” One wonders how
‘wise’ these travelers were if they were unaware of the unsavory reputation of
Herod. To visit the titular king, who was known to be paranoid and dangerous,
and ask him about a new king, seems unwise. They had seen revelation in the
star of the new Via Positiva-they understood that God was again calling all things good and seeking to bring all creation
back into relationship. Then on the way, they somehow lost sight of this
and decided that a ‘king’ must be born in a palace.
We might ask how they had lost sight of the wondrous star that led
them to start this journey, until we
consider how we often lose sight of our own goals and dreams in the day-to-day
work and concerns. We discover that we no longer have a vision of our Via Positiva
and may even wander into a time on the Via Negativa where we feel that God is
no longer present.
Stop and
Think: Have there been times when you lost sight of the goals and dreams
of the Via Positiva in your life and stumbled along the Via Negativa feeling
that God was no longer showing the way? It is easy to do when we don’t keep our
eyes fixed on the guiding light of our Lord.
In losing sight of their path, and stumbling onto the Via
Negativa of separation from God, they set in motion a great deal of
consternation. And we learn, “When King
Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling
together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them
where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so
it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are
by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” It is interesting to hear that ‘all
Jerusalem was frightened’ because of the king’s fear of an unknown replacement.
What upsets the ruler, causes concern in his subjects because they do not know
how he will react. However, Herod can be crafty, he “secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and
search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so
that I may also go and pay him homage.’”
Perhaps grateful to escape with their own lives, the Magi “when they had heard the king…set out; and
there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it
stopped over the place where the child was.” The Magi rejoiced when they
saw their guiding star had returned. They followed that light, probably
wondering at its direction southward toward the small town of Bethlehem and
remembering what the priests had told Herod. “When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with
joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they
knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they
offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a
dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”
(Matthew 2:1-12) The Magi saw in Jesus the incarnation of the new Via
Creativa and knew that he would be the ultimate reconciliation, the Via
Transformativa, for and of the world.
Their visit to Jerusalem had taught them to fear Herod and so they
returned home by ‘another road’. That stop in Jerusalem had consequences,
though. “After they had left, an angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and
his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the
child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the
death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’” (Matthew 2:13-15). The Holy
Family became refugees. So many others have been forced to flee their homes
ahead of war and destruction over the centuries, and even today.
The fear of a rival caused Herod to act as leaders have done so
many times over the centuries. “When
Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he
sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old
or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was
fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard
in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she
refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’” (Matthew 2:16-18) Herod
retaliated and tried to destroy his perceived rival, and children were killed.
This can call to mind Aleppo and so many other tragedies over the millennia.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the well-known Christmas carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day during the Civil War. There are 2 verses rarely heard that speak of the
Via Negativa of that, and every, conflict, “Then
from each black, accursed mouth/The cannon thundered in the South,/and with the
sound/The carols drowned/Of peace on earth, good-will to men! It was as if an
earthquake rent/The hearth-stones of a continent,/And made forlorn/The households
born/Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” But Longfellow concludes by
saying “Then pealed the bells more loud
and deep:/"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;/The wrong shall fail, the
right prevail,/With peace on earth, good will to men."
We are grateful when we refocus and find our path again. We feel that we can again live into our
gifts and participate in the Via Creativa and Via Transformativa of God’s work
on earth. However, we live in a world broken by sin where children and
other innocents are still killed and wars still rage.
Stop and
Think: How are you called to live out the new Via Transformativa of
reconciliation? What can you do to make a difference and bring hope to the
hurting of today?
Next week will start a new series for the season of Epiphany.
