I did not say how many Magi is essential. Angel said that nothing about the Magi, not their coming, not the gifts, not their number, matters at all.
I disagree with that premise. If it did not matter that the Magi came bearing gifts then why is it in Scripture?
I never meant to imply that the magi weren’t important; I meant that the birth is the focal point of the infancy narratives.
While we retain the details of wealth and power described in these passages—kings, camels, gold, honor—we often lose the theme of justice that spreads through Isaiah and is explicit in the psalm: “May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper”.
When we peel away the surplus meaning and focus on justice and power, the real gift of the mysterious and exotic visitors of greeting cards and Christmas pageants is a warning. Alerted by a star to his birth, the Magi seek the prince of peace in Jerusalem, the center of power.
They are summoned and go to Herod the king, alerting him to the birth of a potential rival. While the Magi return, oblivious and unscathed, to their own country by another route, the family they honored flees as refugees, and their neighbors’ children are slaughtered.
Rulers rule. Presidents preside. Leaders lead. Executives execute. They don’t shepherd! Shepherding implies compassion, care and a courageous life-sacrificing quality that few powerful people would understand or want to practice.
Yet this had always been the basis of Godly rule from the inception of the monarchy in Israel. The very first king David was called from the flocks to be the shepherd king, an archetype which was fulfilled in Jesus, the good shepherd.
Like Herod, I wonder how we react to the reality that there is one amongst us who challenges us in who we are and what we do? Like Herod, will we become afraid of this child, this shepherd king?
Do we also want to “put him away” this Epiphany? Will we can simply pack this shepherd king away with the Christmas tree and lights, as we dismantle them on the twelfth day of Christmas and assign them to the musty cupboard till next year?
Are we also agitated and troubled by the thought that allowing this child to continue to grow in our “homelands” may cost us too much, like Herod, and disturb our comfortable kingdoms more than we care for?
Herod hid from grace and terrible destruction was the fate and fruit of his life from then on. Could we do it differently?
The mystical magi are knocking on the door. They speak of stars and destiny, and shepherds who can lead us to God. Will we allow them to disturb us enough that we might join their caravan of change and become people of peace and justice?
