The Characters of Christmas: A Five-Day DevotionalНамуна

Imagine this scene here in Bethlehem. The text tells us that after a fruitless inquiry in Herod’s temple, the star that had risen in the East suddenly appeared again, leading them to the exact house where Mary and Joseph and the now-infant Jesus now lived. Jesus was, contrary to our nativity scenes and Christmas pageants, not a baby when the Magi showed up and Jesus was no longer in the cradle. Judging by Herod’s murderous edict, we can assume Jesus is about two years old. But even though they missed the birth, it doesn’t make this long journey of worship any less significant.  

 They had scanned the skies and pored through the ancient texts. They had plodded through deserts and made their way over mountains. They had knocked on doors and tiptoed into temples. These men and their entourage rode and walked and climbed their way from their home to a place so completely foreign to them. And yet the journey of the wise men pales in comparison to the one they now venerated. Jesus had the longer trip, leaving the throne of Heaven and coming to live amongst his people.  

 This is why the Magi’s response was one of worship and exaltation of the Christ child. Let’s stop and meditate on this moment here. These were men of the world, wise and cultured and sophisticated in every way. They came expecting a young boy king on a throne, surrounded by servants and the trappings of royalty. What they found, instead, was a modest middle-class family in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. To the average onlooker, unfamiliar with the ancient prophecies and unaware of the guiding star, this was all so pedestrian.  

But to those whose hearts were open to God’s leading, who were truly seeking Jesus, they saw what the prophets predicted, what the angels serenaded, and what Mary understood: there toddling in a dirty tunic was the Son of God. And so, these prestigious men dropped everything and offered the only right response to Jesus: worship.  

 The very sight is a bundle of contradiction: the young baby receiving the worship of royalty. The wealthy bowing before the impoverished. And yet this is the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God.