Wizards, Horoscopes, and Babies

So today is epiphany. (No, not apostrophe Smee.) For those of you that don't know. This is the day that we celebrate the magi finding baby Jesus. There are a lot of things I could do with this. I could talk about the number of magi, or how the gifts they bring point to the crucifixion. But, as you might have guessed form the title, today I want to talk about who the magi really were and what that means for Christians.

Before I get into who the magi were, I want to talk a little about where the term epiphany comes from. If you look at the history of the celebration you will find that it was originally a celebration of Jesus baptism. It then might seem odd for us to then change it to be simply the visit of the magi. There is a connection however.

Often in celebrating the baptism of Jesus the church was celebrating everything leading up to it, including the visit of the magi. But the reason for the name brings more insight. The day is called epiphany because even at the earliest it was a celebration of the realization that Jesus was God. (Hence why Smee tries to use the word. It is a great revelation.) The celebration of the baptism would make sense for this since we have the entirety of the trinity present.

Given this understanding we can then see why someone might translate that simply to the visit of the magi. This would be the first occurrence of any gentile realizing the divinity of Jesus. The magi, it would seem are the first non-Jews to understand the identity of Jesus.

So who were the Magi?

The answer to this question may shatter some long traditions. First, they were probably not kings. It is true the gifts they bring were kingly gifts, but that does not mean that they were kings themselves. Second, they were certainly not wise men (at least not how we think of them). Our understanding of this is perhaps a quirk of translators not understanding modern traditions around the specific story. You'll see what I mean. And yes this means that we will be doing a brief Greek word study.

So the word that gets translated as magi or wise men in the ESV and others, comes from the Greek word μάγος (mag'-os). A quick look at Strong's Greek Concordance will show that this word is used of sorcerers and wise men in courts of kings. These would be the men who would interpret dreams, read the stars for signs (astrologers), and perhaps be priests. (This is in the Dungeons & Dragons sense not the Catholic sense.) In fact the word shows up in Acts where it gets translated as magician.

The Magi were wizards.

Given the context of passages in Daniel it is understandable why translators might use the term. After all the "advisers" to the kings of Daniel were refereed to as wise men. But in that context modern readers understand that this is referring to human wisdom which is not based in God. However, when we get the the stories of Jesus we forget the term from Daniel.

Perhaps using the term magi is not very helpful either, but at least it is neutral to modern readers. Today we might say that the magi were Wiccans who did palm readings and read horoscopes. These men would have been looked down upon by the Jewish readers of Matthew. They would have been seen as followers of false religions and gods. They would be the last people Jews would expect to seek out Jesus.

The magi were seekers.

The interesting thing about Matthew's account is the extent to which the magi go to find the star. This becomes astounding when we understand Matthew. He was a former tax collector. He would have been shunned by his fellow Jews. In fact when he throws a party after finding Jesus, the Pharisees condemn Jesus. If we look at Luke's gospel we find it is the prostitute that washes his feet, and Zaccheus the tax collector that seeks to find him.

The reality of the magi is that they were looking for a sign. They were seekers of truth. The Pharisees were seekers of religion. They were focused on doing what they had always done. When something new happened the Magi recognized it because they were looking for something. The Pharisees saw nothing because they did not want to see anything. They were content to live their regimented pious life.

What does this mean for us?

Perhaps the greatest lesson is that we need to be open to the power of God. As Christians we need to not be so wrapped up in what we are doing that we miss what God is doing. We need to become seekers. We need to turn to God and ask question.

Perhaps your church does great ministries, but have you ever stopped to ask if those are the ministries that God wants your church to do? Maybe I should ask the question this way. Is what your church doing for God? Or is it for the church? Do you have programs for the sake of programs?

See when we as churches create programs and events we become a machine that does programs and events. We become like the Pharisees doing things that we have created thinking that they are what God desires. But the magi looked. They sought. They waited. The magi were able to see the star for what it was because they were seeking something. Are we as churches seeking God?

Are there things we can learn from "heathens"?

The magi were followers of false gods and religions yet they were warned in a dream to travel a different route. The implication is that God gave them that dream. Why? Because they had witnessed the incarnate one. They sought truth and they found it.

This realization should make us stop. It is the tax collector, the prostitute, the sinner, the wizard, that recognizes Jesus for who He is. Why are they the ones that Jesus goes to? Because they were open to him. They understood their sin. They desired the grace that Jesus brings. They knew they were sick and sought out the physician.

Spend time with sinners.

After all, you are one. I don't mean witness to people on a street corner. I mean spend time with them. Listen to them. Ask them about their lives. Find out their story. You don't have to become one yourself, Jesus certainly didn't. But be open to what they have to say. Perhaps they have truth about God that we have not seen.

If our churches truly seek out God then we will find Him doing miraculous things. If we stop focusing on ourselves and seek what God is doing we will be swept into a wonderful adventure. If we spend time with "sinners" instead of condemning them we may find that they show us God in ways we never would have known before. This is true gift of the magi.

May the blinders be taken from your eyes. May you see the work that God is already doing. May you encounter wizards with truth. And may God give you the wisdom to understand it.

Amen!