My Dear People,

Epiphany indicates there is a remarkable manifestation of Jesus in the visit of the magi. Herod then uses “Christ” interchangeably with “king of the Jews.” It reflects the concept of the royal Messiah, popular since God promised David an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel7:13).  “King of the Jews” will appear on the cross on Good Friday (Matt. 25:37) but will be as hypocritical then as Herod’s indication that he wants to pay homage to the Christ child.

The expression “pay homage” also teaches that Jesus is regarded as a person of great dignity, of great authority. It is repeated three times in this account of the magi. The magi show their respect also through gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The fact that the magi are Gentiles prepares us for Christ’s great commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt 28:19).

When the magi arrived in Jerusalem and Herod heard that they were looking for the newborn king of the Jews, he was infuriated and immediately interpreted it as a threat. Herod had taken over Judea by conquest to please the Romans who promised to make him king. To further please the Romans he built many things in Judea, including Caesarea Herod, a magnificent port on the Mediterranean Sea, the hippodrome in Jerusalem for horse races (this was featured in the story Ben Hur); and other buildings which catered to Roman interests, including a gymnasium; however, it was offensive to the Jewish people. Herod did not care how they felt. He rebuilt the Temple and built Masada, a retreat palace by the Dead Sea.

In later years, he was worried that someone would wage war against him—defeat him–and he would lose his kingship. He even killed two of his own sons who posed a threat. Instinctively upon hearing of the “newborn king of the Jews” he became frightened and furious. He felt that people could use this newborn king as an opportunity to dethrone him. For this reason, he slaughtered the innocent children in Bethlehem. He perceived the “newborn king of the Jews” as a threat to his kingship. At this point in his life, he was interested only in self, and he was totally blind to the word or plan of God. He thought that he could defeat the plan of God by killing innocent children. The Magi went to Jerusalem, the capital city, there expecting to find a newborn king—since the king was in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea.

Looking upon the prophecies, in Micah they found the answer: “Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old.”

This shows that God’s plan cannot be destroyed, even though the forces of evil used by Herod to destroy the Messiah, God is greater and protected Jesus from any evil. For this reason, the Magi went away without reporting to Herod, and the angel informed Joseph to flee from Bethlehem because Herod meant to harm the child, so Joseph took the Christ Jesus and Mary in the middle of the night and left for Egypt. Bethlehem is about 9 miles from Jerusalem. The Epiphany shows us that God’s plan is so great that magi “Gentiles” can recognize and acknowledge and travel great distances to come to pay homage to Jesus.

Yours in Christ,      

Fr. Vincent Clemente