My Dear People,

The word magi  originally described members of the Median and Persian priestly caste who advised the king and interpreted dreams. The term later was used more broadly to denote those who possessed mystical knowledge as priests, astrologers, soothsayers, or sages. Their popular association with kings today may be based on Old Testament passages that recount kings bringing gifts to the royal Davidic son, including gifts of gold and frankincense (Isa. 60:3-6). In Jewish tradition, magi would bring to mind the opponents of Daniel in Babylon, who were associated with enchanters and sorcerers and claimed to interpret dreams and signs (Dan. 1:20:2:2; 4:6-7; 5:7 LXX). Hence, one would not expect magi from the east to be among the first to pay homage to the Jewish messiah. This account thus sets up a theme that will be repeated throughout Matthew’s Gospel: Israel’s king is welcomed by those who would be least expected while Jewish leaders work against him (2:4).

The account of the magi following a star and searching for a king underscores Jesus’ kingship by recalling the prophecy of Balaam in Num 24. In this episode, the Moabite king, Balak, called upon a seer named Balaam  to pronounce a curse on Israel. However, each time Balaam tried to curse Israel, God took control of his speech and words of blessings came out of his mouth instead. In his last attempt to curse Israel. The Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied about the future king arising out of Israel. According to this oracle, a star would be the sign of the great king’s arrival (Num 24: 17).

All this foreshadows the events associated with Herod, the magi, and the birth of Jesus. Just as Balak sought to use the pagan seer Balaam to destroy Israel, so Herod seeks to use the pagan magi to destroy the Christ child.  And just as Balaam failed to cooperate with the king’s plan, uttering blessings instead of curses, so the magi fail to assist Herod in his plot to destroy Jesus, paying the child homage instead of reporting his location to Herod. Balaam prophesied about a star heralding the coming of a great king to Israel; the magi see that star and come to worship the newborn king. Thus, the magi stand as “successors to Balaam” in the sense that they pay homage to the king that Balaam foretold long ago. 

The idea of a star signaling the birth of a great person or king was popular in the ancient world Various explanations have been offered as to what this star guiding the magi was: (1) it was a comet, such as Halley’s comet that appeared in 12-11 BC; (2) it was a planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn which gave the appearance of a bright, single star in 7 BC; or (3) the star was a stellar explosion—a nova—which is reported to have been sighted in 5-4 BC. One shortcoming of these naturalistic explanations is that the star in Matthew’s Gospel leads the magi and then comes to rest over the house (2:9)—things ordinary stars do not do. This suggests that –whatever the star in Matt 2 might have been—God intervened in an extraordinary way to lead the magi to the messiah. One interesting proposal is that the star guiding the magi represents an angelic figure. In the Jewish tradition, stars were associated with angels, and the guiding star in Matthew’s Gospel recalls the angel God sent to guide people in the desert on their way to the promised land (Exodus 14:19). Thus, while some natural stellar phenomenon might have initially led the magi in search of a king. Matthew is telling us that God is providing a supernatural guide to lead the magi to Christ, just as he provided Israel with an angel to lead them through the desert. 

When the magi reached Herod inquiring where the newborn king was. King Herod was greatly troubled. Herod was not born king of the Jewish people. He was an Idumean whose family got self-appointed by Rome to rule over the Jews. Magi following a star and seeking the newborn king of the Jews would have been quite alarming of the ethnically non-Jewish Herod, especially in these later years of his life when he was violently paranoid about any potential rival to his throne. Herod gathers the chief priests and the scribes, who were part of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem under Herod, and inquires of them where the messiah is to be born. Matthew notes that Herod was assembling them, which recalls a passage from Ps 2 foretelling that the rulers of this world will assemble against the Lord’s anointed king (Ps. 2:2). The word assembling is used often in Matthew’s Passion Narrative to describe the chief priests and scribes assembling against Christ to plot his death (26:3, 57; 27:1). By using this same word to describe the chief priests and scribes gathering with Herod, Matthew emphasizes that at the very beginning of Christ’s life, the Jewish leaders were already working against the Lord’s messiah, playing the role of the wicked rulers in Ps. 2. 

The chief priests and scribes tell Herod that the messiah is expected to be born in Bethlehem, a city charged with Davidic hopes. This was the place where David was born and, according to the prophet Micah, the new Davidic king was expected to come from this city (Mic 5:1) The Jewish leaders quote this passage and then go on to say that this ruler will shepherd my people Israel—an echo of God’s words to David at the beginning of his reign (2 Sam 5:2). 

Before directing the magi to Bethlehem, Herod ascertains from them the time of the star’s appearance in order to estimate the date of the child’s birth. This will serve as the basis for Herod’s massacre that targets the male children two years old and younger (12:16). With the hope of discovering the exact location of the royal child in order to destroy him, Herod sends the magi off as unwitting spies (2:8).

The magi do not simply kneel before Christ; they prostrate themselves on their faces and do him homage. Though prostration before kings was common in the ancient Near East, elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel prostration and giving homage are associated with divine worship (4:9-10;  14:23; 15:25). The Gentile magi therefore offer Christ the worship that Herod, the chief priests, and scribes failed to offer.          [Passages taken from The Gospel of Matthew by Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri]

Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente