We all know about the wise men from the East who followed “yonder star” to Bethlehem. We call them the Magi or the three kings but to the Jews they would have been regarded as pagan priests or sorcerers who discerned the meaning of the stars, in other words, astrologers.
So why is it that God chose to reveal the Star of Bethlehem to men who practiced what the Jews had been forbidden to practice? Would it not have been a better strategy to reveal this bright star to a few young Rabbinic scholars who grew up with tenacious fervor for the Torah and held strictly to the observance of the law? Wouldn’t they have been able to interpret the ancient prophecies about the Messiah correctly? Think about the implications of religious people well-acquainted with Scripture connecting the dots early in Jesus’ life. How would that have changed history?
Instead, God went beyond his chosen people and revealed himself through whatever practices these seekers were experts in. Whether it was “right” or “wrong” was not as relevant as their hunger for something bigger than themselves. I imagine these priests picked up on fragments of truth circulating through the pagan people of Persia. Did they know about the God of Moses who single-handedly redeemed his people from the grips of Pharaoh? Perhaps there were still rumblings of Daniel, the trusted advisor to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who hundreds of years before was miraculously spared from a gruesome death by the hands of his God. Maybe they had woven Hebrew scriptures into their own culture and traditions.
Although there is debate whether the star was a divine manifestation or an actual star, it is clear that these dignitaries had some knowledge of the ancient prophecies, knowing that a king would come through the Jews. Yet, this would not have been reason enough to compel them to trek across the desert on a rogue mission to find something hinted at by scriptures that were not even their own! What would this king do for them anyways? I guess that’s the question–what, if anything, could this king do for them? For these Persian seekers, the answer to this question was worth the journey. The men were wise enough to keep searching until they found it.
The significance of this event gets muddled in the folklore around the Magi because tradition has created a set of expectations.We are so familiar with the version passed down to us through tradition that we, forgive me, lose the scandal of it all. So please allow me to take a modern stab at my own short-version of this story.
Now after Jesus was born in Los Angeles in the days of Joe Biden, behold, a small coven of Wiccan witches in New Hampshire came to Los Angeles saying, “While performing our November Mourning Moon ritual in the forest, a maple leaf glowing with brilliant gold drifted above the woods and would not fall to the ground. Although it was night, the leaf shone as brilliant as the golden moon we honor. All the way here, we followed it.”
Some of the coven’s sacred writings pointed to a Prince of Peace that would restore all of creation and the hope of finding this prince led the women across the country to a worn-down public charity hospital in the heart of Los Angeles. The leaf led them to the room of Maria Sanchez, a Latina, teenage girl of about 14. In her arms, laid a mixed-race baby boy with tight curly hair and cafe latte skin. No one else was in the room because the girl claimed there was no father and she didn’t have any family. The Wiccan women knew in an instant that this was the Prince that had been prophesied about. They were trained to discern the spirits and knew with all their being that this baby boy was here to save them. They immediately got to their knees and worshipped the child. Before they left, the first woman gave the mom a healing herb bouquet of lavender, chamomile, feverfew and rosemary. The second handed her a wad of cash to get through the following months and the last witch ground up the golden leaf, put it in a locket and hung it on Maria’s neck. The Magi’s visit confirmed what had already been revealed to Maria in a dream. She pondered the wonder of it all in her heart and felt a glimpse of hope that this son she birthed would one day birth a new spirit in her.
The sojourners walked away with the knowledge that the God of the universe had heard and seen them. God was to restore all of nature through this little child and they considered themselves humbled and privileged for being given the honor to witness it.
Not a pastor, nor a priest, nor evangelist, nor a rabbi nor a theologian had any idea that the Savior of the World had been born in the City of Angels that day.
God reveals his plan to whomever He chooses utilizing their practices and tools if it means that they provide a gateway to Him. Just like the Magi, the Wiccans in my story seek the Christ Child with more fervor and dedication than many who are “in the know”; those living out their faith by the book.
If the word, “surprising” or “unexpected” or even “blasphemous” comes to mind then maybe you see the Christmas story in all its surprising, unexpected and blasphemous ways. After all, there were no holy people next to the manger that evening, just a few outsiders hungry for the presence of Immanuel. Although they did not have orthodox words for their practice, God used their desire to lead them to the Word turned flesh.
The Christmas story teaches us to redefine the seekers of this world. Mary, a devout Jewish girl, did not fear the Magi but welcomed them with wonder and gratitude even though they clearly were “not of God.” She didn’t fear them because she trusted that her God was powerful enough to work his Truth in the hearts of all people. There is no evidence that she or Joseph preached to them or exhorted them, they knew not to stand in the way between seekers and the God they seek.
These seekers, in turn, gave this little family what they needed for their own trek into the wilderness through the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh; all valuable assets as they fled into Egypt. Funny how intricately God works in our lives, how deeply mysterious things can also have such practical implications.
You may say, “I welcome all people and want to love them all”, but how can we love well when we are full of fear? Fear that we need to defend God, fear that others are going to drag us away from our faith, fear of whatever we can’t wrap our brains around in a few minutes, fear that we are not loving well unless we are trying to fix each other? If we are being brutally honest, most of the time we point people to Truth because it makes US feel secure. It affirms our own standing rather than affirm the other with understanding; which is what I think this world needs.
The Magi and lowly shepherds came seeking Christ when the Christ Child’s own people failed to see His true identity because it didn’t align with their expectations. It was the people aware of their emptiness to whom he ministered, people like the Magi, the shepherds, poor fishermen, tax collectors, hemorrhaging women, a confused Pharisee; hungry people.The religious leaders were too full of truth to recognize their own hunger.
The reason, I think, that God did not reveal the star to the godly men of Israel is because they had become rigid in their thinking. After years of being an underdog, their identity under constant assault by empire after empire, they had a reason to fortify their faith with rules, rituals and a slew of righteous acts. They had, understandably, become protective of their way of life, but in the process their minds had closed to all possibilities of truth.
Unfortunately, when the mind closes, the heart tends to follow. When the heart and mind close, the eyes become dull. Jesus himself made note of this inability to perceive Him for who He was; a prominent trait of the “churchiest” people of His time (Matthew 13:14).
The Wise Men, on the other hand, were guided by open minds and a heart full of faith. Being open to God, in all His ways, requires an acceptance of ambiguity and mystery. It leaves behind the need to tie up everything with tidy bows. It asks us to drop our causal thinking and live into more of a receiver orientation. The Magi were practitioners of sensing God through the work of His hands. Perhaps they were listening and yielding to the prophecy of the stars as recorded in Psalm 19:
“God’s splendor is a tale that is told, written in the stars. Space itself speaks his story through the marvels of the heavens.
His truth is on tour in the starry vault of the sky, showing his skill in creation’s craftsmanship.
Each day gushes out its message to the next, night by night whispering its knowledge to all—
without a sound, without a word, without a voice being heard, yet all the world can hear its echo. Everywhere its message goes out.”
Psalms 19:1-4 TPT
The Magi’s mission teaches us that faith is sometimes about discerning the echoes of our Creator's handiwork and doing our best to follow its message with the tools and knowledge we’ve been given. That is the best we can do, sometimes. No one person or denomination has 100% correct theology. All we can do is make the most sense of where we are in our journey and trust that our sincere desire to find and keep finding Jesus is our greatest asset. It is not what we know, but how we move forward; with fear and trembling not because we are afraid but because we are in awe.
These last two years, I’ve tried to be less fearful of anything that doesn’t fit into my preconceived ideas of who God is and how He works. It has been both scary and lonely, like trekking across the dark desert, but in exchange, it’s led me to unexpected sacred experiences. Ironically, I didn’t find these things in a temple, like the Magi, I found them in a manger. Just like God went outside His people to draw in seekers to the baby throne of Jesus, I feel like these past few years I’ve had to go outside the Church to discover Jesus in unexpected but necessary ways.There comes a point in our spiritual journey where words fail us. The Holy Spirit comes to us like a dove, in tongues of fire and a mighty wind.
It comes to us when the scales that cover our eyes fall to the ground. It took a traumatic conversion for Paul to perceive Jesus through the Holy Scriptures. Can you understand why he, too, trekked into the wilderness? Could it have been to relearn the Scriptures through the lens of the Holy Spirit? Imagine how blown his mind was as Jesus burst through the stale words and gave LIFE to them! Just days before it had all been wrong! (Galatians 1:17)
I believe James 1:17 when it reads,
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change".
This verse reminds me to look up into the heavens and fearlessly receive what is coming down from above. What I have seen in my life is Christians leaving a lot of these good things hanging, right there in midair! Like Paul, we think we know the truth so much that it closes us off to new possibilities.
Today, I saw a seeker post a need on Facebook for a reputable psychic as she was searching for answers to get her out of a weird cycle in her life. You should have seen how some of the Christians pounced on her. Only a few Jesus-loving women were kind and loving enough to make apologies for the rest, the ones condemning or speaking to her in a condescending manner. It is heart-breaking. I can hear Jesus in his lament over Jerusalem,
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Perhaps today, those words of lament would start with
“Christians, Christians, you who shame the seekers and condemn those sent to you….”
Have we become the religious scholars sleeping next door to baby Jesus and not know it? Or are we seekers on a perpetual journey towards the perfect light that guides us?
This year, I want to be like Mary, who treasured the divine mystery that came in an unexpected pregnancy and who kept her door open to unexpected visitors. Imagine the implications for us if as a body of believers, we dare to welcome the unexpected. Instead of running from or feeling like we have to defend, what if we became experts at deciphering the good and the best from all circumstances?
I am talking to mature believers here. Those of us who have been walking with Jesus for many years, those of us who once nursed on spiritual milk but are now feasting by His side. We should know that all are welcomed to the table.
This year, I want to be like the Magi.
I want to be like Mary.
Because in between these two figures, lays the ONE who reconciles all things unto himself. (Colossians 1:20)
I trust that ultimately, I am a partaker in claiming all good things for the glory of Christ. I want to trust this process just like the Magi trusted the star. This takes time, courage and a willingness to trek into the dark night.
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