(Audio)
In ancient times Balak, the king of Moab, feared the coming of the Israelite people as they continued their journey to the promised land, having already conquered two neighboring kingdoms. Balak was in some sense a predecessor to Herod who resisted God's plans in history. Herod attempted to make use of the Magi to eliminate any risk from the newly born child who was reputed to be the true king of the Jews. So too before him had Balak attempted to use Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam was warned in a dream not to appear before Balak, but he was eventually persuaded. Nevertheless, like the Magi, he was not made to be an instrument in the plans of a hostile king. Instead, when he spoke his words were not a curse on Israel, but a blessing.
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel (see Numbers 24:17).
The Magi for their part were more entirely sincere than Balaam. They sought to follow the prophecy he made in those ancient days but refused to cooperate with Herod once they realized his malice. They, unlike Balaam, honored the dream warning they received and were thus spared from becoming further implicated in the evil of Herod. What did not end well for Balaam nevertheless bore fruit for the Magi who came to worship the one of whom the prophecy spoke.
The Magi were like the Queen of Sheba who brought tribute to Solomon, or the kings of Tarshish, Arabia, and Seba mentioned in today's psalm. They did not see the coming of a new king as a threat to themselves but rather as the potential source of blessings. It was the case that Israel's prophetic tradition was steeped with the refrain that the Israel would become a blessing to all nations, and, as it developed, that this would take place through the true Son of David who was "to shepherd my people Israel". Thus we are brought to the necessity that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, the city of David, since he himself was to be a son of David. It was additionally fitting for him to be born in the city whose name means "the house of bread" since he himself would become the bread of life, given for the world.
Do we see the Messiah's coming into our own world, our own lives, our own sphere's of influence, as a threat or as a blessing? The birth of Jesus is meant to be the source wherein we find all blessings truly worthy to be called such. Yet we have all, to some extent, mismanaged our kingdoms like Herod. Jesus will not draw near in a way that leaves our authority intact or our circumstances unchanged. Let us debase ourselves as the Magi once did, rather than trying to cling to our finite power as Herod did. To receive Jesus as a gift we must be willing to relinquish some of our own control, which is in any event mostly perceived rather than actual control.
It is to those who recognize the coming of Jesus as a gift that the star guides the way to his presence. We come like the Magi, bringing our own gifts to offer. But we realize that these are only a response to a greater gift already given in the birth of Jesus. It isn't so much that we have to gather up the scraps of our human effort in preparation to come before him and then offer those to Jesus as it is that we come to recognize the blessings that we have already come from him and are rightfully his to receive from us.
Let us honor Jesus with the incense of our worship. Let us enthrone him in our hearts with gold. Let us anoint him as the Savior who died for us with myrrh. The Magi were among the first Gentiles to receive the promise that they were "coheirs" to a greater inheritance than their wealth, however vast. For our part, we might be tempted to think that it was we who discovered the star, we who worked to bring our treasures to Jesus. But it was rather he himself that planted the Messianic hope in our hearts, his Spirit who guided us to him, and his own providence that provided the gifts that are now ours to offer him.
Oh, star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy perfect light
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