The visit of the Magi or the Three Wise Men

This is our first Sunday Gospel reading for the Year 2009 and it is about the visit of the Magi, a.k.a. The Three Kings, which traditionally falls on the 6th of January; however I guess the Catholic Church made certain changes in its Liturgical calendar. So please open your Bibles to Matt.2:1-12.

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet; 6 land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” 9 After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 11 and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”

Last Sunday we wrote about the Presentation in the Temple when the Holy Family were met by two strangers, an old man named Simeon and the prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel in the Tribe of Asher. Both praised the Holy Child Jesus with Anna thanking God for the arrival of the child and our redemption, while Simeon gave “The Canticle of Simeon” wherein he said “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” I purposely quoted this portion of Simeon’s Canticle because he clearly points to the redemption of the Gentiles.

The Magi or the Three Kings are no doubt rulers in a Gentile kingdom from the East. Yet they had knowledge God’s promise to send a Messiah, which the Jews took into themselves as exclusive Divine gift of salvation for Jews only. Unfortunately, the Jews failed to recognize Jesus as the true Messiah, so Christianity spread far and wide into the lands of the Gentiles.

Given the great distances that the Three Kings had to travel via camel caravan, I would like to believe that Joseph and Mary did not yet arrive in Bethlehem when the Magi (meaning…wise men) traditionally known by their names as Gaspar, Melchor and Baltazar began their journey to Jerusalem. The birth of Jesus Christ has so much meaning to humankind. The first visitors of the Child Jesus were the shepherds and their flock of sheep. This shows the humility of God in bringing his only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to this world, not in a gilded Royal Palace, but inside a cave where he was placed in a manger, which is where the food for the animals is placed.

As what we’ve written so many times before, when John the Baptist saw Jesus walk by the River Jordan, he told his followers that Jesus was the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. Jesus himself said that he was the Good Shepherd who took care of his flock. Then as Msgr. Cris Garcia told us a long time ago, the Hebrew meaning of Bethlehem is House of Bread. Again, towards the end of his ministry, our Lord Jesus said that he was the Bread of life. Coincidence?

Jesus Christ became our sacrificial Lamb during the Passover, where on Holy Thursday, during the Last Supper, he instituted the Holy Eucharist when he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying, “Do this in memory of me.” In John 6:35, he said to his disciples, “Amen, Amen I say unto you, unless you eat the body and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you shall have no life in you. He who eats my body and drinks my blood shall have eternal life and I shall raise him up on the last day.”

Surely you have no need for more evidences? I have written this passage over and over in the last three years since I started my weekly Sunday gospel columns and surely by now the message of our Lord Jesus Christ is crystal clear to us the Gentiles… that we must take Holy Communion in order to finally have Jesus within us as prophesied in Isaiah who wrote “his name shall be Emmanuel” which means God with us. That we can truly become a tabernacle where Christ can live in our hearts is indeed God’s gift!