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The Astrologers’ Star

 

Homily by Fr. Robert Chiesa, SJ
2017 Epiphany Sunday at 12 Noon Mass
St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo

 

I suppose you’re aware of how much we blend all the elements of Christmas together by bringing the angels and the shepherds and the wise men together at the manger. First of all, after the angels departed, the shepherds were left on their own to decide whether what they heard was real or not, and whether actually to make their way to Bethlehem to check out the manger. The wise men belong to a completely different story and are said to have found Jesus and Mary “in the house” at Bethlehem.

 

I’d like to invite you to join me now in separating these two stories of Jesus’ birth, Luke’s story and Matthew’s story, because each of them packs a power of its own. We know Luke’s story all so well from the Christmas night celebration. Today the gospel gives us part of Matthew’s story, but we never really see Matthew’s whole story together in one liturgy.

 

Anyone who opens the New Testament to read from the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel may be turned off right away by a long list of ancestors. Abraham gave birth to Isaac, Isaac gave birth to Jacob, and on and on for 42 generations until we get to Joseph who was betrothed to Mary. This family tree focuses on David and shows that, through Joseph, Jesus will be known as the Son of David, legitimate heir to the Old Testament promises.

 

That’s how the Gospel of Matthew begins and the first chapter comes to a climax with an angel appearing to Joseph, calling him “son of David” and telling him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. She is obviously pregnant but that was through the intervention of the Holy Spirit and Joseph is to name the child Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. We notice that this is different from Luke’s story. The angel appears not to Mary but to Joseph and tells him what the child’s name should be.

 

Then we go right into chapter two, today’s gospel, which tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and astrologers came from the East led by a star, just as Luke’s shepherds had been led by an angel. These astrologers, or wise men—note that they are not kings—ask King Herod where the King of the Jews is to be born. Herod’s councilors tell him that the prophecies point to Bethlehem and Herod sends them on their way. At first they are in the dark, but along the road they are again led by the star to where the child lay. And “entering the house,” they see the child with Mary his mother and offer him three gifts. We are not told how many wise men there were. It is because of the three gifts that they are taken to be three men.

 

Actually, the rest of Matthew’s story contains tragedy and dislocation. Herod realizes he has been duped by the wise men, who have been told not to return to Herod, so in his rage and not wanting to have a competitor as king, he orders all boys two years and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem to be slaughtered. So Joseph is told by an angel to beat a hasty retreat to Egypt. These are our first Christian refugees. They stay in Egypt until an angel tells Joseph that Herod is dead and they can return to Israel. But they hear that Herod’s son has taken over as king in Judaea and are afraid to return to Bethlehem. So Joseph’s angel comes to the rescue again and directs him to Nazareth in Galilee. And here in Matthew is the first reference to Nazareth. The story started in a house in Bethlehem and takes the family from there to Egypt then back to Israel—not however to Bethlehem but to Nazareth.

 

Luke’s story started in Nazareth and a census brought them to Bethlehem, where they had to put up in a stable. Matthew’s story starts out in a house in Bethlehem and ends up in Nazareth as a better choice than returning to Bethlehem. So you see we have two separate ways of telling the story of Jesus’ birth and there is no need to blend them together. But we can note the common elements from which each evangelist wove his account—with Luke focusing on Mary and Matthew focusing on Jesus. The common elements are: that Mary conceived the child miraculously through the Holy Spirit; that he was to be named Jesus; that Joseph was to be his legal father, making Jesus a descendant of David, the true leader of Israel; and that he was born in Bethlehem but was to be known as Jesus “of Nazareth”; and that he was to be Savior of all people.

 

Getting back to today’s celebration, it has become traditional to refer to the three wise men or three astrologers as three kings, but that has no basis in the Gospel. Perhaps the verses of today’s psalm 72 contributed to that misunderstanding. The interesting thing is that these men are doing their usual work of studying the stars when they see something there that promises to change their life. They had probably heard of Israel’s prophecy and now they see it realized in the star which they decide to follow. Just as Luke’s shepherds decide to follow the angel’s announcement of an important birth, so Matthew’s wise men set out, believing that the star will lead them to the newly born king.

 

So what do we learn from all this? First of all, that there are two separate stories of the announcement and birth of Jesus and we lose something by mixing them up into one. Secondly, that providential guidance was given to the shepherds and to the wise men in the midst of their daily work—to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night, and to the wise men studying their stars. Not only does each of these groups get a message but they urge one another to act on it and they go to Bethlehem.

 

All of us get interior messages from our conscience or exterior messages from the people and situations of daily life. Like the wise men’s star, these messages urge us to do this or avoid that. Such messages come from the good spirit guiding us. At the same time, we get messages coming from bad spirits within ourselves or from the evil spirits that rule the world, like the evil spirits that ruled Herod. Let us ask today for the star which we need to help us see these spirits as good or evil, as movements toward or away from God, and let us ask for the grace and courage to embrace the good movements and reject the evil ones, the ones that lead us away from God by destroying our relations with one another.

 

 

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