To Pay Him Homage

The story of the magi is retold frequently in the weeks leading up to Christmas. These wise men came to Jerusalem seeking "the Child who has been born King of the Jews." (Matthew 2:2) They stated their purpose for seeking Him thusly: "We observed His star at its rising, and have come to pay Him homage." (Matthew 2:2) They were "overjoyed" when they saw His star, and they bowed down before the newborn Jesus and presented Him "with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:10-11)

The magi are rightly admired for their wisdom and for the honor they they rendered to Jesus. Though the Child they saw was like all other children in appearance, they trusted that this One was indeed their long-awaited King. I've heard it said before that the "wise men" of today still seek after Jesus and still acclaim Him as their King. I agree: to recognize Jesus as King and to honor Him with our gifts are expressions of the highest wisdom.

So the magi are to be admired and, more importantly, emulated for their faith in Jesus. Perhaps what gets overlooked in the story of the magi, however, is the role that Herod played. When Herod heard of Jesus' birth, "he was frightened." (Matthew 2:3) The newborn King was a threat to Herod's reign. And so Herod sought after Jesus not in order to bring Him gifts and to acclaim Him as the true King, but in order to do away with Him. The most interesting thing, however, is that Herod told the magi that he wanted to find Jesus so that he, like them, "may also go and pay him homage." (Matthew 2:8)

While everyone likes to see himself as one of the magi at Christmas, there is in fact an ongoing temptation to be Herod. We can all say that we're seeking Jesus in order to "pay Him homage." Like Herod, however, underneath that phrase there might be a deep-seated fear that Jesus means an end to our own kingship. Jesus the King threatens our autonomy (a word which literally means "self rule"), which can be a bit discomforting.

So, like Herod, we can pay lip-service to Jesus and, by all appearances, celebrate His birth. In our hearts, though, there is an ongoing effort to maintain our autonomy by driving out His Spirit. Herod ordered a massacre of the children, hoping that Jesus would be among them. In like manner, today's Herods get impatient with and angry at others. (Recall Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:21-22 that such anger is tantamount to murder.) We might blame it on "holiday stress," but that's not a valid excuse for driving out the Spirit of Christ and killing one another with anger.

If we are to be the magi (and not Herod) at Christmas, it is not enough to say that we're seeking Jesus "to pay Him homage." Today's would-be magi are called to receive the Spirit of Christ, whose primary characteristic is love. (See 1 Corinthians 13, where love is identified as the primary gift of the Spirit.) In one sense, then, would-be magi must be passive recipients of the gift that is Christ. We are to let Him be our King, which is quite different than trying to make Him King over everyone else while our hearts remain quite autonomous from His reign.

Faithful submission to the Spirit of Christ is the passive duty of those who want to be like the magi.  Meanwhile, the active role of today's would-be magi is to worship Jesus by bringing Him gifts. How are we to bestow gifts upon Jesus? Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25:40 is noteworthy: "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

Christmas easily can turn into a time of stress, worry, and anger. It's all too easy to become another Herod. And yet Herod was a fool whose fear of Jesus' reign led him to murder. In obvious contrast, the magi were the wise men who recieved the gift of Christ. The truly wise are those who receive this Gift, who let Him reign in their hearts, and who bring Him gifts of their own by caring for "the least of these." In doing so, the truly wise really do "pay Him homage."