Returning from the East

For we...have come to worship him.
Matthew 2:2

Happy Epiphany.

It was only several years ago that I began to reckon with the significance of the Magi and why it is we read their account during Epiphany. The season of Epiphany is all about appearances and the appearance of one in particular: Jesus born of Mary. In some ways those who encounter Jesus when he is full grown, those encounters make sense to me. He has engaged in his public ministry. He knows the Jewish Torah, the words of the Prophets, and the Writings, most prominently the Psalms, which are the prayers of God's people. He met with those who were ostracized; he healed infirmities; he taught the Scriptures as one with authority; he confronted the Establishment. The appearance of Jesus in these situations, and those who seek him out, makes sense for it is clear that he has much to offer them.

But the Magi. They are aged men from the East, sages of great tradition. And they seek a young child.(?) What can this child offer them? That may be the question on our lips, or if we may be less courageous, it is at least voiced in our heart. (What value does this youngster have for me? What can his little tyke do for me?) And therein lies precisely the wrong question, which comes from a self-oriented heart. It is not what Jesus offers the Magi, but what they might offer to this one who has appeared. ("What can I give him? Poor as I am; If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. But what I can I give him? Give him my heart.") In the acts of the Magi–"we have come to worship him"–they begin the great Return to God, coming back from the East.

In the book of Genesis, East is often tied to fleeing, or being removed from, the presence of God. Adam and Eve were banished from the garden and sent East. Cain, after shedding the blood of his brother Abel, is cursed from the land and sent East. Those involved in the construction of the Tower in Babel headed East to build their ziggurat. Lot chooses the land to the East. You get the picture. But the Magi, those from the East, make the great Return to worship the one true God.

And the reason why Epiphany is to be celebrated, is this: the journey the Magi make to worship the king, and the journey that the world is exhorted to make to worship the one true king, is only possible for the king has come. As we begin our journey through Epiphany and this new year of 2022, may the eyes of your heart not be focused on "what has God done for me lately." But may your life be one of a living sacrifice in worship to God. For those who were once held captive, he has set free.

– Matthew