“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of Herod’s reign, check this out, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem saying, “Where is the one born King of the Jews? For, we have seen his star rising at dawn. And we have come to pay him homage” (Matthew 2.1-2).
It’s a scene that has come to define this time of year: strangers showing up with their expensive gifts to give to a newborn child are the very reason we gather with friends and family to exchange presents. Their actions inspired us to give, to be generous without expectation of return.
Even though this story is not like that at all.
Like most of the characters that fill our nativity sets, we have romanticized these visitors from afar. They’ve become two-dimensional characters on a card that represent generosity and stand in for those of us who follow the One. While it makes a nice storybook, people in positions like the Magi don’t undertake long journeys just to do something nice for someone. No, you don’t make a trip like this, present such expensive gifts without expecting something, someday in return.
As they are today, kingdoms and administrations are temporary. Power today can be swept away. And even those who have set themselves up as rulers for life one day grow old and leave this world. So, it pays to always have an eye toward the horizon. It’s wise, I guess you could say, to keep a watch out for whose star is on the rise.
The sign in the pre-dawn sky the Magi saw directed them to a newly-born king. And while that kingdom was just another vassal state in the great Roman Empire, it was still a potential place of employment. It was insurance against the fickle flows of power that could easily leave them without a patron, without a tall tower and funding to practice their craft.
It’s not as romantic, but this is what those in authority do—they pay off favors. Look at any President of the past century and you’ll find in their Cabinet those who contributed with time and money to their campaign. Sure, they likely believed in the candidate and the leadership they could provide, but they also knew what a person in such a position could do for them.
Jesus, from the very beginning, turned this on its head. The Magi had to get the sense that something was different when they walked into the small, suburban house of his parents. This wasn’t a place of wealth and influence. This was far more like someone who needed favors than who could give them.
Jesus wasn’t someone who could bestow positions of influence and money. He had no court that required advisors, no policy statement that needed tweaking and selling. He had, in terms of kings and presidents, nothing to give.
Unlike the powers of this world, Jesus is not looking for favors or to bestow positions. He invites us all to draw near not for what he can do for us, but for the joy of being with him. It’s something the Magi probably never found, and likely came to see their journey and their gifts as a waste, an investment without return.
And, we must ask, do we?
Jesus, you came to us with nothing but yourself to give. And, sometimes, from you I can want so much more. Teach me, this season, what a gift it is to be present with you so I might give the same in my presence with others.