Christmas / The Incarnation: The Magi (Matthew 2)

Christmas / The Incarnation: The Magi (Matthew 2)

Reading Matthew 2:1-12

What does the biblical account tell us about Christ:
The Fulfillment of Prophecies.
A proclamation of the Creator and Creation:
What does the biblical account tell us about the Magi:
The particular star was seen by the Magi…

including a message “A king is born”
made their way to Jerusalem.
These Magi: educated men, non-Jews from the pagan world, benefiting from a particular revelation. definitely not all inclusive, but they make the trip to Jerusalem following the star…

The Magi arrive after his birth from Jesus. (It is spoken of a house…) and come from the East, from the East of Jerusalem, perhaps from Babylon, Persia, Syria or… The very discreet Bible. first with the then king Herod, the political authority…

Herod:

For Herod,
the announcement of the birth of a king disturbs him… A caravan come for this event… Herod sees in it a competitor,
The whole of Jerusalem is also troubled…
Herod is filled with wickedness, cunning and violence, hypocrisy: … “let me know, so that I myself will worship him too.”
feigns benevolence. calls priests and scribes to inquire.
The monks of the time know the Scriptures and will inform Herod:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, Behold, the maiden will become pregnant, she will bear a son, And she will call his name Immanuel. » Isaiah 7:14
“And you, Bethlehem Ephrata, which are small among the cities of Judah, from you will come for me one who will rule over Israel and whose origin goes back far into the past, to eternity. Micah 5:1 (Micah about 800 years before the birth of Christ)
All are waiting for a King who will liberate them from the Romans…Give them a certain political autonomy…
They do not see the prophecy of Isaiah 53 “Who has believed what was spoken to us? Who recognized the arm of the Lord? He rose up before him like a weak plant, Like an offshoot from a parched earth; He had neither beauty nor brilliance to attract our eyes, And his aspect had nothing to please us.

So we see well-educated religious …

Beautiful theoretical knowledge, beautiful concepts … but the heart is not touched. They will not inquire further… They remain indifferent and do not enter into the work of God.
Jesus during his ministry will recall that it is the people who concretely believe the promises of God who will be saved: “Those who say to me: Lord, Lord! not all will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. » Matthew 7:21

… And to do the will of God is to recognize that Jesus is Savior and Lord.

Back to the mages:

have received the desired information, set off.
The star stops and the joyful Magi pay homage to Jesus: In joy, they offer their gift.
Some commentators have given meaning to the various gifts brought by the Magi. We can note that for this child born in humility, the gifts are royal.
– Gold. It was customary at one time to offer gold to the king. …will come back and every knee will bow…

“In the name of Jesus every knee bend in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. » Philippians 2:10-11

Gold can also emphasize the divine perfection of Jesus. Jesus, divine king, will reign. Revelation 1:7

– Incense was customary, reserved for priests, priests, those who interceded on behalf of the people. Incense, can symbolize the prayers of the saints are for God a perfume of good smell.
incense can show that all of Jesus’ life will be a sweet-smelling fragrance before God the Father.

– Myrrh was a sedative that was offered to the victim to calm their suffering. Myrrh, image of suffering? Isaiah will raise the sufferings of Christ: “despised and abandoned by men, a man of pain and accustomed to suffering, like one from whom we turn away, he was despised, we did not esteem him…” Isaiah 53.3 .

We can point out more simply that the Magi bring prize gifts. They thus recognize in Jesus a great king!

Finally the mages are listening . They have a dream and understand what is being asked of them… and they obey: “they returned to their country by another route. »

Herod then returns to the scene! Matthew 2:13 -23
–

Herod in great anger . Fear for his authority as king. He will kill infants (two years and under). Herod a bloodthirsty, violent, murderer. However, he fulfills a prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:15) “Thus says the Lord: We hear cries to Rama, Lamentations, bitter tears; Rachel mourns her children; She refuses to be comforted on her children, For they are no more. »
Flight of Joseph into Egypt: Jesus, newborn, completely dependent on his parents. Here again, Joseph’s submission and obedience to the voice of God. Joseph protects the child by leaving the country… God could have acted differently, performed a miracle… Joseph and Mary assume this role of protection and thereby fulfill the prophecies.
Again, to protect the child, and divinely warned, Joseph settles in Nazareth. Joseph protects the child, obeys God, even if he hesitates to go to Nazareth (“He was afraid to go there”), the grace of God accompanies him.

The Nazarene, a man entirely consecrated to God. ( Numbers 6 ). The Lord Jesus consecrated himself to his God and He found his joy in this constant communion with Him.

A story for us?
Are we aware that God has everything in His hand,
Our joy in true fellowship with God.
Personally, I like the poem “footsteps on the sand”. This poem shows us both the love of God and His sovereignty:

One night I had a dream.
I dreamed that I was walking along a beach, in the company of the Lord.
In the sky appeared, one after the other, all the scenes of my life.

I looked back and saw that in every period of my life
there were two pairs of footprints in the sand:
One was mine, the other was the Lord’s.

So we kept on walking,
until all the days of my life had passed before me.
So I stopped and looked back.
I noticed that in some places
there was only one pair of footprints,
and that corresponded exactly with the most difficult days of my life,
the days of greatest anguish,
greatest fear and also greater pain.

So I questioned him,
“Lord…you told me that you were with me all the days of my life
and I agreed to live with you.
But I noticed that in the worst moments of my life,
there was only one footprint.
I can’t understand
that you left me alone when I needed you the most. »

And the Lord replied,
“My son, you are so precious to me! I like you !
I would never give up on you, not even for a minute!
The days when you only saw a single footprint on the sand,
those days of trials and suffering, well: it was I who carried you. »

(“Footprints in the sand”) Mary Steel Stevenson (née Kelly) or Ademar de Barros?

Do I have the humility of Joseph and Mary to obey the Lord? to listen to it?
As with the Magi, does nature speak to me of God? of this great Creator God? Am I ready to ask myself the right questions?
Am I aware that God is watching over me? that I can trust Him? Better than the children of Israel: Deuteronomy 1:27-33
The Magi gave great gifts to Jesus. Cool !! They recognized him as a great king!!!
But God gave us the gift of His beloved son!! Are we aware of this? God by his action wanted to save us from sin and its bonds.

We who are a little further in history, therefore, remember this passage from John 1:11-15
Have we accepted this gift from Heaven? Do we want to share this good news of the Gospel: Acts 4:12
There is no salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven. Believe it, Live it, Share it!

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