Mennonite Weekly Review

This week we consider those mysterious visitors from the East who grace our Nativity crèches and Christmas cards. Matthew indicates they did not arrive until some time after Jesus’ birth. The word Magi, or magoi in Greek, refers to a priestly caste of Medes and Persians who exercised special religious or divining powers. It would not be unusual to find them studying the heavens to find meaning in the stars.

Dueckman

Matthew’s account contains many elements of an intriguing story: mystery, irony, deceit, tragedy. If this were a movie, the opening scene would show these astrologers scanning the night skies and discerning what the Eastern star indicated about the birth of a king. The next scene would likely show the visitors making the trek to Jerusalem to call on King Herod to inquire about the location of Jesus’ possible birth.

The villain’s deceit

Every exciting story must have a villain, and Herod aptly fills the role. The irony here is that Herod is the one person who should not be trusted with the information and queries the Magi bring.

Readers of this biblical drama have the advantage of knowing what the Magi do not: Herod is really the “bad guy” and not to be trusted. We know Herod considers the mere suggestion of another king a threat to his power. We can see inside Herod’s motivation to know he means exactly the opposite when he tells the Magi he wants to ascertain the location of the babe born King of the Jews to be able to worship him also.

The next scene, of course, would find the Magi following the star to locate the infant Jesus and falling down to present him with gifts. Every parent who has eagerly and proudly shown off a new baby and who has gratefully received gifts for the newborn can easily relate.

I wonder how the next part of the narrative would play out. In verse 12 we are told the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Does each one wake up and confess to the others, “Say, I had the strangest dream last night”? Think of a vivid dream you have had, and how silly it probably sounded when you tried to describe it to someone the next morning. But the Magi, used to dealing in occult practices and interpreting dreams, would have taken their dreams seriously and realized the divine implications. We cheer them on as they outwit the wicked Herod, sneaking home by a back route.

Slaughter of the innocents

Now, cut back to Herod, waiting in vain in Jerusalem for the Magi’s return. When does he realize he has been tricked? It is not hard to depict the enraged and paranoid king ranting and raving, plotting his revenge.

And here the story takes a horrible and tragic turn, the one scene we would rather not picture. Can anything be more horrific than imagining soldiers hurtling through the streets of Bethlehem, ripping baby boys from their mothers’ arms and putting them to the sword? This offends our sensibilities, and we weep inwardly with the mothers. The slaughter of the children is the one part of the Christmas story we wish we could skip over. The innocent should not have to die.

But again, we have the advantage of knowing the story’s ending from God’s perspective. We know how the final scene in this drama will play out. Many died here so that Jesus could live. The irony is that years later, Jesus will die so that many could live.

Amy Dueckman, a former staff writer for Mennonite Weekly Review, works for Canadian Mennonite and Mennonite Central Committee British Columbia and is a member of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C.