They knew their stars, these wise men, magi of scripture and legend, kings or astronomers from east of Judea (how far east? everything’s relative…). They knew when they observed a new star in the night sky, and they knew how to interpret what they saw. According to their system, this one indicated a new king, a king for the Jewish people – and this discernment was enough to induce them to leave home, undertake a lengthy journey of uncertain destination, and find this new monarch, to pay their respects.
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
Their predictions got them to the right country, if not the precise location where this new king could be found. And so, logically, they began their search in Jerusalem and the court of the current king, Herod. Bad idea – but that’s how great stories come about. (More on that later in the week…).
Today, let’s rest with these wise travelers. I am touched by their priorities, by their attention to the movement of the heavens, by their conviction that they’d read the stars correctly, by their willingness to put aside their daily lives and duties to travel to a foreign land and pay homage to a monarch they’d only learned about through astrological charts and observation. We can find in them models of faith and action.
Is there a star you are chasing? Another way to ask that is,
Have you discerned a movement of God in your life or in the world around you?
Has it included a call to action for you? Have you explored this with wise people in your life?
Have you been able to act on your conviction and discernment?
Have you been part of someone else’s discernment, been a “wise one” for another?
What divine action do you sense around you at this point in your life, as we approach the cusp of a new year? This is often a time when we pay special attention to new movements in the greater arc of our lives, as the magi scanned the heavens for changes in the stars.
We have an advantage over those eastern sages – we already know the king they were seeking, or at the very least, we’ve been introduced. We don’t need to scan the heavens – we need only seek the light of Christ in and around us, and move toward that. That Star will give us all the direction we need.
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