Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, December 30, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
In the midst of celebrating the human person of Jesus, the Magi give us a stark reminder that Jesus was, in fact, God. He was foretold in their astrologer prophecies, down to the time and place of his birth. And when the magi came, their gifts were representative of the future Jesus would experience: gold for a king, frankincense for a deity, and myrrh for embalming the body of the dead—Jesus crucified.
What must Mary and Joseph have thought when these strangers from a far country showed up with such extravagant gifts for their toddler? I’m certain they were already aware of his divine nature, considering the events surrounding his birth. But these magi weren’t even Jews! If Jesus was to be the messiah for the Jewish people, where were these Gentiles coming from to worship him? It was a sign that Jesus was way more than anyone could have expected and was for way more than just one single community of people.
We would do well to find ways to relate to the magi in our own lives—to see Jesus for who he was (fully human but also fully divine) and to recognize that he doesn’t belong to any one denomination or sect or ethnic group or geographical community. Jesus reigns over all the world, claiming each and every human being and all of creation in boundless love.
Do I sometimes feel like I “own” Jesus in some way more than another person? Why or why not?
