One of the most important pieces of the story is that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the town where David was anointed by the prophet Samuel as king. Thus the Micah prophecy is fulfilled. Again, Jesus fulfills the prophecies, the hopes and dreams of every heart. But Jesus is king from his birth; David must wait and wait for God's proper timing for his anointing.
Throughout Jesus' lifetime there is a dual motif of acceptance/worship and rejection/persecution. Even as an infant, he is not universally loved. There is something comforting about this. If even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is disliked by some, can we really expect anything different?
Interestingly, it is the priests and Sanhedrin who correctly quote Scripture, that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem and will shepherd Israel. They know the Bible backwards and forwards. But they miss out on the miracle of Christmas, while the pagans meet the infant Son of God! How tragic! Why? They aren't paying attention. Following God is about way more than just knowing the right answers, reading your Bible and listening to the sermons. It's also about keeping your eyes open to see what God is doing. Christmas asks that we have a real, living faith that is sensitive to God's actions in the world. We have to keep our eyes peeled and our ears on alert, or we just might miss out on Christmas like the priests did. Christmas, Immanuel, comes every day if we are looking.
Furthermore, "You shall shepherd my people Israel," God says of the coming Messiah. Originally, God spoke these words to King David upon his crowning. Matthew says these words are rightly to be applied to Jesus. Thus, Jesus is the only true Shepherd and King. Herod is not the king; the priests are not the shepherd. Christmas demands, then, that we ask ourselves, like the magi did, who the kings of our lives are and dethrone them, prostrating ourselves instead before the Son of God. For American Christians, the "king" is probably not our government, unless we are putting our faith in the government, which unfortunately a minority of Americans do. Instead, our false kings could be career, money, even family. For me sometimes it's good grades or ambition. Similarly, our true Shepherd is Jesus Christ. God does call some people to be pastors, shepherds over the church. But that's always shepherd with a small "s." We can't put our trust in pastors. And pastors can't trust themselves as the ultimate shepherd, because only Jesus can really care for people's souls, and care of the soul ultimately means connecting people to the Great Shepherd. This, too, is a lesson of Christmas.
There is a lot of OT background in the story of the magi. There's a passage in Isaiah 59 that says, "Be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen (like the star in Matthew is said to have risen) upon you... The wealth of the nations will come to you, all those from Sheba will come bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the salvation of our Lord." God's promise is faithful. Ultimately, as the magi come to Jesus, as Jesus' advent ultimately incorporates the Gentiles more thoroughly into the people of God than ever before, Israel is ultimately edified. When "outsiders" worship Jesus, the "insiders" gain wealth, the "insiders" hear the word of God's salvation. The church has to remember that. We are no longer the Gentiles. Every person who we don't think belongs in church is a Gentile, and when they worship Jesus we experience salvation in new ways. I pray that the church today just won't be like the priests in the story of the magi and miss out on it all.
But we are not just the Jews in this story. We are also the kings, especially the rich American church. Although my bank account has lately seemed like a leaky faucet, I am ridiculously wealthy and privileged by global standards. I'm a twenty year old female without a bunch of babies. I'm going to graduate from college. I don't go to bed hungry, except when I'm so busy I forget to make it to the dining hall. I must humble myself before the boy-king. I have to admit that my money, good luck, and brains are really nothing compared to the glory of the Son of God. I have to bring the best that I have for him and know that it's nothing, nothing, next to what he did for me the first Christmas, at Cavalry, and every day of my life.
Similarly, the word "homage" which Matthew uses hearkens back to the royal Psalm 72:10-11, "May the kings of Sheba and Saba bring gifts; may all the kings pay him homage." But the point is that the kings of the earth worship Jesus, and so Jesus is the realest, truest king. There is so much in this story! So much. I guess I'll keep singing, "We Three Kings," while praying that I and the church worship Jesus as King.
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