Christmas is also the story of a journey, a mission, magi on the move. A Church going forth, following the light and adoring the Truth.
The account of the scene in which the Magi – tradition has elevated them to kings – prostrate themselves to adore the Child Jesus is a fundamental biblical event. It undoubtedly reconciles us with the idea of being on a journey and with the path taken by so many who left home in search of a better life. It is not so much that the three magi make visible the phenomenon of immigration, but rather that, with their transit, they reveal that the physical journey is accompanied by an inner journey.
Because every journey has a beginning, a motivation. In the case of the Magi, they saw a star. In the biblical passage narrated in Matthew 2:1-12, it is precisely the discovery of the star that tells them that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah. And so they set out on their journey. Throughout the story we see that the star goes ahead of them, until it stops just where the Child God is.
That star becomes a source of light, the radiance of faith, to push and guide the path of those three seekers, who had left everything behind when they discovered the light. The commentaries on this text reveal to us that the magi were probably astronomers, so that their concrete knowledge allowed them to discover a special brightness in that star. They left their home and set off, because they understood that what they had discovered was worth leaving everything behind.
Therefore, the passage of the magi is the story of a vocation. As it happened in the Old Testament with Abraham, the voice of the Lord acts as a light that urges you to leave your land, your comfort zone, to activate you in the search for and building of the Kingdom. The three magi are the perfect example of pilgrims to whom no force or obstacle prevents them from completing their mission. They are the image, today, of science oriented towards faith.
Because the ultimate goal of our three magi is to worship God. To do so, they have abandoned their occupations. That is why, when the star stops over the portal, their journey takes on its full meaning. Then the climactic scene takes place, grandly portrayed by the masters of painting: those magi kneeling, prostrate in adoration before the Child God. And at that moment, the passage reveals that they felt great joy.
Because true joy is uncontainable. There is no virus more contagious than that of true joy, which is transmitted to those close to you. Jesus is the true reason for human joy and happiness. Before his majesty, every knee bends. And so it is with science and power, which bow in recognition of their power before Truth, a truth in swaddling clothes that denotes the tremendous significance of a helpless Child.
When one experiences this transforming joy, one feels the irrepressible desire to give oneself fully to this source of joy. That is why the magi went down in history offering gold, frankincense and myrrh, which in a way summarize all the gifts of the world. Because, although the best gift for Jesus is to let him dwell in our hearts, the Magi’s chests carried courage, sacrifice and life itself, which, thus given, represent humanity itself.
The dialogue of the magi with King Herod is very curious. We know that he had no desire to worship the Child, but he was afraid, he feared that the king of the Jews would take his crown. This teaching is key to the story. He who has God fears nothing, because God is everything. But Herod was small and felt fragile.
“And they returned to their own land by another way”. These words are the culmination of the biblical account, so often reread and interpreted. The text warns us that they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod. The wise men, prudent, ignored the king’s instructions and, in fact, returned by another way. Because that is what happens when we have a life-changing experience. It is no longer possible to return the same way. We have to descend Mount Tabor, yes, but the descent, the return, is different from the way we came.
What do Balthasar, Gaspar and Melchior reveal to the men and women of the 21st century, in the age of information and the multiverse, in the years of artificial intelligence? Well, the tradition of the magi reconciles us with the nakedness of authentic life, of that journey full of obstacles that is life, given to the extreme. What is the gift I have to offer the Child today?