The Feast of the Epiphany reminds us of the power of the subtlety of God. We don’t often use the terms subtlety and power in the same sentence, but then again, when speaking of God, we must get used to dealing with paradoxes.
Something as simple as a star – another light in the midst of the many lights of the night sky – attracted the attention of the magi a great distance from the small village of Bethlehem. The magi were stargazers. They were likely schooled in the ancient Babylonian religion of Zoroastrianism which is connected to the modern astrology. They studied the signs in the sky: the movement of the stars and planets, the phases of the moon, the appearances of comets and meteorological showers, and the cycle of solar and lunar eclipses.
What exactly it was that appeared and how it appeared in the sky, of course, we do not know. We also do not really know how they discerned a connection between the appearance of that star and the Jewish kingdom. But whatever it was, they assembled their retinue, purchased their gifts for the new king, and set out on a long and difficult journey from the East to Jerusalem.
Why, one might ask, did the Jewish stargazers not see the same star and seek out their newborn king. Certainly this star would have been brightest over Bethlehem and should have quite a stir among the people there and even more so in Jerusalem, a mere five miles away.
Yet they did not. It is with some irony that God would choose to make an announcement of the Birth of the messiah through the appearance of a new star. It is generally understood that the Israelites were forbidden to practice various forms of divination which would have included consulting the sky for signs and omens. As astrology was a pagan tradition, the Jews would not have engaged in such a practice. Any new phenomenon seen in the night sky would be a curiosity to be sure, but it would not have been seen as a sign from God. While the “heavens proclaim the glory of God” the movements of the celestial objects did not provide meaning to the Jews.
What we can see, then, is that the revelation through the star was meant to be a sign to the Gentiles and not to the Jewish community. The Jews had their Scriptures, and King Herod consulted with the experts of the Law to learn of the teaching of the Birth of the Messiah. Yet, the priests and legal scholars did not follow the Magi to Bethlehem, nor did they completely understand the Scriptures that they consulted. It was only the outsiders who understood that God had acted in their time and their place.
The message here is not that we ought to consult astrology or any other form of divination. Rather, the message is that the universal nature of God’s promise to Israel. From the beginning God intends the salvation of all people.
The Magi consulted the heavens because they were seeking to understand the God of the universe. They had their traditions, their charts for understanding and interpreting, yet they were open to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the God who governs the heavens.
So it must be with us. As we draw attention to the Feast of the Epiphany we recognize that God is manifest among us. We know that many are in search even while others seem to have abandoned the search. Let us allow the God who makes himself known to us in many ways continue to speak to us who seek him, and let us pray that those who seek by looking for signs and wonders, will turn their eyes to the gift of revelation in the Scriptures and discover the God who governs all things.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.