Searching for Christ, the Saviour
The Epiphany of the Lord A
Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 71: 1-2. 7-8. 10-13 Rv. 11 Ephesians 3: 2-3. 5-6.
Above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory appears
He shall save the poor when they cry and the needy who are helpless.
The pagans now share the same inheritance in Christ Jesus.
We saw his star as it arose and have come to do him homage.
The Gospel
Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east
2 asking, 'Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.'
3 When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.
4 He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.'
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared
8 and sent them on to Bethlehem with the words, 'Go and find out all about the child, and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.'
9 Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the child was.
11 and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12 But they were given a warning in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.
Search and you will find.
When the Israelites had come out of Egypt and were advancing towards Canaan taking everything in their way, Balek the king of Moab called Balaam to curse them. Balaam was a man of God but he made a mistake and God stood in his way. It is the famous story of the talking donkey in the book of Numbers chapter 24. Balaam was not able to curse Israel rather he blessed them. “I see a figure but not really. I behold him but not near. A star shall come forth from Jacob. He rises with a staff in his hand”. Now the star has risen and it stands over Jesus attracting people from all over the world. The wise men are wise because they follow the star who is Jesus. They too made mistakes but God lead them to the star of Jacob, to Jesus the Lord.
Those who should have been interested were not. Herod, the chief priests and the whole of Jerusalem were on the contrary disturbed and Herod planned to eliminate him. It was these foreigners from the east who were overjoyed to find their way to Jesus. The first shall be last and the last first. The story of the magi reflects the history of the early church. Jewry had excommunicated the Christians but the gentiles were flocking to Jesus and being baptized - “and going in they fell to their knees and did him homage”.
In this story where are you? Are you among the chief priests who should have been anxious to welcome ‘the infant king of the Jews’ but were not interested or do you join the magi in searching for Jesus?
We have to live the Gospel and not just read it. We have to have the same experience as the wise men. The Gospel needs to come alive in our lives. We need to make the search for Jesus the task of our life and we need to find Jesus at any cost. We need not cross a desert or make a difficult journey. He is not far from any of us. But we need to make a great effort. Nothing is achieved in this life without effort. Daily we must search for him in the readings of the Church and in our prayer. Reaching Jesus is a long journey and we have to keep at it every day. But if we persevere in daily prayer and the readings of the Bible prescribed by the Church we will come to experience Jesus just as the wise men did. We too will rejoice in him and we too will leave the old path in life and become a new creation.
Father, lead us through your Spirit to the feet of Jesus to offer him our lives as a gift of homage
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