Adoration of the Magi
The Holy Family returned to Bethlehem. In the ears of Mary and of Joseph echoed the words of old Simeon. To memory
the texts of some prophets who, speaking of the Messiah, his Son, they claim that he would not only be King of Israel, but would receive the homage of all the peoples of the earth.
Isaiah had announced it with particular eloquence: The nations will walk to your light, the kings, to the brightness of your dawn. Raise your eyes and look around: they all congregate, they come to you (...). A multitude of camels will cover you, dromedaries of Madián and Efá, all will come from Sabá loaded with gold and incense, and proclaiming the praises
of the Lord (Is 60, 3-6).
Meanwhile, time passed in the most absolute normality. Nothing presaged any unusual event. Until one day something extraordinary happened.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the time of King Herod, Magi arrived from the East to Jerusalem, asking: Where is the King of the Jews born? Because we saw its star in the East and we have come to worship him (Mt 2, 1-2). Saint Matthew notes that, upon hearing that question, King Herod became restless, and with him all Jerusalem (Mt 2, 3).
We know very little about these characters. In any case, the Gospel text offers some certainty: it was about travelers coming from the East, where they had discovered a star of extraordinary brightness, which moved them to leave theirmhomes and march in search of the King of the Jews. Everything else - your number, your country of origin, the nature of the heavenly light, the path they followed- no It goes from being conjecture, more or less well founded.
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Western tradition speaks of three characters, to whom it even gives a name -Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar-, while other Christian traditions they raise their number to seven and even twelve. The fact that they came from,The East points to the distant regions beyond Jordan: the Syrian desert, Mesopotamia, Persia. In favor of Persian origin militates a historically proven episode. When, at the beginning of the 7th century, the Persian king Cosroes II invaded Palestine, destroyed the basilicas that Christian piety had built in memory of the Savior, except one: the Basilica of the Nativity, in Bethlehem. And this for a simple reason: in his entry was the representation of some characters dressed in Persian attire, in an attitude of paying tribute to Jesus in the arms of his Mother.
The word magicians, with whom the Gospel designates them, has nothing to do with what is understood today.
by that name. They were not people given to magic, but cultured men, most likely belonging to a caste of scholars of the celestial phenomena, disciples of Zoroaster, already known by numerous authors of classical Greece. On the other hand, it is a proven fact that Israel's messianic expectation was known in the eastern regions of the Roman Empire, and even in Rome itself. No wonder, then, that some wise men belonging to the caste of the magicians, upon discovering a star of extraordinary brightness, would have interpreted it - illuminated inwardly by God - as a sign of the birth of the expected King of the Jews.
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Although popular piety almost immediately links the birth of Jesus with the arrival of the Magi to Palestine, the time at which it took place is not known precisely; We do know that Herod, feeling threatened, was carefully informed by them of the time the star had appeared (Mt 2, 7). Then he asked the doctors of the Law about the birthplace of the Messiah, and the scribes responded by quoting the prophet Micah: you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are certainly not the least among the main cities of Judah; For from you will come a chief who will feed my people Israel (Mt 2, 6). Using a hoax, Herod He put the Magi on the road to Bethlehem: go and inform yourself well about the child; and when you find it, let me know for may I also worship him (Mt 2, 8). Its purpose was very diverse, as it was intended to kill all
Men born in the city and its region, under two years of age, to ensure the death of those who - according to his short understanding - he came to dispute the throne. From these data it follows that the arrival of the Magi had place some time after the birth of Jesus; Maybe a year or a year and a half.
After receiving that information, the Wizards hurried to Bethlehem, full of joy to see the reappearance of the star, who had mysteriously disappeared in Jerusalem. This same fact advocates the assumption of that the star that guided them was not a natural phenomenon - a comet, a sidereal conjunction, etc., as it has been tried many times to prove - but a supernatural sign given by God to those chosen men, and only to them.
As soon as he left Jerusalem - continues St. Matthew - the star they had seen in the East was placed in front of them, even standing on the place where the Child was. And, entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary, his Mother; and bowing down they worshiped him. Then they opened their chests and offered him presents: gold, incense and myrrh (Mt 2, 9-11).
The hearts of Mary and Joseph must have been filled with joy and gratitude. I enjoy because the prophetic announcements about Jesus began to be fulfilled; gratitude because the presents of those generous men - predators in the faith of Christians coming from gentleness - possibly contributed to alleviating a precarious economic situation. José and María could not correspond to their generosity. They, however, they were considered sufficiently rewarded by the look and smile of Jesus, who illuminated his souls, and for the sweet words of thanks from his Mother, Mary.