The Magi: Bearing our Gifts

As St. Paul so beautifully says in his letter to the Ephesians, “. . . we are coheirs and co-partners in the promise of Christ Jesus.”  That promise is none other than our eternal salvation.  This promise of eternal life is seen when the three wise men (the magi) come to Jesus and “offer Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” 

Jesus is first praised by the people who are the apple of His eye – the people of Israel as it was the shepherds, farm hands, and stable boys who first give him honor after they hear the message of the angel.  Afterwards, and we don’t know exactly how far afterwards, come the three kings from the East (representing the Gentiles) offering gifts to the Christ child.  So it is the entire world who gives honor and praise to Jesus, and the promise of being coheirs and co-partners with Christ can be found in the meaning of the magi and especially in the gifts that they give.

The magi themselves are believed to be from a priestly class of a Gentile religion called Zoroastrianism, they were a group of priests who were basically astronomers and philosophers from the East and possibly Far East.  They were probably also of royalty, kings themselves or at least from families of prominence.  More importantly for our purposes is that these kings-magi were not Jewish and that they were also included in the promise of Christ.

Can you imagine just for a moment what would have been going through the minds of Joseph and Mary when these three Easterners – kings bowing down before their baby boy?  It must have been something special, and the gifts would have been very special; something Joseph and Mary would not have been lost on.

The gift of gold is given to a King, representing His Kingship.  The gift of frankincense is given to a God or priest for sacrificial offerings.  Finally the gift of myrrh is given for burial.  These gifts would have brought great joy to Mary and Joseph as well as wonder and even some concern especially the gift of myrrh which again is for burial.

Two amazing things are happening here, one is in the gifts presented to Christ, but also that Christ would give us a share in these gifts – the promise of being coheirs and co-partners with Him in everything.

This is why the Church takes so seriously the sacrament of baptism, in which we also become priests, prophets, and kings.  I know I have spoken to you about this before but it is imperative to understand it.  The gifts given to Jesus are also given to all of us to share in.  All of us are part of the Epiphany. 

All of us are priests (the royal priesthood) because just as Jesus we must offer sacrifice every day, the sacrifice of our very selves.  We must become one with Jesus in every way, offering and joining ourselves to the Cross, because it is there in which the ultimate act of love is both seen and lived.  People seek the Gospel, they are always looking for Truth, for salvation, when they see us they must see Jesus’ partners, they must see Jesus Himself otherwise the words we preach have no meaning.

We also are given gold, for we too are royalty; think how precious we are to God.  We are so precious to Him that He would take up the cross of the world and carry it for us and even be crucified on it, all for us.

And finally, the gift of myrrh.  It symbolizes burial, death in fact.  Something that is hard for all of us.  All of us must face death.  We do everything in the world to cover it up.  When we go to a funeral viewing we make the person look alive.  We don’t like to face it, but death comes for us all.  Death serves two purposes, one it gives us relief from this life.  Everybody wants to live here and to live here forever.  St. Augustine tells us that death is a way out for us from this life of toil.  Everything we do it is never fully perfect, there is always something lacking, and we must work the daily grind of life with all the sufferings that come with it.  Sure, we are happy as well, and there are great moments of joy in this life, but we never truly reach perfect happiness, its part of our original sin.  And after a while it takes its toll on us, but God being good gives us a way out, through death.  More importantly is that we share Christ’s death with our own, that everything we do is always connected to His Cross but also His resurrection.

The Epiphany was meant to be an eye opener, not just for Mary and Joseph, but for the whole world.  It’s not just a nice cute scene with Three Kings bringing Christmas presents, no indeed; in its essence it is about intimacy with Christ, an intimacy in which we share His Kingship, His Priesthood, and even His death.  We belong to Jesus, we are His coheirs, and we are His co-partners.  Amen.