Wednesday, January 7, 2004

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage. Matthew 2:1

The great English poet, T.S. Eliot, in the same year as his conversion to the Anglican faith, wrote a narrative in verse titled "The Journey of the Magi." The poem's narrator, one of the Magi, is reflecting on his pilgrimage to the place of the holy birth. He remembers the harshness of the trip, the loss of the comforts of home, and the strange spiritual experiences.

The narrator concludes that even though his hard pilgrimage had ended, a new journey ­ one of even harsher spiritual change ­ was just beginning for him.

In the Bible this theme of journeying in the Bible is an important one. The Hebrews journeyed from captivity in Egypt into the Promised Land; Jonah journeyed on a boat to avoid Nineveh; and in today's reading, the Magi journey to find Jesus.

Unlike the birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke, which gives the great pastoral images of the shepherds and their flocks at Jesus' birth, Matthew focuses on the lives of journeying men.

We are told that they came from a long way away - from the "East," perhaps Arabia, Persia, or Babylon. After paying the boy child homage and offering him gifts, they depart from Bethlehem, going a different way than they had come.

It is likely that the Magi traveled tens or hundreds of miles and overcame many obstacles to see baby Jesus. Seeing their perseverance and determination begs the questions, "how far would we go to find Jesus?" "What are we willing to overcome to find him?"

I think that when we do go to extremes to find Jesus, we will see that, like the Magi in T.S. Eliot's poem, finding Christ is the beginning of our search, not its ending. We, like him, are new people when we find Jesus ­ hard though that may be for us. And after our encounter with him we can never walk the old familiar roads again.

PRAYER: Help us, O God, to be a seeking people. Charge us to encounter and reencounter Christ in our lives, particularly in this Christmas season. Guide us on this journey and help us seek new ways of living. Amen.

Amanda Stein

All contents copyright 2003 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.