THE magi, central figures of the Christmas and Epiphany story, are celebrated in different ways at different times among the diverse Christian traditions which comprise God’s Church in Palestine and around the world. The Gospel account does not tell us how many they were or where they came from, notwithstanding later Christian traditions that have numbered them as three, given them the names Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, and associated them with the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Matthew does not identify the magi as kings, a tradition first attested in writings of the second century. Nor are we told where they went after their visit to Jesus in Bethlehem, other than presumably returning to their homes by a different route (Matthew 2.12). We are not told where this was, or how their visit to Jesus affected the rest of their lives.
The mystery that surrounds the magi invites us to reflect on ways in which our encounter with Christ affects us. Irrespective of where we have come from — our place of residence, our language and cultural background, our citizenship, our social status, our education, our experience in life — we are confronted with a vulnerable and defenceless infant who is at once like us and at the same time in every way different. Do we simply “go home” and continue our lives as before? Or does our encounter with Jesus mark a significant stage, a turning point, in a journey which continues in different and unexpected directions through the rest of our lives?
WHETHER we undertake a physical or spiritual journey to Bethlehem, by whatever means and following whatever route, where do we go from there? Returning to our homes, families, and work does not mean continuing our lives as before, if we have been changed by our encounter with Jesus. We may not have the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to offer, but God has given us other gifts — not necessarily to leave behind in Bethlehem (though that, too), but to use in God’s service wherever our Christian pilgrimage may take us.
Bethlehem — like Jerusalem or Nazareth, or even Medjugorje, Guadaloupe, Lourdes, Compostela or Walsingham, Lindisfarne, Iona, Whithorn or Knock — may be a significant pilgrimage destination, a place where God has been revealed and experienced in particular ways. But the journey does not end there. The return journey may retrace the physical steps of the outward journey, but it is not the same. It is not, or should not be, simply that journey in reverse, but in an important sense an onward journey, to a further destination.
As Christians, our ultimate destination is God. Pilgrimage is an opportunity to experience God in new ways, not only by visiting significant places, but through encountering other people while doing so — and being changed through that experience so that, as our lives continue, not only are we enriched, but we are able to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Christ in renewed ways.
RACHEL died before reaching the end of her earthly journey, giving birth to Benjamin, the ancestor of Saul, the first king of Israel, and of Saul who became the apostle Paul. Jacob’s journey continued, and with it God’s purposes. Within the purposes of God, Rachel’s descendant Saul became king, but he turned from God and his reign ended ignominiously in defeat and death on the battlefield. God’s purposes continued with others.
The other Saul was a zealous student of the Torah, God’s law contained in scripture, and he sought its fulfilment in his own day. In doing so, he came to persecute the Christian Church — until he encountered God in unexpected ways while on a journey to Damascus. Saul repented, received baptism, and continued his journey not as an opponent and persecutor, but as an apostle of Christ and his gospel.
His journey continued to many places, where he proclaimed the gospel and established churches, at considerable cost to himself, until Paul glorified God in his death as he had glorified God in his life of arduous work, frequent travel, and intermittent suffering for the gospel of Christ.
RUTH’s journey brought her to Bethlehem, where she became part of another family, another nation, an ancestor of David and, ultimately, of Jesus. She did not return to Moab and all that her background represented. God’s purposes were fulfilled in her remaining in the place to which she came.
Over the centuries, others have come to Bethlehem and stayed: some, pilgrims who have formed communities around the place of Christ’s birth; some, refugees who have lost their homes and livelihoods and sought shelter where it might be found, struggling to keep alive the hope that one day they will be able to return to the homes from which they were driven, and, meanwhile, living in the shadow of the shrine that marks the birth of one who left Bethlehem a refugee.
DAVID left Bethlehem to become a soldier, a warlord, and ultimately King of Judah and Israel. His journey brought him hardship and peril before he attained power and wealth. It was precisely when he was secure on the throne that he lost sight of his dependence on God, his regime became exploitative and repressive, and David’s sin brought calamity not only on himself, but on the people of Israel as a whole.
The security derived from earthly power and wealth can be beguiling, corrupting, and ultimately destructive. Discipleship is costly and frequently brings suffering and danger, when we need to know our dependence on God, and learn to rely on God rather than our own resources. David was called to repentance by the prophets sent by God. We need to be willing both to heed the words spoken to us in God’s name, and also to be willing ourselves to speak the truth in the name of God, challenging those in power, and seeking God’s justice in the world.
ELIJAH passed through Bethlehem as a refugee, seeking food, rest, and shelter, before continuing his flight into the wilderness of Sinai. There, he met God, but, instead of enjoying peace in the divine presence, he was sent back, to stir up revolutions. His mission as God’s prophet would not end until he had prepared the way for Elisha to continue his work. Only then would he be released, but the finality or otherwise of his departure remains an enigma, still felt keenly by observant Jews and resolved for Christians in Jesus’s identification of John the Baptist as Elijah, who was to come (Matthew 11.14).
Jesus left Bethlehem a child refugee, in peril of his life. The throne he attained was the cross, and thorns were his crown. The costly path of suffering, which he experienced as an infant, and consciously followed from his baptism in the Jordan until his crucifixion, brought about God’s triumph over evil and death.
While God’s victory is assured, we are, none the less, called to continue after the example of Christ, playing our part in the completion of his saving work in the world, and accepting our share in the suffering that this entails (Colossians 1.24). As we renew our commitment to Christ at Epiphany, a question we need to ask ourselves is: where does our pilgrimage — our discipleship of Christ — take us? Where do we go, and what is God calling us to do?
This is an edited extract from Advent in Bethlehem: Reflections on scripture and Bethlehem today by Nicholas Taylor, published by Sacristy Press at £12.99 (Church Times Bookshop £11.69); 978-1-78959-401-0.