More Men… At “Christmas”

SUN., DEC. 19, 1993, 6:40 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yes, o son, you do have time for a Teaching on this dark December morning. It shall be a continuation of the “story” commenced yesterday… various men in the events that constitute the “Christmas story.”

As you reread the story you noted the angel, Gabriel by name, who came both to Elizabeth and to Mary… oh, and to Zacharias, John’s father. In your culture you tend to assume that angels are female… perhaps as a way of including girls in enactments of the Christmas scene (for they certainly couldn’t be wisemen or shepherds… only Mary). Actually there is no sexuality in the angel realms, but if an angel has the rare opportunity of appearing to a human they do so in some recognizable form, as male or female, in appearance.

But the “original” angel in this story is identified as Gabriel, a male name, certainly. He brought the “news” that two boys would be born, different in life style, but to be related in one particularly important way. The Scriptures don’t tell us whether John and Jesus, both named before birth, even conception, by Gabriel, played together as boys… or whether they had any ideas, in childhood and youth, about what their earthly roles would be. Surely Mary and Elizabeth told them, and Joseph and Zacharias too, of Gabriel’s visits, telling of their destinies.

The magi or wise men were obviously men. They came from the “East,” following a star, which makes a wonderful story if you aren’t concerned about details. Symbolically the wise men offer a “balance,” in the story, to the shepherds. Those who tended the sheep were in that area and were simple, peasant folk. The wise men came from afar and were learned and rich. Jesus was to be the Messiah for everyone, Jews and gentiles as well as from all strata of culture.

These magi had been told (was it by Gabriel again?) to follow a moving star, leading them to a new king. The story assumes that it was clear to them that the star came to “rest” over the stable where the holy family was. It also must have been true that there was some aura around this Jewish baby that urged them to give the expensive gifts that they had brought. They were impressed enough, anyway, so that they did not report back to Herod, the present king, whose jealous motives must have been evident to them. They came from “somewhere,” added majesty and intrigue to the story, gave their gifts, worshipped, and “went back home.” What story do you suppose they told of this long adventure?

Then there was Herod, the king who heard the rumor about a new king being born… and then about magi coming to see him. Again, the story is improbable, for if he knew that this suspected king was born in Bethlehem he certainly had troops that could have found the stable directly. But that would have diminished the story. Instead he talked with and commissioned the wise men to find this babe and then return to tell him about their visit. Herod was called a king, but he was not one in the style of David and Solomon. He was more like some of the other kings of Israel, who had to be constantly aware of those who would kill or otherwise depose them. He knew of the Jewish belief that the Lord God would send a Messiah, who would depose him and lead the Jewish people into affluent independence. So any rumor that this was presently happening was a serious one.

Yet a king could not act “scared,” so he used these magi as his respectable agents. Yet their brief encounter with this family gave them warning, and they did not return to Herod. This, of course, fed Herod’s paranoia, and the one Gospel story tells of him sending troops to kill all boy babies, to insure that no rival would step forth from Bethlehem. This story ends with Joseph responding to the angel in his dream and whisking Mary and Jesus off to Egypt.