The Magi- Questions Answered by the Saints
The Magi
Questions Answered by the Saints
Who were the Magi? Why did the star appear to them? How did they surpass the Jews? Was the star an ordinary star? Or was it a heavenly power in the form of a star? What are the symbols carried by the story of the Magi, and what is its relation to the Gentiles and the Jews?
Saint John Chrysostom answers, saying: We are in great need, my brethren, of long vigilance and many prayers in order to answer these questions and to know who these Magi were, and from where they came, and how their coming was, and what the star was. Let us begin first by speaking about the star.
For Satan inspired the enemies of the truth to say, “Behold, when Christ was born His star appeared: is this not a sign that astrology is true?
If He was born in this way, why then did He abolish astrology, horoscopes, and magic, and silence the demons?”
Let us therefore examine what that star was: was it one of the many stars? Or was it foreign to them, of a different nature? Or did the beholder merely think it was a star? If we know the answer to these questions, we will know the other matters more easily.
This star was not one of the many stars. Rather, it is more fitting to say—according to my opinion—that it was not a star at all. It was a power from the invisible powers that took on this appearance.
The proofs of this are clear:
First: from its movement. For there is no star that can move in that manner. If you consider the other stars, you will find that their movement is from west to east. But this star moved from north to south, for such is the direction from Persia to Palestine.
Second: regarding the time of its appearance. For it did not appear at night, but during the day when the sun had risen. This is not the appearance of a star’s power, nor of the moon, nor of any of those heavenly bodies which hide and disappear when the sun’s rays appear. But this star, by the excess of its brightness, overcame the rays of the sun and was more clearly visible and more radiant than they.
Third: this truth is also clear from the fact that it appeared at one time and was hidden at another.
For it appeared to guide them to the road to Palestine. When they arrived in Jerusalem, it hid itself. And when they left Herod after questioning him and resolved to go to Bethlehem, the star appeared to them again. This appearing and disappearing is not the motion of an ordinary star, but of a power more perfect than the others.
For it did not move in a fixed path. Rather, when it was necessary for them to travel, it moved; and when they needed to stop, it stopped, directing all the conditions of their journey in a way suitable to them. It was like the pillar of cloud in leading the army of the Jews. When they entered Jerusalem, the star was hidden from them, so that when they lost their guide, they were compelled to ask the Jews, and thus the matter became known and public to all. Thus the appearing and disappearing carried a certain divine dispensation with its own wisdom.
Fourth: by its descent downward. Whoever contemplates must clearly perceive another characteristic of it in guiding them. For it would not have been possible for it to guide them while remaining on high. Rather, by descending lower, it accomplished this. For while on high it could not have indicated a narrow place such as a hut where a small child lay. This example may be understood from the moon—which is greater than many stars—how it appears to all who dwell in the vast world, and each one thinks it is near to him.
Tell me then, how did the star show them a small place such as a hut and a manger, unless it left that lofty place and descended until it stood over the head of the Child? This is what the Evangelist indicated, saying, “And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was” (Matthew 2:9).
When the star recognized the Child, it stood still; and its standing there, having descended, was a great testimony. It had a strong effect on the Magi and led them to worship the Child. They did not worship Him as an ordinary man. This is clear from the gifts they offered Him, which are not suitable for a small Child wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Do you see by what proofs it has become clear that this star was not one of the ordinary stars?
Why did this star appear?
If you ask why this star appeared, I answer that its appearance symbolizes the removal of the Jews’ chosenness, taking away from them every excuse for their pride, and calling the whole world to worship Him.
Thus, from the beginning of the Lord’s coming, He opened the door to the Gentiles, intending to discipline His own through strangers.
For although He had sent to them many prophets explaining to them the description of His coming, yet they did not listen to them. Therefore He caused the foreigners (the Persians) to come from a distant land seeking to see Him. Let the Jews learn from the words of the Persians what they refused to know from their prophets. And if after this they persist and argue, they are deprived of every excuse and justification.
For what can they say, they who refused to accept Christ despite the prophets sent to them, while these Magi accepted the Lord and worshiped Him merely by seeing one star?
And just as the Lord rebuked them by the acceptance of the Magi, He also rebuked them by the faith of the Gentile Ninevites.
Therefore He said to them that the men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here (Matthew 12:41). Likewise He rebuked them by the Samaritan woman, the Canaanite woman, and the Queen of the South. For all those believed with less evidence, while these did not believe even with greater! …
Why were the Magi drawn in this way?
Perhaps someone may ask: Why were the Magi drawn by means of a star? We answer that people like them would not have listened to a prophet if one had been sent to them. Nor would it have been fitting for them to be addressed by a voice from above or by the sending of an angel. Therefore He called them by the means to which they were accustomed, condescending greatly to their weakness, and showed them an extraordinary star to amaze them by its appearance and to lead them by its movement.
This is the method followed by the Apostle Paul, who cited testimony from the poets (Acts 17:28) and addressed each person in the manner he was accustomed to (1 Corinthians 9:19–22). God also first used with the Jews the ordinances of sacrifices and purifications and the rest of those rites and ceremonies, because of the dullness of their minds. Then He changed them, drawing them little by little until they reached higher philosophy. This work He also did with the Magi. He permitted Himself to call them by a star they saw, in order to make them more discerning and understanding than they were. And when He had led them to the manger and they saw the newborn Child and became spiritually better than before, He did not send them back to their country by means of a star, but warned them in a dream (Matthew 2:12).
Why did it appear to these Magi and not to others?
Someone may ask: From where did they have such great zeal? Who stirred them to undertake that long journey from their land? According to my opinion, what the Magi did was not merely obedience to the star, but to God who stirred their souls, just as the Lord did with King Cyrus when He moved him to build the house of the Lord (Ezra 1:2).
But it may be said: Why was this revelation not made to all the Magi?
We answer: Because it was not expected that all would believe. It was revealed to those who were more prepared than the others to accept it. Many nations perished, and Jonah the prophet was sent only to the people of Nineveh.
There were two thieves crucified, and only one of them was saved …
How marvelous is the matter of these Magi who came from distant lands to see Christ. What good did they expect? … Did they come to a king?
They did not see a king, but a Child in swaddling clothes. Did they treat Him as a king because of what He would become? No, for afterward He did not surround Himself with any royal appearance, nor did He possess horses or servants. He was accompanied only by twelve unknown poor men…
They did not expect Him to be their king, but a king of a nation opposed to them and far from their land.
Surely they understood the dangers surrounding them in meeting Him. They saw how King Herod trembled and all Jerusalem was troubled when they heard the words of the Magi. They were seeking a king in a land already ruled by another king… What deaths awaited them?
What did they expect from this king they were seeking?
What good did they hope to receive when they saw before them a hut, a manger, a Child in swaddling clothes, and a poor mother? For what purpose did they worship Him and offer Him gifts?
Did they expect some benefit from Him in His future kingship? And how would they know that the Child would remember when He grew up what they had done for Him while He was in swaddling clothes?
How wonderful is the virtue of these men who exposed themselves to many dangers, leaving their country and families without any apparent aim except that they obeyed what the Lord placed in their hearts. They believed, they came, they worshiped, and they offered gifts.
And we see the virtue of these Magi not only in their coming, but also in their bold confession, for they said, “We have come to worship Him.” They did not fear the king’s anger nor the indignation of his court.
For this reason, I believe that these Magi became teachers in their homelands… especially since they had learned from the Jews that the One whose star they saw had been foretold by the prophets for many ages.
The Shepherds and the Magi as Symbols of the Jews and the Gentiles
Saint Augustine explains this point, saying:
The Magi were the first from among the Gentiles to believe in Christ the Lord. And it is clear that the first fruit of faith in Christ among the Jews was the shepherds. The shepherds came to Him from nearby and saw Him on the same day, as the news reached them by the angels. But the Magi came from afar, by means of the star. Yet both met at the cornerstone, “who has made both one,” “those far off and those near” (Ephesians 2:14, 17). To the shepherds it was said, “Glory to God in the highest.” And with the Magi was fulfilled the saying, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
The shepherds came from near to see; the Magi came from far to worship.
The shepherds received grace before the Magi, but the latter had greater humility.
This humility made the wild olive worthy to be grafted into the original olive tree (Romans 11:17). This humility the Holy Scripture praises more in the Gentiles than in the Jews. Examples of this are what was said about the centurion (Matthew 8:5–10), the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:28).
The Jews showed to the Gentiles the Christ whom they themselves did not wish to worship.
We note concerning the Magi that their not returning by the same way symbolizes a change in life. Those who come to Christ do not return again to their former path.
Saint John Chrysostom returns and says:
“Let the Jews be ashamed, who saw Magi and foreigners precede them and did not come to Him even after them. For what happened then was a figure of what was to come: the Gentiles would precede the Jews… Thus those from Persia preceded those who were in Jerusalem. This meaning was mentioned by the Apostle Paul when he said to them, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles’ (Acts 13:46)…
The Jews ought to have worshiped with the Magi and glorified their God, but they trembled and were troubled. Herod summoned the Magi and inquired of them the time the star appeared, intending to kill the Child.
Between Herod and the Magi
Herod was not moved by all that had happened. He was not affected by what he heard from the prophecies of the prophets, nor by the story of the wondrous star and the coming of the Magi from distant lands to worship the newborn Child…
His position was clearly strange… If he believed the prophecy that was spoken, it is evident that he acted against it. And if he denied it and did not expect its fulfillment, why then his fear and alarm?
It was also a sign of his lack of understanding to imagine that the Magi would prefer him over the Child whose star they had seen and for whose sake they endured the hardships of that long journey!
Strangely, he called them secretly and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
We ask him: If you truly say this, why do you question them secretly? And if you wish to kill Him, do you think the Magi did not suspect you because of your disturbance and your secret summoning of them? … But when wickedness captures a soul, it becomes more senseless than all souls…
Beware lest you resemble Herod who said, “I will come and worship Him,” while his heart was not sincere but wanted to kill Him. For those who partake of the Holy Eucharist unworthily resemble Herod.
Our way must be to beware lest our outward form be that of servants worshiping, while in our deeds we appear as adversaries opposing Him.
Rather, our way is to follow the Magi, to labor like them, so that we may see Christ and persist in meeting Him, even if councils rise against us, even if kings of the earth and their peoples hinder us.
The Magi—before seeing the Child—were beset by fears and troubles from every side. But after worshiping Him, He filled them with peace… By worshiping Him they became as priests, for they offered Him sacrifices and gifts…
But perhaps you ask: Why did the Magi flee from Herod? And why did the Child Jesus also flee?
We answer that it was not fitting for Him to display His miracles at this early age, lest people not perceive that He was truly Man…
There is another meaning: that we should expect tribulations and hardships from the beginning of the path. Behold, Jesus, while still in swaddling clothes, was pursued by Herod and fled. His mother, who had committed no sin and had never traveled far from her home, became a stranger and endured the hardship of a long journey. So also Joseph, and those Persians who departed secretly fleeing.
This happened so that if you hear of these events, and the Lord grants you to serve a spiritual service, and then calamities and difficulties befall you, you do not tremble or say: I ought to have been crowned for completing my Master’s service.
When the Magi were warned not to return to Herod, they departed by another way to their country. They did not doubt, but obeyed quickly and did not say within themselves: If this Child is of great power and has performed these wonders, why do we need to flee secretly? How do we come openly and boldly, yet leave the city fleeing and escaping?
They said nothing of this, but quietly obeyed what they were commanded.
Likewise Joseph the carpenter did not argue with the angel in doubt…
Nor did he say: You previously said that He would save His people, and behold, He did not save Himself; rather we needed to travel and flee. What has happened to us is the opposite of what was promised…
He said none of these words, because he was believing and did not ask about the time of his return, though the angel did not even specify it, not even by saying, “Remain there until I tell you…” But he submitted and obeyed without delay, and endured all tribulations with joy. For our compassionate God toward mankind has mingled with these painful trials delights…
John Chrysostom
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in Al-Keraza Magazine – Year Seven (Issue Three) 16-1-1976
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