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| David Newbatt |
Matthew 2: 1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea—during the time of King Herod—behold: wise priest-kings from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea—during the time of King Herod—behold: wise priest-kings from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the one born here King of the Jews? We
have seen his star rise in the east and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this, he was deeply
disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. And he assembled all the high priests
and scribes of the people and inquired of them in what place the Christ was to
be born.
And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for
thus it was written by the prophet:
And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth the ruler
Who will be shepherd over my people, the true Israel.”
Then Herod, secretly calling the Magi together
again, inquired from them the exact time when the star had appeared. He
directed them to Bethlehem and said, “Go there and search carefully for the
child, and when you find him, report to me, that I too may go and bow down
before him.”
After they had heard the King, they went on their
way, and behold, the star that they had seen rising went before them, and led
them in its course over the cities until it stood over the place where the
child was.
Seeing the star, they were filled with [there
awakened in them] an exceedingly great and holy joy.
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary
his mother; they fell down before him and worshipped him. Then they opened
their treasures and offered him their gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to
Herod, they departed to their country by another way.
Epiphany
Matthew 2: 1 -12
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| Constellation Virgo |
The priest kings searched the realm of the stars for guidance. They knew
that events on earth were reflections of events in the starry realms. They saw
that in the star beings of Virgo, the Virgin, a change had taken place: for the
Virgin, she who once held the sheaf of grain, now held a child. And so they
followed that star image as it descended to the earth and merged with the Mother
and Child they found.
With this event, a monumentally important change takes place in human
evolution: for what once dwelt in the heavens now descends and takes root in
the earth. This Child would literally embody what would from then on bring human
evolution on earth forward. No longer would events on earth be mere reflections
of events among beings in the starry realms. Now earth and heaven would begin
to converse, to interact.
So the kings respond to this great turning point by bringing their heart
offerings. In great and joyous devotion, they bring to Him their symbolic
gifts. They bring gold as a symbol of the wise divine guidance that had till
then resided in the stars; for now the Child has brought it down to be embedded
in human history, to dwell forever on earth. They bring frankincense as an
emblem of that highest human virtue, sacrificial love, which will be embodied and
enacted by this Child. And they bring myrrh as the symbol of the eternal in the
human being, brought down from the world of the stars, and now residing in Him
who brings a new direction and impulse to earth, He who now carries our immortality.
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| Adoration of the Magi, Blake |
So we too, in this act of offering, bring our heart gifts: we bring Him our
purest, noblest and most enlivened thoughts; we bring Him our feeling of being
united with Him; we bring Him the devotion and strength and motivation of our
will. We offer Him our souls, our thinking, our feeling, our willing, so that
He may permeate them and work in them.
Now, here on earth, guidance, virtue and eternal life are activated
through Him who is still united with earth, through Him who says, “Lo, I am in
your midst always, even to the end of earthly time.” Matthew 28:20
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