The Gift of the Magi is the name of a popular short story by O. Henry published in 1905. In the story a young married couple, Jim and Della, want to get each other the perfect gift for Christmas. And they both know what they want to get, they just can’t afford it. They only valuable things they have are Della’s long, beautiful hair to which the Queen of Sheba’s jewels wouldn’t compare, and Jim’s family heirloom pocket watch, which King Solomon would have envied. So Della makes up her mind and goes to a wigmaker and sells her hair and then with the money she buys Jim a chain for his pocket watch. But surprise, surprise. What did he get her? A set of expensive combs for her hair, which he purchased by selling his watch.
The gifts didn’t quite work out the way that they planned, but the author concludes by reminding the reader of the wise men who invented the art of giving Christmas presents when they brought their wise gifts to the Babe in the manger. Jim and Della unwisely sacrificed the greatest treasures of their house. And he ends with this: “But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
It’s a neat little story with a good lesson about love and selfless giving, and maybe also about communication**. But there is one thing that O. Henry got wrong. The magi were certainly wise, but they didn’t invent the art of giving Christmas presents. Their gifts came as a response to God’s much greater gift to them. And so with our giving as well. Our gifts to each other, and our gifts to God, follow the gift of God for all people.**
The Festival of the Epiphany of Our Lord takes place on January 6*th*, at the end of the 12 days of Christmas. Epiphany is often called “The Gentiles’ Christmas” and at some times and places it has even celebrated as the bigger holiday. You could hang onto all the presents for Epiphany and make that the big day instead. Other places try to celebrate them equally, but with Christmas and Epiphany so close together, it seems like usually one of them gets most of the focus. That would be Christmas for us, while Epiphany often gets forgotten.
But the account of the Magi or Wise Men that is the focus of Epiphany is really an account that is worth having its own dedicated day. On Christmas we focus especially on the incarnation, that Jesus became true man. On Epiphany we see that Jesus came to be the Savior for the world, for those and those far.
There are a lot of mysteries surrounding these wise men. Who were they? Where exactly did they come from? How did they know about Jesus? What did they know? What was the star they followed?
Matthew doesn’t record all of these details, and so speculation abounds. Most of you probably already know that Matthew’s account never says that there were three wise men. Travel was dangerous in those days and magi would have been high-ranking officials, so it’s more likely that they traveled as a large caravan, with perhaps dozens of people. And what about the star? Was it the movements in the sky, or a comet, or something miraculous? All we can do is guess.
But rather than spend all our time speculating about the mysteries here, let’s focus on the things Matthew does tell us and what they mean for us. And the first thing is really just how amazing this situation is. To those in Jerusalem, seemingly out of nowhere, a caravan of wise men arrived looking for the one born King of the Jews. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t pay too much attention to children born into royal families in other countries. I don’t know any of the names of the grandchildren of England’s King Charles, and I don’t really care all that much. These wise men were not just looking for a royal child. Israel wasn’t even its own independent country. King Herod was a king, but only kind of a puppet-king under the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus was the real king. Do you think these wise men would have traveled to Rome to see a new son born to him? No, because they knew that the king they were looking for was not just some earthly king. Again, we don’t know how much they knew or how they knew it. Maybe they had a copy of the Old Testament in their scholarly library. But they certainly knew that this was someone special, that he was someone deserving of worship, for everyone, for the whole world.
What a contrast then it is when they arrived to Jerusalem, the city of David, of Israel’s kings, and they found that nobody knew what they were talking about. “Where is the one born King of the Jews?” they asked, “We’ve come to worship him!” And you have to wonder if they were mystified and maybe a little discouraged when no one seemed to know or really care, other than to be alarmed. Herod was alarmed. He was an extremely paranoid man and suspected everyone of going after his power. All of Jerusalem was alarmed with him. Not overjoyed. Not excitedly joining the wise men in their search for the Messiah. Alarmed. What’s Herod going to do? Is this going to upset the status quo? Did they even want the Messiah? It seems like they would have preferred no Wise Men and no mention of Christ.
It wasn’t that they didn’t know the Word. Herod summoned the scribes and asked them where the Christ was to be born, and they quoted to him from Micah 5
**6**You, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not least among the rulers of Judah: because out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people, Israel.”****
They knew the Scriptures, so why weren’t these men already off running down the road to Bethlehem? Bethlehem is only about five miles from Jerusalem. The problem was not that God had not been clear with them. He was perfectly clear. It’s just that they didn’t care. Their hearts were hard.
King Herod was even worse. Even if this child grew up to contend for an earthly throne, that would be a long time off. But Herod immediately started scheming to end his life. And notice where Herod went. He went to the Scriptures. He asked about the Christ. He believed God’s Word enough to think the answer might be there, but he refused to humble himself before God. He thought he might use God’s own word to destroy his Christ, truly a Devil-inspired thought.
And truly the Devil was hard at work behind all of this. He wasn’t resting on his laurels. Herod’s power wasn’t really under attack, but the Devil’s power most certainly was. In Revelation 12 St. John’s visions paint an awesome picture of the spiritual reality of what was happening here, as God’s Son was born into the world and Satan, the dragon, sought to devour him.
I don’t know if the wise men fully understood all of this at the time—maybe they did—, but what they were wrapped up in was exactly what Jesus had come to do. He had come to be the stone the builders rejected. He had come to challenge Satan and overthrow his kingdom. He had come to face deadly peril in order to be the King of Salvation. And not just a King for the Jews, but a King for all people, for Jews and Gentiles, for those near and those far. Scripture foretold the nations coming to his light, and that is what these wise men did.
I don’t think the humble house where they found the child and his mother was what they were expecting when they started out on their journey, but what joy they had when the star stopped. Their gifts were kingly treasures of gold and frankincense and myrrh. And then they returned to their country by another route after they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.
The gifts are one of the things we remember most from this story. And they were certainly wonderful things. But they’re actually a rather minor part of what Matthew records. And that’s a good thing, because giving gifts can certainly be a great and loving thing to do, but they really aren’t necessary. Jim and Della in the short story gave gifts out of love, but they could also have loved each other just fine without Della selling her hair and Jim his watch. Sometimes gift-giving puts us under a lot of pressure. Are you foolish or unappreciative if you can’t think of the perfect gift for someone you care about?
And what about your gifts to God? What if you can’t dedicate months to an arduous pilgrimage, and what if your offerings are no kingly prizes, nothing like gold and frankincense and myrrh?
Jesus does not demand such things from you. He didn’t come to receive your gifts. He came to give himself. He came to be our greatest gift. It wasn’t the wise men who invented the art of the giving of Christmas gifts. It was Jesus. He gave himself to be our brother. He gave himself to die on the cross. He gave himself to rise again and to rule forever as our glorious King of Salvation. He gives himself today, with that same salvation, in Word and Sacrament, a treasure worth far more than all the silver and gold in the world.
It’s because of his gift of himself to us that we give gifts when we can. I can give freely, not expecting or needing anything in return, because I know that in him I have everything I need. He gave his life for me. He’s not going to leave me in need. With him as my Lord and my brother I can give freely and generously to the people around me. And I can bring my treasures to him, as big or as small as they may be. And not just material things either, but my whole life I give to him. How could I give any less to the one who gave himself to redeem me from sin?
The wise men weren’t wise because they gave. They were wise because they received. They received God’s gift of his onlybegotten Son, born for them, for all people, those near and those far, born for their salvation from sin and death and the devil. And God has made you wise too. He has called you by the gospel to receive from him salvation. Rejoice with overwhelming joy. Give out of thanks for the gift of God for all people, yes, even for you. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson