01062021 – The Epiphany of Our Lord
It was purely out of a sense of curiosity that I wondered about the word, “xenophobia.” Here is what I found:
“Xenophobia” (from Ancient Greek meaning “stranger” or “foreigner”, and
“fear”) is the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be “foreign or strange.” It is an expression of “perceived conflict” between an “ingroup and an outgroup” and may manifest in “suspicion” by one of the other’s activities, “a desire to eliminate their presence,” and “fear of losing national, ethnic or racial identity.”
An early example of xenophobic sentiment in Western culture is the Ancient Greek denigration of all foreigners as being “barbarians“, the belief that “the Greek people and culture” were “superior” to “all others,” and the subsequent conclusion that “barbarians were naturally meant to be enslaved.”
Ancient Romans also held notions of superiority over all other peoples.
So, this is nothing new although the term actually first appeared in print (in English) in the late 19th century.
When it comes to the Magi…which comes from an ancient Iranian word “magoi” which was used to describe people who acted in very strange ways.
The Magoi were captivated by astrology, spells, incantations and dressed in a very bizarre manner.
The Latin word is “magi” the root word from which we get words like “magic” and “magician.”
Were they priests, astrologer’s, astronomers, Zoroastrian’s, Persians, Medes, Babylonians just “how far East” did they hence from? No one knows… Were they “simply learned men” and not kings at all?” To simple shepherds…they would have certainly appeared to be KINGS!
So, their dress and their ways would have been considered strange, indeed.
The Bible does not tell us how many “magi” there were. It was the church father, Tertullian, in the second century who first suggested that these men were kings…hence…the song… “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” It was he who concluded that there must have been three of them, based upon the three gifts…
I want you to know that the number of wisemen varied throughout the church’s history, 2, 3, 4, 8 even as many as 12.
The names of Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar do not come from the Bible and did not appear in Christian literature until over five hundred years after the birth of Jesus. And you had to hear how they found Jesus at his “home.”
As to the three gifts significant and expensive: think of them as the early forerunners of maxed out credit cards run up to deliver “the biggest,” “the best” and the “most sought after present of the year.”
Gold signifying kingship, frankincense symbolizing divinity and priestly attributes…as from the Holden Prayer liturgy, “Let my prayers rise up as incense before you, the lifting up of my hands as a sacrifice to you.” (Psalm 141.)
And Myrrh, foretelling his death, the sweet spices, and perfumes that a body was covered with after death. Expensive and quite rare.
But all of this pales in comparison to the “actual reason” for their extensive journey into unknown and dangerous territory.
They left the “known for the unknown,” traveling into what might be “foreign-adversarial-lands.” They risked crossing unknown barriers and boundaries into foreign territories where “their strangeness” would stick out. Sometimes the “exotic” and the “different” can be very threatening to others…
But the reason for their journey is to do homage, to bow down and worship…nothing more.
Worship the Lord, in gladness.
Kneel before him.
Stand before him.
Look upon him…in all of his radiance.
They may have been foreigners, they may have been different, they may have been strange, they may have been ritually unclean but there was a place for them in the house of the Lord.
There is always a place here for those that others and the world might reject…and that includes YOU!
Here you have a place. Here you are home.