O Radix Jesse and thoughts on the Magi

O Root of Jesse, sign of peace, before whom all nations stand in awe; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before You. O Come and set us free; delay no longer in your love.

Kings stand silent in your presence. It immediately brings to mind the vision of the wise men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus in his parents' home. It's such a strange tale, really, more so than the shepherds and angels, the Annunciation, even the story of the census bringing Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in the nick of time. Here are these magi, these astrologers, come to worship the newborn messiah.

I am not a bible scholar, and I do not have any special insight into the Magi. I know what I've learned along the way. Perhaps there were three--there were three gifts after all--but maybe not. Were they Zoroastrian? They weren't Jews, and they weren't Roman or Greek. They knew enough to see the star at its rising and what that would mean, but not enough to know for certain where this newborn savior would be found.

And the gifts they bring are odd--frankincense, myrrh, gold. Priest, prophet, king. Gold of course is the symbol of kings, of rulers, of wealth. Frankincense is a symbol of priesthood, burned in the temples. And myrrh, the strangest gift, represents death--which often came early for prophets. Here in the first chapters of Matthew is a foreshadowing of the entire life of Jesus.

In this antiphon, we name him a sign of peace. We implore him to come and set us free. Hurry. Delay no longer in your love. While the magi might have seen this to be so, it certainly doesn't seem that kings and nations today bow down in worship. And they don't. The Kingdom of God, of course, is not Germany or Vietnam or Brazil. It is here, but not here. It is coming and yet still far away. And why is it not entirely here? I think if we were each to ask ourselves that question, honestly, it would do a great deal to bring it closer. We ask for freedom, for love, for peace, and yet we are God's hands in the world now. We have to give these things if we truly wish for Thy Kingdom Come.

At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow
Every tongue confess him
King of Glory now
Jesus is Lord, King of Glory now.