EPIPHANY

From Matt Rawle —-

Several years ago I had a wonderful opportunity to present a theological paper at the University of Manchester, along with others, as part of a “Doctor Who and Theology” celebration. After the symposium several of us went to a pub to take in the local vibe. About halfway through our pints I asked Jasper, one of the presenters, what he found surprising about being in England. He said, “Here I’m not met with eyes of suspicion.” What he meant is that being a black man didn’t seem to cause the same anxiety in others in Manchester as it did in the states.

Knowing that I did not understand this same experience, I asked him to say more. He said, “It’s hard to explain, but they neither look me up and down as if I’m a threat, nor do they look past me as if I’m not here. I could get used to this.”

The Magi in Matthew’s Gospel (as Chat GPT has depicted them in a modern setting below) were ethnically, politically, and personally “other.” When they arrive at the palace, instead of hearing their story, King Herod sent them out to do his dirty work. He used them. Was this because of royal status? Was it because he didn’t want outsiders hanging out at the palace for long? Maybe with word of a Messiah about, it isn’t so safe to be traveling even to a nowhere place like Bethlehem. If something bad were to happen, would anyone notice these foreigners went missing?

When they arrived at the place where the Holy Family was living there doesn’t seem to be much controversy. Matthew records that they “entered the house” and saw the child. Matthew seems to say they weren’t met with eyes of suspicion. Maybe because they were welcomed into the home with a hospitality so deeply rooted that it seemed mundane that, star aside, they knew they had found the one worthy of their chests of gold, frankincense, and Myrrh. In other words, Herod saw these outsiders and used them for gain. Mary, upon their arrival, welcomed them, and accepted their gifts. Then, as the story goes, the Wisemen went home a different way.

Whom do you meet with eyes of suspicion? I’m not asking to blame or shame, but perhaps meeting Jesus in a place where you might clutch your purse or shake someone down with your eyes, you might go home on a different path as well?