King of Darkness and King of Light

Homily for Epiphany 2012

Trained as I am in the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola, when beginning my prayer on scriptural texts, such as the ones for this celebration, I will take account of all the persons present in the text. Today’s Gospel is rich in personages: the Christ Child, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, unless they had already gone back to their fields, the hidden presence of God the Father and of the Holy Spirit. One question remains: how many kings were there? We can find the first two very easily: Jesus is acknowledged as King, worthy of homage and adoration. There is his dark counterpart, King Herod, who wanted him dead.

Are there any more kings than that? Our attention turns to the wise men. We presume that there were three of them because there were three gifts, but we do not know that for sure. They come from the east and are enshrouded in mystery. The term used for them in the greek text is Magi, which we translate as wise men. They could have been astronomers, astrologers, interested in unusual confluences of stars and planets in the sky; they could have been scholars who had some knowledge about the sacred texts and customs of various religions, and noticed the predictions that there would be a newborn king of the Jews. They were also seen as kings, as in the well-known hymn “We three kings of orient are.” They could have been all of these. The beauty of the Gospel story is that it stimulates our imagination.

Herod and Jesus are certainly kings, and the contrast between them is stark. This contrast is described in the first reading of today’s mass, in which we hear:

“For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.”

These words have come true time and time again. They were true at the time of Jesus. The Roman Empire was a mighty political and military machine. Peoples were beaten down, exploited. Today we complain about violations of human rights; in that time there were no human rights. You will readily notice in the New Testament the struggle of the Jewish people under the Roman thumb. They were desperate for a messiah, a king to lead them out of the intolerable situation they were in.

An especially repulsive instance of that darkness we find in the Gospel reading of today. It is King Herod, the client king of Judea who held power over the Jews, power delegated by the Romans. He kept a rough peace, but ruled by arbitrary whim, and, intent on consolidating his own power, had countless people put to death, including members of his own family. As we know, he organized the slaughter of male infants two years old and younger in Bethlehem to get rid of the potential rival brought to his attention by the three wise men.

But then the first reading continues “...but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Light and darkness are caught up in a relentless struggle, but in the end light overcomes the darkness. This is the whole point of today’s feast.

The powerless, speechless, vulnerable infant of Bethlehem is a total contrast to Herod. He is a king whose reign will last forever. Herod dies very soon after these events, most certainly having hastened his death by his own decadent life style. He was a king racked by insecurity and paranoia. He promoted conflict, fear, to maintain his hold on power. The new king born in Bethlehem was indeed the king of peace. So sure of his relation to the one he called Father, he let go of his prerogatives as God and took on our human condition in all its vulnerability, taking on the form of a slave, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians.

Today we celebrate the appearance on the scene of this new King, and the term used in New Testament times for the appearance of a king or emperor in a particular part of his territory was “epiphany.” Epiphany is a triumphal feast of light.

The three wise men, or kings, play a key role in today`s story. They are the intermediates between the Herod the king of war and Jesus the king of peace.

To begin with, they help us focus on the light that replaces the darkness. That light emerges for them as a bright spot on the horizon, a mysterious star. They are strangely attracted to it, out of their scientific curiosity, but then with a sense of hope and anticipation, and decide to follow it. They had heard of the promise that a new King of the Jews would be born, and this mysterious star might lead them to him. They come to Jerusalem, the capital city of Judea, seeking further information. They are open-minded and open-hearted people, seekers of God, but as soon as they ask about this new king, they create fear and not rejoicing in the Herod’s entourage, who asked themselves: Is this new king, which they knew was predicted, going to be a rival of Herod? Will he be a threat to the political order which they and many others enjoyed? Of course Herod wanted this potential rival snuffed out before he had a chance to establish himself, and providing the wise men with the information they sought, namely that the child was destined to be born in Bethlehem, and sought to use the wise men as a further source of information, not to pay homage to the child but to kill him. Of course we know how the wise men managed to elude Herod on their return home, and how the holy family fled into Egypt.

So the star led them to Bethlehem, and they came into the fulness of the light emanating from the new king. They paid homage to him, with gifts of gold, symbolizing that he was indeed a king, of frankincense, symbolizing that he was God and worthy of worship, and of myrrh, symbolizing that he was a human, and like all human beings, would taste suffering and death.

Not only do the texts of today`s mass allude to events two thousand years ago, they describe our own world. There are many King Herods in our world. Some of them have recently gone to their deaths, but others continue with their snipers and tanks to maintain their uncertain hold on power. Their violence at times floods our television screens and fills us with disgust. But there are other dark kings whose violence is more subtle and hidden. At the same time the King of peace is still with us, but not serving as a military leader to help us overcome our enemies by force. To change the balance of military forces in our world would be a superficial outcome. Unless hearts are changed, minds find new ways to think about peace, the violence will recur again and again.

What about the three wise men, who follow the star that leads them to Bethlehem? There are many men and women in our world who do not know the King of Peace as we know him, but who are attracted to him, and seek the path that will lead them to him. They struggle for peace, for justice. Often in their lives, even if they do not know or recognize Jesus, they give example of the self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed in his life. They are on a journey, following the star as best they can. I am sure we all know people like this.

But let us not only point at them. Let us point at ourselves. Like the three wise men we follow the star as best we can. Sometimes we stray from the path, but we find our way back. We know the promises of the scripture, and we trust that at the end of our journey God will be with us. We know the path to follow, and at the end of the path there is light for us. Can we be beacons of light for others, stars they can follow? Has the light of this feast totally enveloped us? Do we not need to go to the King of peace time and time again, to pay homage, to offer our own gifts, which may not be gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but other gifts close to our own hearts, and even the gift of our own selves. The Eucharist is the best way for us to offer this gift. Empowered by Christ’s gift of himself let us offer ourselves.