Reflections on Advent – X

My friend Brucie said concerning the wise men, Wise men typically worship wisdom, these men worshipped a man. He went on to say, Some people think that the wise men were Jews of the Diaspora, if so, consider what it meant for them to worship a man – Jews did not worship men.

Well, as I wrote yesterday, I don’t know who the wise men were, but whether they were Jews or Afghans or Indians or Chinese; wise men don’t worship men but they do worship God.

Can you seriously see yourself prostrate before a baby, an infant, a toddler? What must these men have seen and known to have done so? How their eyes must have penetrated the mysteries of the ages, the counsels of the eternals.

Does their query in Jerusalem, Where is He who is born King of the Jews? betray an innocence, a naiveté? A purity? Were they puzzled that the religious leaders had not already gone to worship the King? Did they discern the wicked deceitfulness of Herod? (Perhaps the fact that they were unfamiliar with Micah’s prophecy concerning Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem argues against them being Jewish.)

The Gospels begin with the worship of Jesus; they conclude with the worship of Jesus (see Luke 24:52). Let there be no mistake about this; the Gospels proclaim that Jesus is God; Jesus proclaimed that He is God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit; and so while during Advent it is fitting that we celebrate the birth of Christ; such celebration ought to wrapped in worship, motivated by worship, and proclaimed through worship.