THE MAGI FACING HEROD

THE MAGI FACING HEROD

« The Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and said, ‘Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him.’ When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And he gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. » Gospel according to St. Matthew (1st c.).

The Magi seek a King, Herod sends them to a Messiah. Jerusalem, the nerve center of the Jewish nation, is the place where the Magi go to find this ‘King of the Jews,’ as mentioned in the Gospel according to St. Matthew. The title ‘King of the Jews’ has a strong messianic connotation: the appearance of a star associated with this king announces the birth of a Messiah. When the Magi informed Herod of their search for the ‘King of the Jews,’ Herod replaced the term with ‘Messiah.’ For Herod, using the term ‘King of the Jews’ would have meant acknowledging the threat this birth posed to his own reign.

“Herod secretly called the Magi and carefully asked them when the star had appeared, and then sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and find out exactly what the child is. When you have found him, let me know so that I too may go and worship him.’ After hearing the king’s words, they departed.” Gospel of Matthew (1st c.).

“The Magi went to see Herod at night, very encouraged. And he said to them, without any witnesses: ‘Why have you saddened my heart and afflicted my soul by not telling the truth? Why have you come here?’ They replied: ‘Oh king, we have no deceit, but we come from Persia. Our ancestors learned astronomy from the Chaldeans, which is our science and our art. We have never erred in observing the stars.’ Flavius Josephus, Slavonic version (1st c.).