No Longer at Ease?

The Visit of the Magi

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” … After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
— Matthew 2:1–2, 9–11

We rarely think much about the wise men who came from the East to honor the birth of a new king. It was a long journey—at least two years if we use Herod’s decree to kill the children under two—and the journey was a dangerous one. Yet, still they came to worship Jesus. How did this journey affect them? I think T. S. Eliot may have captured this in the last stanza of his poem, “Journey of the Magi,” which reflects on the journey from the point of view of one of the wise men who has returned home:

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

I first read this poem when I was an undergraduate. As I thought about it, I realized just how much of a journey of faith the wise men set out on. They were not Jewish but rather belonged to a country that had most likely contained Israel as one of its conquered territories at some time. They came to worship a king not from their culture who could not conceivably alter their culture. I firmly believe they were brought to Bethlehem by the hand of God even though they did not recognize the God of Israel. I also think Eliot has the right of it; they were changed and had witnessed the beginning of a new kingdom upon this earth. As Isaiah says, “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (40:5, ESV).

Merry Christmas to you all!