The highlight of every children’s Christmas pageant has to be the appearance of “The Three Kings.”
Their entrance always up-stages the serene Mary and Joseph staring adoringly at the baby. Even the shepherds and their sheep seem to disappear into the background as the three mystic visitors usually appear at the back of the church and make their way down the centre aisle as “We Three Kings” is sung lustily or played softly in the background.
There has to be at least three characters in this little tableau but sometimes there are more depending on whether the producer has decided to use a camel in costume. Then two additional actors are needed, one to play the head of the camel and another poor youngster, who obviously drew the short straw when parts were handed out, to bring up the rear.
Before Christmas someone showed me the costume room here at Saint Luke the likes of which I have never seen in any church. The array of apparel, apparently left over from the days of the annual operetta productions, quite possibly would make the folks at the Lyric Opera jealous. So, I am sure any kings at Saint Luke were festooned not only appropriately but royally.
You should know that in most churches the three wanderers were always the tallest boys in the Sunday School wearing ill-fitting bathrobes, crowns that looked like they came from a Burger King promotional giveaway, and the usual pre-teen expression on their faces of utter contempt for everybody and everything.
In our day their appearance makes us smile but scholars tell us that “Magi in Jesus’ day were not ‘wise men’. They were not models of religious piety. They were ... pseudo-scientists, fortune-tellers, horoscope fanatics...a practice condemned by Jewish standards. We might compare them to people in fortune-teller booths, or people on the ‘psychic hotline’ or other ‘occupations’ that foretell the future by stars, tea leaves, Tarot cards.” 1
We may laugh at them. We may wonder what their families thought.
“Dad’s gone wacko again.” their teenage children might have said to each other. “Oh brother,” their wives might have remarked in resignation, “The boys are off on another one of their hair-brained adventures.” But this adventure is more, much more, than the mystics bargained for because they are being launched into a cosmic, high stakes battle of a mad king’s violent reaction to an invasion to what “His Royal Highness” Herod believed to be his stronghold.
When they show up at Herod’s doorstep and asked: “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and we have come here to pay homage to him.”2
Saint Matthew tells us, “When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him...”3
Jerusalem had good reason to be afraid because their mad King was the stuff of legend. He may not have believed in God, but he sure would have said when he was born God said, “I need somebody who will be strong and courageous, who will not be afraid or terrified of the wolves when they attack a man who cares for the flock.” “A shepherd to mankind who will never leave nor forsake them.”4
Trouble is that Herod, his kind, and any who would follow in his footsteps, are no such thing.
We know a lot about him and his kind and their cruelty for they are the ones who would do anything and everything to stay in power. “He not only murdered most of his good friends, but even his beloved wife, and three of his own sons.” He was such a threat to every one and so disliked that to ensure mourning at his funeral, “Herod wanted his soldiers to kill notable political prisoners upon the news of his death. His goal was expressed thus: ‘So shall all Judea and every household weep for me, whether they wish it or not."5
He was one evil man and when he became afraid all of Jerusalem did so too. Can you imagine that? Herod, with all the might of Imperial Rome behind him became afraid of a child not yet two years old.
“Fear is a powerful, haunting thing.” as a fine pastor and good friend, Shawn Fiedler, wrote once:
For the privileged and powerful – those who run the world, call the shots, they respond to fear with even more power, sometimes force. Fear grabs hold of the powerful; a false reality is created, and, using their resources of plenty, they protect themselves at any cost.”6
As my former pastor Shannon Kershner observed
I cannot even imagine the way his blood pressure must have risen when the magi asked him where was the child who had been born King of the Jews. “King of the Jews?!,” he must have thought. He was King of the Jews. That is what Rome declared, and that was the way it would forever be.Following the normal way power works in our world, the king responded to his own fear not with a spirit of openness and courage, but by holding on to his power even more tightly and deciding to do whatever was necessary to keep it.7
So, he lies. With a well-practiced straight face he lies. Herod and his kind always lie. They are good at it. They’ve spent their whole lives saying the most outrageous things and puffing themselves up with their own self-delusions that lying is comes as easy to them as breathing. So Herod, summoning up his most unctuous, pious tone says: “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”8
It is here that the guys really earn their title as “wise men” because they see through Herod like a cheap suit. They know he is a liar. They can spot a liar as well as they can spot a distant star in the sky.
Herod to them, is obviously a man who is unable to worship anything else but himself. He is unable to care for anything or anybody else but himself. All Herod and his kind care about is keeping their political power at all costs. They are their own gods answerable, they believe, to nothing or nobody.
The story of this day is not about three kings but about two kings and two kingdoms: the corrupt, murderous, earthbound kingship of Herod and the humble, loving, world-changing, divine kingship of Jesus, the Christ, the anointed One.
So the visitors from the east keep following the star. Through clouds and lies, twists and turns, they follow. And once they have found the one they had been looking for they return to their own country by a different route.
Suddenly, when we really look at this story, we are jerked out of the insanely cute characters in a church Christmas pageant into a world were real choices must be made. Choices that have real consequences for our life and the life of our world.
Will we follow the ways of Herod and his personality cult based on fear and appeals to our lesser angels or will we follow the way of Jesus?
We know, deep down in our heart of hearts we know, that to put our faith in some earthly leaders is folly. To trust some is pure foolishness. And to believe their words are dangerous.
We also know there is another way. We know that there must be another way. There must be someone else to follow, to put our faith in, to trust. There must be another leader whose way is not built on lies and deceit but whose ways are always justice and peace.
Like the magi we have found the one, been touched by the one, who came among us to rule not with power or might but the power of love.
Follow his way, hold on to his promises, Jesus Christ, our brightest and best morning star who is always showing us a better way.
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1. Brian Stoffregen, “Matthew 2.1-12, Epiphany of Our Lord- Year A,” Exegetical Notes at CrossMarks, accessed January 6, 2024, https://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt2x1.htm.
2. St. Matthew 2:1–2. (PHILLIPS) [PHILLIPS=J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (London, ENG: HarperCollins, 200
3. St. Matthew 2:3. (NRSV) [NRSV=The New Revised Standard Version]
4. Noah Rothman, “Donald Trump: Instrument of God,” National Review, January 5, 2024, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/donald-trump-instrument-of-god/.
5. Brian Stoffregen, “Matthew 2.13-23 1st Sunday after Christmas- Year A.” Matthew 2.13-23. Exegetical Notes at CrossMarks. Accessed January 4, 2020. http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt2x13.htm.
6. Shawn Fiedler, “By Another Road.” Sermon preached at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. January 6, 2019.
7. Shannon J. Kershner, “Lessons Learned.” Sermon preached at the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. January 4, 2016.
8. St. Matthew 2:8. (NIV) [NIV=The New International Version]
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