Place matters. There are two close-by cities in the wonderful story that closes “the Christmas season” of our liturgical year. “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,” proclaims Isaiah in our first reading. It is to Jerusalem that the three “wise men” first travel, following a star. Jerusalem is the “mountain of the Lord’s house,” (Is 2:1-5), to which “many peoples will come.” In fact, pilgrims to the Holy Land usually land in Tel Aviv, which is only 16 feet above sea level, and travel up to Jerusalem. It’s 2,474 feet above sea level, on a plateau in the Judean mountains. High elevations evoke the presence of the divine: think Delphos, home of the Greek Gods, or “when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur” in our beloved hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Bethlehem is less than 7 miles from Jerusalem. The holy child is born there because it is the “city of David.”
Matthew, whose Gospel we read today, uses the story of the three wise men to develop themes of his later Gospel chapters. These foreigners from the East introduce the Jesus who will proclaim salvation for all people of the world, not only for the Jews. The struggle of the Magi to evade Herod introduces the Jesus who will confront evil and devils and death itself, but not be defeated. Tradition has interpreted the gifts the Magi offered as representing Jesus’ royalty as descendent of King David (gold), his divinity (frankincense), and his Passion (myrrh). It also is the journey itself, the “going up” to Jerusalem, that teaches. In Jesus’ time, Jerusalem was always a gathering place. It was a cosmopolitan city, multilingual, foreign-ruled — a “whole world” place where Jesus’ salvation is offered to all. Jesus will journey up from Galilee (Capharnaum, his ministry base, is below sea level) to Jerusalem in Mark’s, Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels. That journey represents his coming home to God, revealed as one with God. It’s a journey through life and death to God, for Jesus and also for us. Perhaps sometimes we feel we cannot put one step ahead of another in our spiritual journey, like we are climbing a high mountain. Today’s story of the infant, who grows to become the risen Lord of still-unfolding human history, gives hope to all our human struggles. Our journey ends as his did, with God.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia; painting by Georges Trubert – Getty Museum, Public Domain
The post January 5, Epiphany of the Lord, Gathering: A Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.