The dream of the Magi

Epiphany is a meaningful feast for Christians. A star led the wise men of the East to the Holy Infant to pay him homage and give him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We may learn many lessons from this beautiful story: that God revealed His salvation even to the Gentiles, that people have different expectations and reactions towards this revelation, that Christians should become like the star which led the wise men to Jesus and that we should offer up our talents to extend the kingdom of God (gold), to worship and pray (frankincense) and stand up for social justice (myrrh) etc. Unlike theological discourses, stories allow a greater latitude for the readers to dig up what is meaningful to them. Of course, as long as he is able to press his message across, the author would have no control over how the readers interpret his story.

This epiphany story is part of a scheme Matthew designed to prove that Jesus is their Messiah. Matthew wrote for/from his Jewish Christian community. Therefore, he made use of all legitimate Jewish devices to press his point: genealogy, scripture fulfillment, angels and dreams etc. Moreover, in keeping with the Jewish background, all the major players in his scheme are male in contrast to Luke's account in which women occupy a prominent position.

Matthew began with a carefully devised genealogy which shows that Jesus is a descendant of David (Matthew 1:1-17). Hebrew does not have vowels. So, David spells DVD in Hebrew. Each Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value and the sum of DVD is 14. So, Matthew made up a genealogy of three series of 14 people, including Jesus (Matthew 1:17). Then, Matthew told five stories to prove that Jesus' birth fulfilled five prophecies (Matthew 1:23, 2:6, 15, 18, 23). Why five? Perhaps Matthew had the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, the Torah, in mind. Moreover, biblical scholars are able to show that Matthew's gospel consists of five sections. His gospel is meant to be the new Torah for Christians!
Matthew proved that Jesus was a king. Wise men from the east came to offer him gold. No Jewish kings, except Solomon, enjoyed such an honour. His birth threatened the throne of Herod the Great, who ordered a massacre of children under 2 in Bethlehem to destroy this throne-usurper. Unlike the other descendants of David, Jesus birth is laced with divine revelations. There were a star and apparitions of angels in Joseph's dreams. With all these carefully designed devices, Matthew articulated what his Jewish Christian community professed to believe --- Jesus was the God-appointed Messiah to deliver them.

Matthew wrote his gospel more than half a century after the birth of Jesus. We should not be too demanding on the accuracy of the details in his Nativity narrative. In particular, how could Matthew ever know of the dreams of the people involved? Joseph the patriarch in the Old Testament is a well-known dreamer. So, it would not be hard to make Joseph, the legal father of Jesus another dreamer. But what about the dream of the Magi?
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way (Matthew 2:12).
Personally, I think these wise men were wise. Their arrival at Jerusalem had already created quite a stir and they should be able to discern the fear of the residents when they made their intention known. So, when they met Herod the Great, they must have been able to sense his murderous intent to destroy the new born king. Therefore, they did not need a dream to warn them not to return to Herod. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that a warning did emerge in the form of a dream psychologically. The question remains how they left behind a dream for Matthew to write about. Did they tell the Holy Family about this dream before they departed? Perhaps. Did Mary tell the curious Jewish Christian community about the incidents surrounding the birth of her son? Perhaps. Since, there are so many unknown elements, we cannot draw any conclusion about the dream of the Magi. Since this dream does not affect the overall message of Matthew, we will just leave it open. The Epiphany story remains a beautiful story even without it.

Dear Lord, allow me to offer up my prayers and worship. In particular, I pray for those vulnerable children abused in families, school and society. May Your glorious face shine upon them to strengthen them Amen.