The Visit of the Magi - The (Uncomfortable) Rest of the Story

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer on January 5, 2020

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3; Matthew 2:1-12, 16-18 GNT

Don’t you just love the story of the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi, to the Baby Jesus?  It is so colorful, so full of pageantry, so universal in its appeal as it brings together the Jewish and Gentile worlds, and it is so warm and fuzzy.  That is, if – and it is a really big IF – we stop reading at verses 11 and 12 as we are inclined to do: “They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.  Then they returned to their country by another road. . .”  It would be nice if that were the end of the story, wouldn’t it?   But, sadly, it is not.

Because Matthew continues, “When Herod realized that the visitors from the east had tricked him, he was furious.  He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old and younger” (Matthew 2:16).  We prefer to not read, and we would rather skip over, that part of the story.  Because pageantry turns to pain and suffering.  Openness and inclusivity turn to exclusivity and jealously.  Warm and fuzzy turn to tragedy and tears.

If we were to be honest with ourselves, we might say, “Why didn’t Matthew just end his Magi story with verse 12 and skip ahead to the material in chapter 3?”  But he didn’t.  And he had his theological reasons (i.e., connecting the birth story of Jesus to the birth story of Moses) for doing so.  So we are left to deal with it.

Now, the entire chapter dealing with the visit of the Magi and what occurred afterwards raises a lot of questions from several different fronts, including questions of history (although the killing of the Bethlehem babies certainly was within the character of Herod and what he was capable of doing, there is no other historical record of Herod’s actions outside the Bible).  Questions of science (how does a star move?).  Questions of ethics and theodicy (why would God intervene to spare Baby Jesus but not the other Bethlehem baby boys).  These are some of the unanswered questions of this story.

But when we read of Herod’s cruel actions as Matthew tells the story, it reminds us of the verses in Ecclesiastes that speak of “all the injustice that goes on in this world.  The oppressed were crying [“Rachel crying for her children,” as Matthew quotes the prophet Jeremiah], and no one would help them . . . because their oppressors had power on their side” (Ecclesiastes 4:1).

Examples of injustice at the hands of oppressors in power are many and varied.  There are many examples today and there always have been.  The Herods of the world who would oppress and kill the innocent wear many faces.  As M. Eugene Boring puts it, “It is a cruel world, and such things happen.  In our time thousands of babies have been napalmed, gassed, starved, and shot down by the order or permission of unfeeling governments.”¹ 

Who are, and where are, the oppressors who have power on their side today, especially those who oppress innocent children?  And just how many children in recent history have suffered at the hands of oppressors, reminiscent of the suffering Matthew writes about in Bethlehem?  Ruthless dictators, drug lords, gangs, pimps, organized crime bosses – these are some of the prominent modern day oppressors of the innocent.

We must not forget the children who are virtual slaves in sweatshop factories or who are held in agricultural slavery.   We must not forget children being trafficked as sex slaves in various countries around the world, including our own country and state of Tennessee.  We must not forget children who are slaves to the drug trade; and so on.  It probably would break our hearts if we were privy to all the suffering inflicted on the innocent by ruthless oppressors living today.

It should cause us embarrassment to know that human sexual trafficking is a multi-billion dollar world industry and to know that thousands of children are subjected to sexual slavery every year in America yet today.  That is a travesty of the highest order!  How can such a thing be in 2020 in America?  It would shock us if we knew how many children are kidnapped and forced to be drug dealers or forced to be farm workers.

And it might never occur to us that restaurants, hotels, truck stops, and major sporting events provide venues for human trafficking and exploitation to occur.  And that the incidents of human trafficking and exploitation have been aided by the Internet and social media, including Facebook.  Perhaps we have not considered these dire facts, and frankly we would rather not.

But let’s determine to not let the story stop here, if we can make a difference, even a small difference, in the lives of a few innocent, suffering children.  There are many national and international charities and organizations that are working to improve the lives of children and put a stop to, or at least curtail, exploitation of the innocent.  In the state of Tennessee, two organizations that are working to combat child sexual trafficking are:

The Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking and It Has To Stop.  On a larger scale, there is the McCain Institute’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council that educates, raises awareness and implements action-based solutions to end modern slavery and to combat all forms of human trafficking at local, state, national and international levels. And a number of other world organizations are working to combat child exploitation and trafficking, including an arm of UNICEF and Save the Children.

In the event that we are still open to adopting some New Year’s resolutions, perhaps we could make a resolution to do some research and support financially, or at least send a one-time donation to, one of the organizations that are working for the benefit and well-being of children who are or could be exploited by the oppressors of this world. 

As the Preacher of Ecclesiastes reminds us, there are far too many oppressors – far too many King Herods – in the world with power on their side, and far too many who are being oppressed with no one to help them.  We can’t right all the injustices or wrongs in the world, as much as we would like to.  But maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference in the life of someone.  May it be so.  God bless the children.  Amen.

Work Referenced: ¹M. Eugene Boring, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol VIII.  Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, p. 148.