Playful Magus

In the telling of the Nativity story as we usually know it, there is always a continuity problem. The different Gospels told the story differently (Mark doesn't tell it all!). The Magi occur only in Matthew and they find Jesus in a house, not a stable. But that doesn't mean that the story doesn't still tell us a great truth. Among the points of the story of the coming of the Magi is that the non-Jewish world came to recognize and worship God's greatest gift to humanity. They did so by bringing precious gifts.

Yesterday at the living Nativity at Overlook Farm, one Magus (the singular of Magi) tried his best to amuse a distinctly fussy Jesus. Baby Jesus at the 5:00 performance was played by a 15 month-old who very much wanted to get down and move around. Personally, I like the image of a restless Baby Jesus--so much to do and so little time! But Pat Zepp, who was a Magus bearing gold did what any of us would do and tried to entertain the baby with his gift of gold. The baby, as all babies are, was precious; the gold, naturally, was precious; and Pat's playful attempt to quiet a fussy baby was precious. I smiled at the sight. I imagined how many Christmas Pageants since St. Francis' original living Nativity in 1213 have had similarly amusing scenes (Isaiah scattering the ducks at the same performance is another in that long line!) But more enjoyable still was the thought of the original Magi playing peek-a-boo and making funny faces at the infant in Mary's arms. The heart of the Christmas message is the sheer humanity of it. That is the nature and great extent of God's love for you and me.