The paintings of the Epiphany are beautiful and awe-inspiring. Most all show the three kings adoring the newborn infant Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem.
But the Scriptures tell us the shepherds who were told they would “find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
Nicolaes Berchem
It was the Magi, on the other hand, who “entered the house and found the Child with Mary, his mother” (Matt 2:11).
If King Herod in his murderous, jealous rage ordered every male child two years old and under to be massacred then we know the Christ Child was born closer to the end of that time frame. (Matt 2:16-28).
St. Joseph would have moved the Holy Family out of the stable and into a suitable dwelling after the crowds had left after the census and taken up his craft of carpentry work.
Bartolome Esteban Murillo
How delightful it must have been for these learned wise men to knock on the door of the house and be greeted by Mother and Child;
Madona di Loreto
to encounter a young Child King standing on the knee of His Mother — a King before whom they prostrated and worshipped.
And to receive His blessing as they departed.
Today, on this great feast of Epiphany, let us pray for the wisdom, the generosity, and the fidelity of the Magi.
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