The coming back of the people of Israel from Babylonian exile was not all that very easy. After 70 years outside one’s own land, coming back to it, the people seemed like foreigners in their own land. Hence, they came back without knowing again whom they were and what made them a people. They had no king, nor temple. Jerusalem had lost its significance. The glory for which Jerusalem was known, left with its destruction. The people were devastated. They needed something that would inspire them, and re-enkindle this flame of their glorious heritage as chosen people of God. It is in this situation that the words of the Lord came to his people through prophet Isaiah as we read in the first reading.
Isa 60:1-6 can be summarized thus:
a. The glory of God rises on Jerusalem
b. Jerusalem rises and shines through this glory
c. Nations rise, and following the shining of the people, come to encounter God’s glory.
In the midst of the world covered with darkness: darkness of hatred, of war, of deception, of fear of truth, of man’s inhumanity to man, etc God becomes the glory of his people. God’s glory comes to restore the beauty of his city, Jerusalem. He therefore calls on the people to arise and allow the glory to shine out in them. God’s people are to shine out in such a way that
other nations will see their light, that is, God shining in them, and then come to this light. God is the light, who becomes the light of his people, so that other nations will see the light.
The Psalmist says: in your light, Lord, we see light (36:9). God is the light of his people, and in this light, other nations ere lightened. What this means is that even though God’s glory comes to be a light unto his people, if the people do not recognize this light, and then arise to be enkindled by this light and begin to shine out because of this light, they will not be able to bring this light to other nations. The shining of the people through God’s glory, attracts other nations to come to Jerusalem, the city of God where they themselves will experience this glory of God and begin to radiate.
When other nations come with their gifts, they are not coming because of the people but because of the glory which shines in them; that is, they are coming because of God who dwells in his city Jerusalem, who makes Jerusalem to shine out and attract other nations to it.
In the gospel, Matt 2:1-12, we have the same sequence as in the first reading:
a. Christ the Lord brings his glory, the glory of God to Jerusalem, his people
b. His stars shine out for other nations to see.
c. People from other nations follow the star to come to encounter this glory of God
The birth of Christ brought God’s glory back to God’s people. After his birth, the glory of God shone around the shepherds (Lk 2:9), and then, his stars arose, began to radiate and to shine out, leading the Magi, men from other nations, to come to Jerusalem.
You are the star of Christ. God’s glory is already in our midst. God has pitched his tent among us and has brought with him the glory that will cast away our darkness, and enable us to shine out for other people to see and be brought to him. We must allow ourselves to be radiated by Christ, and we must arise and shine out for other nations to see God’s glory in us and be attracted to God through it. As stars, we are called to lead others to Christ: the depressed, the forgotten, the suffering, those who are afraid of the truth; etc.
But how can we be God’s light for other people if God is not our light? How can we lead them to Christ the Light if we ourselves do not know where Christ dwells? How can our light help to bring them to the great Light of God if we ourselves do not radiate God’s light? How can we bring them to the joy of the gospel if we ourselves have not accepted and begun to live by it? How can we show them the love of God if God’s love does not dwell in us?
May we not be like king Herod who was afraid of allowing the light of God to cast out darkness of his life. May we not be afraid like the people of Jerusalem who were afraid of welcoming the glory of God brought by Christ’s birth because they preferred to remain in their status-quo.
May we not be like the religious leaders of the people of Jerusalem who knew all the prophesies concerning the arrival of the glory of God, Christ, in their midst but failed to recognize it when it arrived. May we not be like the people of Jerusalem who neither see God’s light in Christ birth nor become themselves the light. May we rather be the star that, arising from the Light of
Christ’s birth, shine out and lead other people to where Christ the light is, where love is born, where peace dwells, where joy lives. May we be the stars of Christ who attract people, not to themselves, but to God, in whose light we ourselves see and receive light.
The Magi offered Christ symbolic gifts, which demonstrate their acceptance of Christ’s kingship, priesthood, and divinity/immortality. What gifts do we offer to Christ, our Glory? Christ needs only one gift from us. He needs us to be his gift. He needs us to offer him all our weaknesses and strengths, our joys and pains, our glories and shame, our riches and poverty, our honors and dishonors.
As Christ reveals himself to the nations, he wants us also to be the stars which radiate his glory and bring the people in darkness to the glorious light of God in Christ. May our words and actions point people always the way to Bethlehem where Christ dwells in his glory. Amen.
Fr. Chukwuezugo Nnamah