On The Journey Home

Yesterday was Shabbat—our last one here. Two days ago was Greek Orthodox Christmas—we saw the motorcade from Jerusalem to Bethlehem while walking towards JUC. Three days ago was the day of Epiphany on the Western Church calendar, remembering the visit of the Magi to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. It is this story that fascinates me as I write this today. When they came to meet (and worship) this King of the Jews whose star they saw, it is doubtful they anticipated what the scene would be. After all, they first started asking the question in Jerusalem, where the king ‘ought’ to have been (Matt. 2:1-2). After being informed by a passage from the Text of God’s Word, they started making their way to Bethlehem, and the star went ahead of them, leading the way to the house where the King was. We have been so influenced by countless nativity scenes that it is difficult to imagine what the actual scene looked like. Probably it was anything but “majestic”—devoid of the pomp and ceremony, which they had likely experienced in Herod’s court. Nevertheless, we are told that they came to the house, “saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him”(Matt. 2:11). It may not have looked anything like what they expected, but they somehow knew when they were in the presence of the King. This is how life often is, isn’t it? In many ways, our trip here was no exception to this. In its twists and turns it has not always looked like what we had imagined (or perhaps even romanticized) ahead of time. However, I feel like we have had a lifetime of experiences squeezed into the last 5 months, related both to the classroom and life lived in this land. While it has been challenging, it has also been exciting, and through it all, God has gently shaped us through encounters with His greatness and His subtlety.

The gifts that the Magi brought—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—would soon come in handy as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would soon have to flee the wrath of a paranoid ruler, but for the Magi, a different path lay ahead: the journey home. It’s true they were exactly where they were supposed to be—drawn there, even called there for that moment. But that place was not home for the Magi. We are told that the Magi “returned home to their country by another route”(Matt. 2:12). After that, the Bible is silent about these visitors. According to tradition, they returned believers, but whether or not that is the case, I imagine that their sojourn in this land and meeting Jesus here changed them significantly. We also return home having had encounters with the Savior here. Unlike the Magi, we’re anticipating a return flight that should take us back pretty much on the same route by which we came. But we leave here changed because of the gracious people we’ve met, and the challenges through which God has brought us, and our experiences walking in the land which was the setting of God’s Word.