A King Has Been Born to Us

Where is the king of the Jews who has been born? This question sparked a crisis in the royal palace and throughout Jerusalem. Some important figures arrive at the government mansion with costly gifts to pay tribute to the “king who has been born.”

Herod’s chief advisers confirm that the star’s announcement is correct. Yet there had been no pregnancy or birth in the palace. What a mess! A divine “coup d’état” against the dynasty of the King of Judea.

Such was the magnitude of this scandal that Herod ordered the extermination of all the infants in the region. Warned by an angel in a dream, Joseph, Mary, and little Jesus flee to Egypt to escape the massacre. Yet, if we look closely, the cause of this whole scandal lies in the interpretation the Magi gave to the word “KING.” Today we must reflect on the meaning of this concept so that we do not make the same mistake as the “Magi from the East.”

For the Magi, the word “king” went hand in hand with “monarchy,” “influence,” “recognition,” “crowns,” and “comforts.” This explains why the Magi decide to look for the child Jesus in the royal palace. It is not until they leave and see the star again (Matthew 2:10) that they realize their semantic error. The star that guided the Magi on their long journey came to rest over a hut where the “king” they had sought so eagerly was staying. Contrary to the Magi’s interpretation, the concept of “king” that God assigned to his son Jesus is defined by “humility,” “simplicity,” “marginalization,” “fragility,” and “vulnerability.” This was the transformation in meaning that the wise men had to confront to understand what made Jesus’ reign distinctive.

Today we cannot make the same mistake as the Magi and look for Jesus amid the comforts, influence, and riches of the palaces of our world. Christ rejected the arrogance of Herod’s mansion to be born in Joseph and Mary’s “little hut.” A king has been born to us, fully divine and fully human, who preferred the poverty of the manger to the wealth of monarchs. This is the scandal Jesus provokes in our lives today. The Word confronts us and makes us ask ourselves, Where are we looking for Christ today?

The distinctive kingdom of our Lord Jesus is one in which God’s power is made perfect in our vulnerabilities and disabilities (2 Corinthians 12:9). Therefore, it is important to remember that Christ is a king who chooses to be born in the “mangers” of this world—those places to which we have banished people with intellectual or physical disabilities, orphans, widows, prisoners, and the dispossessed. Just as the servant is not greater than his Lord, today God calls us to follow the example of our “King.” As you prepare to leave your home, ask God to show you the places in your community where he desires to be born. Go today in the power of the Holy Spirit and be the messenger who brings the scandalous news that we serve a King who chose to be born in the mangers of our society.

Thought for the day: “Every time we pay attention to the dispossessed and marginalized of the earth, we honor the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.”