A King Has Been Born to Us

Samuel Caraballo

Author

Samuel Caraballo

Summary: The Magi sought a "king" in the palace but found Jesus in a manger, revealing the semantic transformation of the concept of "king" defined by humility, simplicity, marginalization, fragility, and vulnerability. Today, we must not make the same mistake and seek Jesus in the comforts and riches of the world. Christ is a king born in the "mangers" of this world, where the power of God is perfected in vulnerabilities and disabilities. We are called to live the example of our King and pay attention to the dispossessed and marginalized, honoring the example of Jesus.

The Unending ReignGod with Us at Christmas

Where is the king of the Jews, who has been born? This question unleashed a crisis in the royal palace and throughout Jerusalem. Important people arrive at the government mansion with expensive gifts to pay tribute to the "born king." Herod's top advisers confirm that the announcement of the stars is correct. However, there was no pregnancy or delivery in the palace. Tremendous mess! A divine "coup" against the King of Judea dynasty.

Such is the magnitude of this scandal that Herod ordered the extermination of all the infants in the region. Alerted by an angel in a dream, Joseph, Mary and the little boy Jesus flee to Egypt to avoid the massacre. However, if we look closely, the cause of all this scandal lies in the interpretation that the Magi gave to the word "KING". Today we must meditate on the meaning of this concept so as not to make the same mistake as the "Magi from the East".

For the Magi, the word "king" coincided with the concepts of "monarchy", "influence", "recognition", "crowns" and "amenities". This explains why the Magi decide to look for the baby Jesus in the national palace. It is not until they leave there and see the star again (Matthew 2:10) that they realize their semantic error. The star that guided the Magi on their long journey ended up landing on a hut where the "king" they were looking for was. Contrary to the interpretation of the Magi, the concept of "king" that God assigned to his son Jesus is defined by "humility", "simplicity", "marginalization", "fragility" and "vulnerability". This was the semantic transformation that the sages had to face to understand the particularity of the reign of Jesus.

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

The very particular kingdom of our Lord Jesus is one where the power of God is perfected in our vulnerabilities and disabilities (2 Corinthians 12: 9). Therefore, it is important to remember that Christ is a king who decides to be born in the "mangers" of this world - those places where 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 live the example of our “King”. As you prepare to leave your home, ask God to show you the places in your community where you want to be born. Go today with the power of the Holy Spirit and be the emissary or emissary who carries 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."