Second Sermon for the Feast of the Epiphany: On the Faith of the Magi and the Symbolic Meaning of Their Gifts

“Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him in the day of His espousals,’’—Cant. iii. 11.

“Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon.” We read, my brethren, of three manifestations of the Lord; and we are told that these manifestations took place on the same day, although not in the same year. The third was doubtless very wonderful, wonderful also the second, but the first was more wonderful and more admirable than either. I am lost in admiration on beholding water changed to wine at the word of the Saviour ; I marvel at the solemn and simultaneous testimony rendered to Him by the Baptist, by the Dove, and by the voice of the heavenly Father; but the most astonishing thing of all is His acknowledgment by the Magi. For their adoration and the offering of incense clearly indicate that they recognised Him to be God. Indeed, they acknowledged not only His Divinity, but also His Royalty, which the present of gold symbolically designated. Nor were they ignorant of “the great mystery of godliness ” (x Tim. iii. 16), since by the gift of myrrh they expressed their belief in His mortality. And so the Magi render divine honours and offer princely gifts to One Who is as yet only a Baby in arms! But where, O Magi, where, I ask, is the royal purple of this King? Do you point to the poor swaddling-clothes which cover Him? If He be a King, He must have a diadem: where isit? But indeed you behold Him “ in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him” (Cant. iii. 11), in the “ sack-cloth”’ of His mortality, whereof He shall say to the Father on rising from the tomb, “Thou hast cut My sack-cloth, and compassed Me with gladness ” (Ps. xxix. 12). “ Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him.” Go forth, ye angelic powers! Go forth, ye inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem! Go forth and see your King crowned with the diadem of our humanity, “ with the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him.” Here is a new delight of which you have never had experience until now, a new sweetness which you have never before tasted. His majesty you know well enough, but you have not yet seen His lowliness. “ Go forth,” therefore, “ and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him.” But the holy angels do not need to be thus exhorted by us to contemplate Him on Whom they “ desire to look”’ (x Peter i. 12). And the more familiar they are with His loftiness, the more do they love and value His littleness. Hence, although we have greater cause for rejoicing, since “ the Child is born to us, and the Son is given to us” (Is. ix. 6), nevertheless they are beforehand, exhorting us instead of waiting to be exhorted by us. We have proof of this in the announcement by the Angel to the shepherds of “ good tidings of great joy ”?” (Luke ii. ro) and in the apparition with him of a “ multitude of the heavenly host,

ON THE FAITH OF THE MAGI 17 praising God” (ibid. 13). It is to you, therefore, worldly souls, who are given the name, “ daughters of Sion,” because you more resemble weak and delicate daughters than sturdy sons, as possessing no manly fortitude, no virile strength of character: it is to you I address the exhortation, “ Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him.” Go forth from the senses of the body to the understanding of the mind; from the servitude of carnal concupiscence, to the liberty of a spiritual intelligence. “Go forth out of your country, and from your kindred, and out of your father’s house ’’ (Gen. xii. 1), and see the Lord as King Solomon. Otherwise, it will not be safe for you to see Him as Ecclesiastes. For the Same Who, during the time of this exile, shows Himself to us as Solomon, that is to say, as the “ Peaceful One,” will appear at the judgment as Ecclesiastes, that is, as the Reprover, and in the kingdom as Idida (4 Kings xxii. 1), that is, as the “ Beloved of the Lord.” For in exile He is - meek and amiable, whilst at the judgment He will reveal Himself as just and terrible, glorious and admirable in the heavenly kingdom. ‘Go forth,” therefore, “ and see King Solomon ” : for He is everywhere King. It is true, His “ kingdom is not of this world’”’ (John xviii. 36). Nevertheless, even in this world, He is a King. For when asked, “ Art Thou 3 King ? ” He answered, “ For this was I born and for this came I into the world” (ibid. 37). Here, then, He is the Regulator of morals, at the judgment He will be the Discerner of merits, and in the kingdom the Bestower of rewards.

“Go forth,” therefore, “ ye daughters of Sion, and

Il, 3 see King Solomon in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him,” in the diadem of poverty, in the diadem of misery. For His stepmother—the Synagogue—hath also crowned Him, but with a crown of thorns, a crown of pain; and He is to becrowned hereafter by the hands of His loyal subjects with the crown of justice, when His angels shall go forth and “gather out of His kingdom all scandals” (Matt. xiii. 41), when He “ shall come to judgment with the ancients of His people ” (Is. iii. 14), when “ the whole world shall fight for Him against the unwise” (Is. v. 21). His Father, too, hath crowned Him with a crown of glory, according to the testimony of the Psalmist, where he sings, “‘ Thou hast crowned Him, O Lord, with glory and honour” (Ps. viii. 6). But “go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see Him now in the diadem wherewith His Mother hath crowned Him.” Embrace lovingly the crown of your King Who for your sakes has made Himself a Little One; and in company with the Magi, whose faith and devotion are proposed to you to-day as your models, adore His - humility. My brethren, to what shall I compare these men, or to what shall I liken them ? (Lament. ii. 13). I consider the faith of the Penitent Thief, and I consider the confession of the Centurion: but I feel obliged to give the preference to the Magi over them, forasmuch as they believed and confessed Christ only after He had performed many miracles, after He had been preached by many, and adored by many. Let us consider, nevertheless, the words which they spoke. The Thief, then, as he hung upon his cross, cried aloud to the Lord, saying, “ Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom” (Luke xxiii. 42).

ON THE FAITH OF THE MAGI 19

What? Is He Whom thou addressest on the way to a kingdom through the ignominious death of the cross ? Who hath informed thee, poor Thief, that it behoved Christ to suffer “and so to enter into His glory ” ? (Luke xxiv. 26). And thou, O Centurion, by what indication hast thou been able to recognise Him ? “ And the centurion,” so we read, ‘“‘ who stood over against Him, seeing that crying out in this manner He had given up the ghost, said: Indeed this Man was the Son of God”’ (Mark xv. 39). A strange thing, surely, and worthy of all admiration.

Wherefore, brethren, I ask you to examine and see how penetrating is the glance of faith. Consider attentively what lyncean eyes it has. It recognises the Son of God in a mere suckling ; it recognises Him in one crucified as a criminal; it recognises Him in a dying Man: for the Thief recognised Him on the cross transpierced with nails ; the Magi recognised Him in the stable wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and the Centurion recognised Him as Life in death. Again, the Magi beheld and acknowledged the Power of God in the weakness of a tender little Body ; whilst to the Centurion the Supreme Spirit revealed Himself in the very act of expiring. The former, I say, recognised the Word of God under the image of a speechless Babe, and whatever the Thief and the Centurion confessed by their words, they confessed by their offerings. The Thief proclaimed the kingship of Christ, whilst the Centurion declared Him to be at once a Man and the Son of God. Now, what else but the same three attributes can the presents of the Magi be understood to symbolise, except, indeed, that by the gift of incense they rather pronounce Him to be God than the Son of God? I pray God, therefore, dearest brethren, that you may profit by the immense charity which the Lord of Majesty has shown us, by the profound abasement to which He submitted for our sakes, and by the infinite goodness which has been revealed through the humility of Christ. Let us return thanks to our Redeemer and our Mediator by Whom we have been taught how great is the good-will of God the Father in our regard. For we know now that His dispositions towards us are such that we can say with all security, “ We therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty ” (1 Cor. ix. 26). We cannot but believe that the Father has the same kindness for us as has been shown us by the Son Who has issued from His Heart.