A Revealing of Allegiances--January 8, 2026

A Revealing of Allegiances--January 8, 2026

"On entering the house, [the Magi] saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

How does Jesus say it later on in the story? "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Whomever or whatever you give your most valuable and precious things to, that will be an indication of where your heart is aimed. Whether we're talking in dollars, minutes, emotions, or effort, where we direct those things will tell you what (or who) matters most to you.

You might even say that where you direct your treasures is a sign of where you have given your allegiance. If you support your local school district, chances are that you'll be willing to support the tax levy when the school board recommends it and puts it on the ballot.  Or conversely, I remember learning somewhere back in school about Henry David Thoreau being jailed for refusing to pay his poll tax as a protest against the unjust Mexican-American War and against slavery.  Your convictions will direct the choices you make with your treasures, and your willingness to give away the things you value will reveal the causes and people that matter most to you.

So what does any of this have to do with the story we've been exploring this week with the Magi visiting the Christ-child? Well, I want to suggest that Matthew our storyteller is giving us a glimpse of this revealing of allegiances in the response of the Magi. Upon finally finding the long-sought-after Child in Bethlehem, they open up their treasure chests and proceed to offer up gifts of great value (in addition to whatever symbolic significance one might glean from the items listed: gold, frankincense, and myrrh).  Presumably they have had all of these treasures with them on their whole journey--there's no indication they stopped at a market or shopping mall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem after leaving Herod's palace.  And presumably, too, that means they had these treasures even when they first went to the palace in Jerusalem, originally seeking the newly born "king of the Jews." When the Magi find out that there is no child to be found in the city, and instead the current claimant of that title, Herod, meets them, it is worth noting that the Magi don't offer up their treasures to him instead. There's no, "Oh, sorry--we must have been mistaken and misread the stars; I guess these presents are for you instead."  

No, rather, the Magi meet Herod, who calls himself "King of the Jews" even though he is merely the puppet ruler that the Romans have placed on the throne provided that he doesn't step out of line, but they do not give their treasures to him at all. There is no "paying homage" (the same word you would use for "worshiping" in Greek, too) toward Herod, either. The Magi hold back what is most valuable for the one they have truly come to find; only when they meet the toddling Christ-child still clinging to his mother's side do they offer up these precious things. Christ alone is worthy of their allegiance, and therefore of their treasures.  They can spot a phony, it would seem, and they know not to give him the gifts they have brought for the true king.

Even though the Magi will soon disappear from the story, never to be heard from again in the Gospel, I think Matthew trusts that his point is made.  To give our allegiance to the God revealed in Jesus Christ will mean a refusal to give it to the Herods around us. For the Magi, that means their long-held treasures will not be handed over to the pretender-king, but reserved for the child once they find him. For us, it will mean that our time, our resources, and our energy are not to be offered up in Herod's service, but for Christ's. And Christ, of course, ends up directing our lives and serving outward to the people around us.  This same Christ-child will later grow up to be the one who tells us that when we have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the foreigner, and visited the sick, we have done it for him.  To offer our time, treasure, and talent for the sake of the vulnerable, the adult Jesus will tell us, is the way we do what the Magi accomplish with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But we are never to give over to Herod what should go to Christ.

We may well be putting away our Christmas decorations by now and boxing up our figurines of the wise men along with the ceramic sheep and angels, but the power of this story persists.  Every day we have to choose to whom we give our allegiance--and therefore, to whom we offer what we value most.  Who and what gets our time? Our energy and passion? Our money and goodwill? And where, like the Magi, might we be led to hold back our treasures from the counterfeit causes who are not really worthy of what we deem precious, until we are brought face to face with Christ? And might we hear the words of the adult Christ to us as well, reminding us that if we want to care for him or pay him homage, we will care for those who are most vulnerable among us right now?

If you look for Jesus in the manger, he won't be there. Even the Magi eventually find the Christ-child in a house by the time they get to Bethlehem.  We aren't sent to find Jesus frozen in a moment of the past, but to recognize him in the faces of those with whom he identifies right now--and to give for their sake the things we hold as treasures.

Lord Jesus, help us to see your presence among us and to give all that we have to honor you and worship you by caring for those in whom you are present.