Home By a Different Way

Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12

There were two main ways to get to and from Bethlehem in ancient times.  The first way was through Jerusalem, the main road.  This was the path the Magi took on their way to the manger, but it is a perilous path.  Jerusalem and its functionaries of religious and political power seek to kill God for their own security and power.  Once the Lord Jesus is found, another road must be found to find our way home.

And so we embark on the second main way to and from Bethlehem: through the desert east or south.  At first glance this way appears doomed, but the desert is the place where God is found, the place where God pitched his tent among his people and led them home.  In the desert we learn to rely upon God alone and on one another for our survival and care.  In the desert alone can the two great commandments be lived and nurtured within us.

So today we are invited to follow the Magi not only to the manger, but also to follow them back home by a different way - the way of the desert, the way of dependence on and love of God and one another.  This is the sure path home, the road away from the machinations of political and religious power that is the death of God.  Today we take a different way than we have previously taken, the one less traveled but the one that leads more surely to the reign of God.