This coming Sunday is the celebration of The Epiphany of the Lord. In the previous post we considered St. Matthew’s setting for the gospel and how the account fits into the narrative arc of his entire gospel story.

Jesus is born, the magi arrive in Herod’s court stirring the pot as it were, consultations are made, the magi are told to go to Bethlehem, the star locates the Holy Family, and the magi do homage to the child. Meanwhile Herod plots and assumes the magi will return via Jerusalem and help the King fill in the details regarding this newborn king. But “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [the magi] departed for their country by another way.” It is a simple story in the telling, but less in the details, especially when those details pique our curiosity.