The Other Christmas Story

The Christmas season ends today with the final feast of the Epiphany. It remembers the three wise men or kings traveling from a far distance to see the baby who will become the world’s savior.  It can rightly be called the other Christmas Story.

Unlike the story from Luke, with its underlying themes of poverty and vulnerability with only shepherds as guests, the version from Matthew is quite different. In Matthew’s account, the Magi replaced the shepherds, either learned men or kings, but their titles make little difference. The poverty of Luke’s version is replaced by a degree of opulence, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, things the ordinary person could not afford.

Our manger scenes at home and in the church put the two scenes together, the shepherds alongside the Magi. We’ve put the two groups together, but the Gospels didn’t. And our liturgy doesn’t.  But clearly, the two stories go together—a gathering around this newborn infant from two perspectives.

The order in which we hear them, Luke’s poverty-filled story first and then the richness of Matthew’s version – says something to us.

For the birth of God into our world and lives speaks first to our inherent poverty. It speaks about our need for salvation, something we can never possess alone. It reminds us of the absolute futility of life without God. The infant lying in a manger is a powerful symbol reminding us that we come into the world with nothing and will leave just the same.   

Like the shepherds who first gazed at the newborn Son of God, we are intuitively filled with joy because we experience those moments when we know God is present. It can be the birth of a child or the strength coming from within when we face hard times. Only through our limitations and openness can we experience that God comes to us; God has chosen to be with us and become one of us.

The shepherds were not the only ones to give homage to the newborn King; men not of Jewish origin also sought to have an encounter with the true and living God. The Magi, quite different from the poor shepherds, were wealthy and, according to their status, brought gifts along with them. They were not ordinary gifts because they would be a prophecy of who this child would become. The gold represented kingship, frankincense was the fragrant incense associated with his priesthood, and the myrrh represented the future suffering and death this baby would endure.  

The other Christmas story is simply this: The love of God given to us by sending his only begotten Son to lift us from our poverty and vulnerability is met with our love, returning the gifts we can offer to him.

The visit of the Magi bearing gifts is the rationale for our custom of Christmas by receiving and giving gifts. In a spiritual sense, the custom represents the obligation of every Christian. We have not been created and redeemed to be in a constant state of infancy; we are meant to grow and be gifts to God and one another.  

Symbolically, our gift of gold represents the royalty of Jesus as the King of the Universe demands we worship him regularly by attending Mass every Sunday. The frankincense should waft to heaven as we pray for the needs and concerns of his holy people. The myrrh is the gift of our sufferings and deaths, which lead to a new life in Christ.

The two stories of Christmas are of equal importance to the plan of salvation. In the light of Christ, we are both poor and rich. Both are necessary to understand the fuller meaning of Christmas.