So the story turns from the birth of Jesus to the political intrigue that was happening in response to it. King Herod is introduced into the story… along with a group of foreigners - wise men - who have been studying the star and somehow ascertained that this was related to the birth of a king.
Hauerwas makes a brief point about ‘natural knowledge’ here - which is fascinating. How do a group of non-Israelites figure out that a Jewish king would be born - just by looking at the stars? This is an overlooked bit of miracle in the stories that we tell around Christmas. At the same time, it illustrates a point about rational thinking, nature and faith. “The wise men confirm the church’s conviction articulated at Vatican I that we should believe that God’s existence is in principle open to rational demonstration" (p.39). In other words: there are things that people can deduce from what's around them about both God’s existence and God’s intention for creation. It’s a fascinating discussion.
What is also fascinating - and happens to be a carry-over theme from the genealogies in Matthew 1: God allows non-Israelites to feature prominently in the story of Jesus’ early life. Much like the four women denoted in the the messianic bloodline - this foreshadows an important reality: What Jesus is about to do will not just be for the Jews - but it will also spill over and bless the Gentiles as well.
To set up all of Matthew 2 - SH begins to unpack some of the political implications and comparisons between what we see in Herod and Rome - and what we’ll begin to see in Jesus and His kingdom. This is a theme that will have multiple echoes in this particular gospel… particularly in the sermon on the mount. But for this chapter - SH makes sure to point out how Herod ruled through fear and terror - whereas Jesus postured himself as a shepherd who wielded a different type of power - and leveraged that power in a completely different way.
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