The Magi

The story of the magi contains a number of threads, each important to Matthew's theology.

First, it depicts a seeking gentile community (the magi as its representatives) which is more open to worship Jesus than Herod and the current authority structure in Jerusalem. Matthew writes his gospel in an age of intense conflict between the early church and the established synagogue. In this milieu, the confrontations between Jesus and Jewish authority figures is important for the community of believers to remember. To think of this as "antisemitic" is to utterly miss the point. Jesus, Matthew, and likely a majority of Matthews earliest readers were all Jews themselves. Rather, Herod (and other figures with whom Jesus come into conflict in the gospel) are understood as "sellouts" who have substituted their own private agendas for God's unfolding will in the world around them.

Secondly, the whole interplay between Herod and Jesus is meant to evoke that between Pharaoh and Moses. This is most evident in comparing the "slaughter of the innocents" with Pharaoh's command to exterminate Hebrew babies in Exodus. Many other parallels exist, as well, however, especially when one is aware of the way the story was being told by Rabbis at this point in history. Matthew, both here and elsewhere in the gospel, sees Jesus as a sort of second Moses figure. As Moses was both deliverer and Lawgiver, Jesus is both the redeemer of his people and the one who would establish a new set of teachings by which God's people ought to distinguish themselves.

Historically, both the visit to Jerusalem by foreign dignitaries in response to news of a new heir and Herod's jealous protection of his own royal turf are perfectly plausible.

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