Reading the Bible Badly. Karl Allen Kuhn
and Mary are headed to “the city of David, called Bethlehem” (v. 4), Luke calls to mind the prophecy of Micah 5:2–6 announcing a future leader who would come forth from Bethlehem, save Israel from its enemies, and “be great until the ends of the earth” (v. 4). Throughout his two-volume work, as he does here, Luke shows the proud and powerful seeking to control the lives of faithful and in doing so unwittingly advancing God’s designs: here it is Caesar’s census that gets Jesus to Bethlehem where he must be born!
24. Those of you who have spent time around farm animals know that “crap-encrusted feedbox” is no exaggeration.
25. Green, Luke, 131.
26. Translation from Price, Rituals and Power, 54.
27. Horsley, Liberation of Christmas, 32–33.
28. For a helpful review and assessment of this evidence drawing on Greco-Roman literature, Jewish midrash (commentary on biblical traditions), and the Israelite Scriptures, see Powell, Eastern Star, 139–54.
29. The characterization of magi as foolish appears in Jewish midrash on Pharaoh’s magicians in the Exodus story and on the foreign prophet, Balaam (see Num 22–24). Pharaoh’s magicians are revealed to be ineffectual: their magical arts end up worsening the plagues against Egypt, in other moments their arts fail to produce any results, and in the end they become plague victims themselves. Balaam is characterized by Philo as the “most foolish of all men.” As summarized by Powell (Eastern Star, 152), “Philo presents the magus as foolish in a broader sense: he is a ridiculous figure whose useless art is easily thwarted by God and exposed for the nonsense that it really is.”
30. If magi were regarded by most Jewish folk as foolish, then it begs the question of why Herod and the inhabitants of Jerusalem would have been troubled by the magi’s assertion that a king had been born among the Jews on the basis of observing his star. Herod was of mixed ethnicity, and though his family had converted to Judaism, many Israelites at the time (as do historians today) questioned Herod’s allegiance to Jewish perspectives and traditions, despite the resources he devoted to the restoration and expansion of the Jerusalem temple. The fact that he finds the magi credible is consistent with the view of numerous Israelites that Herod subscribed to many foolish, Gentile notions. Likewise, Herod’s fear and questioning of the magi in Matthew’s story reveal his ignorance of Torah and his self-serving lack of interest in the arrival of God’s kingdom. Moreover, Herod’s irrational paranoia during the latter part of his reign compelled him to murder members of his own family (including his wife, Mariamne) and friends. Thus, it is entirely plausible that Herod would find the magi’s query credible or at least worrisome enough to take action. And given Herod’s inclination towards violence when he felt his reign was being threatened, it is not surprising that many within Jerusalem would also fear any perceived challenge to Herod’s reign. Tragically, it turns out that their fear was justified (see Matt 2:16–18).
31. Trexler, Magi, 23–24.
32. Trexler, Magi, 35.
33. Trexler, Magi, 74.
34. Trexler, Magi, 138.
35. Trexler, Magi, 147.
36. Trexler, Magi, 208.
37. Bible Info, “Three Wise Men.”
38. WhyChristmas.com, “All About the Wise Men.”
39. Lanier, “We Three Kings.”
40. Miesel, “Wise Men.”
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