In the background of Brueghel’s painting is a quite substantial town, with several churches, houses crowded in on one another and even a castle (to the right of the section I’ve reproduced). All the action, however, is happening on the side of the river closest to us, in what seems to be an open space on the outskirts of the town. The town itself is in darkness, with hardly a soul moving about. The message seems to be that if you want to find God at work, you will need to have your eyes open to find him in the places you least expect, on the “wrong side of the tracks” – or the river in this case - not in the seats of religious or secular power. This was the experience of the Magi. The new king they sought wasn’t in Herod’s palace, but in an unassuming house in Bethlehem, born to a peasant family.
For Reflection
Jesus said… ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not
invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours…. But
when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the
blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be
repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’ Luke 14.12-14
Where, or in whom, have you encountered God unexpectedly?
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