Day Twenty-four: Jesus

Our final reflection has to be on the child at the centre of the story, Jesus himself. He is the one whom the Wise Men have come all this way to find. There’s no indication in the Bible about what they see in him which so convinces them that he is the one, other than the fact that the star they have followed stops over the place where he was born, but they seem to have no doubt. They kneel before him in all their finery. Important, grown men give their lives to this child.

Brueghel paints him naked, as was usual for these times, to demonstrate that he really is human. He is sitting on a cloth; (anyone who has had children will appreciate the necessity of that. Again, it is a reminder that he is a real child, who hasn’t learned to control his bladder yet!) 

His hand is raised in blessing. He looks as if he is about to lay it on the Wise Man’s head – I wonder what that would have felt like?

After they have found Jesus, Matthew tells us that the Wise Men “go home by another road”. That’s not just a geographical note. It tells us that they have been changed forever by this encounter, given new life and new hope; nothing will ever be the same for them.

For Reflection

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.  Matthew 2.12

How do you think this encounter might have changed the Wise Men?

How have your encounters with God changed you?

What would you say to Jesus if you had the “moment” with him that this Wise Man has here? What do you think he would say to you?

The whole picture:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings