At the end of the familiar story of the magi
visiting Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem
in the second chapter of Matthew,
we read that having been warned in a dream,
the magi did not return to Herod,
but went home by another way (Matthew 2:12).
Interesting to consider that phrase:
“having been warned in a dream.”
Did they spend the night at the stable?
Several nights?
Or was it a waking dream?
Or was it even a dream they had had—
one they had had maybe even before they met Herod?
For if you seek God and God’s way,
the wise know,
you have to both confront apparent power
(you have to go through Jerusalem)
and you have to circumvent it
(you have to go home by another way).