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by Steve Abramowicz, Editor of The Mill Creek View and host of The Mill Creek View Tennessee Podcast –
Some things are inaccurate. They were not kings and there weren’t three of them. So there goes We Three Kings of Orient Are. Some have suggested they were chosen representatives of the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. For that, there is no evidence. In church history, they became known as Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. Those names were added long after the events and have no connection to the actual wise men.
The magi number was unlikely three. There were three separate gifts, but we don’t know how many there were. But there are traditions in the Roman Catholic Church that say there were three, and in the twelfth century, someone discovered their three skulls. And there was a little battle over who had the skulls, because they were supposed to be in a cathedral in Cologne, and others were claiming they were in the Cathedral of Milan. I might add, that skulls found in the twelfth century would have no way to be connected to these men.
Just exactly who are they and why are they there? Well, the question as to why they’re there is answered in the text, and that is to worship Him. They came to worship. “We have come to worship Him.” Herod even acknowledges this and says, “Come back and tell me when you find Him, that I too may come and worship Him.”
“When they arrived and saw the Child with Mary His mother, they fell to the ground and worshiped Him.” They are worshipers. They acknowledge that the King has been born and the King is worthy of worship. This is another way that Matthew can identify the nature of the one that is born.
We know He’s a king from the genealogy in verses 1 to 17 of chapter 1. He’s in the royal line. We know He is more than just a royal son of David, He is also a Son of God, verses 18 to 25. He was born of a virgin. He is created in the womb of Mary by God Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit. So His birth is a royal Son on earth and a royal Son from heaven. And here we find that He is given worship from a group of men whose unique responsibility in their culture was to identify kings. They were Middle Eastern king makers, the magi.
The word “magi” is not a word that can be translated, although it has come to mean something associated with magic and magicians. Magi was just the name of a tribe. It happened to be a priestly tribe, a very religious tribe from which some priests arose to very significant prominence. It appears that this tribe is extremely ancient. Some would trace this tribe back to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees and see them as an extremely old tribe, a wandering, nomadic tribe during the time of Abraham. They appear in the time of the Babylonian captivity. They appear in the Medo-Persian Empire, which followed the Empire of Babylon, and they’re still around in very significant positions of influence and power at the time of the birth of Jesus.
There are only two possible responses to the arrival of Christ. One is the response of His own people: “He came unto His own and His own received Him not,” or the response of those who were not His people, who came from afar to worship Him, and rejoiced with great joy – the only two options. No middle ground. You either reject Him like His own nation or you receive Him like those from afar. He came unto His own, His own received Him not. But to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the children of God. His own were cursed, but these Middle Eastern kingmakers were blessed because of their response to Christ.
We at Mill Creek View want to express our heartfelt joy of the holiday season and wish you all a Happy Hannukah, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. It has been our pleasure to deliver you the news going on our third year under new management.
One Response
When it comes to Christmas, I feel that all the many different stories are great. They all have the same great ending.
For those that sometimes sees their faith and hope slide downhill a bit, keep in mind that it took over 100 years for the Russian people to get their Christian Country back. They did just that and will not give up their Christian Country (Orthodox) again!
Don’t let the left steal your faith.