My source for this page is a Christian author I enjoy -- Edward Fudge.

More on the Magi

 

"Who were the wise men that visited Baby Jesus? Where did they originate? What does their visit mean?"
 

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The traditional story bursts with details: three kings, with names hard to pronounce, begin from different countries to follow a moving star. They ride on their camels until the star guides them to Bethlehem, where they find the newborn Jesus lying in a wood manger surrounded by shepherds. There they present him with expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

That scenario shares but one detail with the biblical account, and that is the gifts. Matthew does not count the Magi (or Wise Men), or tell their social standing, names, nationalities or mode of transportation. The star does not move in the biblical account, except perhaps the few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (Matt. 2:9). The Magi do not find Jesus in a stable or in a wood manger, but in a house (Matt. 2:10). Jesus is not a newborn, but perhaps up to two years old (Matt. 2:16). There are no shepherds anywhere in sight.

From where came these mysterious visitors? "From the East," reports Matthew, which encompasses considerable territory (Matt. 2:1). In the second-century, Clement of Alexandria thought the Wise Men came from Persia. Some have suggested that they were Zoroastrian priests. Other early interpreters favored Babylon -- the land of Judah's captivity. The Hebrew prophets Ezekiel and Daniel lived in Babylon, and a large community of Jews remained there after the Exile. Justin Martyr and Clement of Rome, second-century fathers, thought the Magi came from Arabia. Where they came from is not as important as what they mean -- in light of ancient prophecies from the Jewish Bible itself.

 

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The Magi seem to have been familiar with astrology but not with the Hebrew Scriptures, suggesting that they probably were not Jews (Matthew 2:2). Their heavenly sign reminds us of the oracle of Balaam the soothsayer, who lived in the days of Moses: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel" (Num.24:17).

The story of the Magi also brings to mind the prophecy of Isaiah, who revealed with greatest clarity the salvation of the nations through the anticipated Jewish Messiah. "Nations will come to your light; and kings to the brightness of your rising," Isaiah had prophesied, seven centuries before Jesus. "The wealth of the nations will come to you. . . . All those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the LORD" (Isaiah 60:3-6).

The baby born to the Virgin Mary was the descendant of Jacob, born to reign as king. He was the Light of the World, who enlightens Jew and Gentile alike. He is worthy of our gifts, regardless of our national or ethnic origin. Like the Magi of old, wise men and women still are privileged to bow before this Jesus in adoration and in awe.
 

CHRISTMAS -- PROPHECY FULFILLED

This Christmas I am impressed anew that we are seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. Not the kind of prophetic fulfillment about which the sensationalists talk and write best-seller books for the gullible masses -- about Middle-eastern conflict and geopolitics and world banks and bar codes at the supermarkets. No, something far more solid and biblical than any of that! God's word to Isaiah 2,700 years ago has come to pass: "The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."

All you have to do is turn on the radio, or go to a mall. You will discover that throughout the Gentile world, in word and in song, people of all nations are celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah, the Light to the Nations, the descendant of Abraham through whom the whole world is blessed! "I make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations," God said to Isaiah concerning the Messiah (42:6-7). "Arise! Shine! For your light arrives! The splendor of the LORD shines on you!" (Isa. 60:1) "Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light. Look all around you!" (Isa. 60:3). And so they have come -- from the first Christmas, when Magi came from the East, until this very day! 

 ~~Edward Fudge

Visit his web site at: http:// www.edwardfudge.com