January 2, 2022 (Year C)
The Three Wise Men
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, otherwise known as the Feast of the Three Kings. It is a familiar story at this time of year even for people who are not frequent churchgoers. This is because most of our homes have crèche, or manger scenes underneath our Christmas trees which represent the Nativity, or birth of Jesus. Along with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, we find the stable animals, the shepherds, and, of course, the three wise men, Gentiles from the orient who have come to locate the newborn king of the Jews.
The prediction of the event is first described by the prophet Isaiah: “Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Then shalt thou see, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and shewing forth praise to the Lord.” (Isa. 60:1-3; 5-6).
Our Responsorial Psalm also guarantees the event will occur. “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts: And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor.” (Ps. 72:10-11; 12-13).
The prophets and the psalms promise that all the kings of the earth shall adore him, and they shall bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In time we will find that these gifts that they bring hold special significance. The gold will represent his kingship, the frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and the myrrh a prefiguring of the ointment for anointing his crucified body.
The Gospel from Matthew (Mt. 2:1-12) tells the story in a simple, familiar manner. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda the wise men from the east come to Jerusalem following the star and they stop to inquire of king Herod where is born the new king of the Jews. Herod is troubled by this inquiry and assembles the chief priests and scribes to ascertain where this Christ will be born. Herod is informed that this event will occur in Bethlehem, so he instructs the wise men, “Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come to adore him. But having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country.” (Mt. 2:8, 12).
Almost everyone knows about the magi, the “wise men from the East” who herald the birth of Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But there is a little-known fact as to their background. They are not Jews, but pagan astrologers from an ancient Persian faith known as Zoroastrianism, followers of the Prophet Zoroaster. He was a monotheistic philosopher whose teachings became the state religion of the Persian Empire in the seventh century B.C. under Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, who released the Jews from their captivity in Babylon and allowed them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Scholars believe that the Jews brought back many ideas garnered from the Zoroastrian faith — stories that found their way into the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
Zoroastrianism contained both monotheistic and dualistic features. It likely influenced the other major Western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And among many of its teachings were the principles of astrology, the background of angelology, and the premises of life after death. As experts in their field, these magi played a major role in confirming that the baby Jesus was the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible. Thus, they are much more than three entertaining characters who add charm to the story of the Nativity. They establish the legitimacy of the infant born to a young, Jewish virgin and her caretaker of a husband in the mid first century under humble conditions and his formation of the faith of billions of Christians present in the world today. In fact, he became their Lord and Savior.
