The Wise Men Worshipped Jesus

I’ve always been enchanted with the mysterious “wise men” who journeyed to see Jesus after he was born.

Many of us have probably sung that Christmas carol “We Three Kings.” John H. Hopkins, Jr. reportedly penned its words and melody in 1857. The verses of that song (but not the chorus) are in a minor key and sound “Jewish” or oriental.

That carol’s six-eight timing sort of plods along. When I hear its slow, rhythmic 1-2-3, 1-2-3 beat, I picture turban-wearing men wrapped in robes and sitting astride tired camels making slow progress across a sea of sand at nighttime. (I guess we assume the wise men traveled a lot at night, because Christmas card illustrations usually picture those fellows camel-jockeying under night skies.)

In 2004, the N.C. carpet manufacturing company I work for sent me to a carpet printing plant in Egypt. During my 11-day stay, our small group took a day off and visited pyramids near Cairo. Nearby vendors offered camel rides. My friends rode, but I’m a big guy, and when I saw the poor old beast picked to carry me, I declined. He was resting and chewing some green forage when his owner made him rise. As he got up, he stretched his bony and, what appeared to be, arthritic legs and let out a groan-bray that sounded like an agonizing cry for mercy. I didn’t have the heart to get on his humpback. (I didn’t want to be the big old “straw that broke the camel’s back.”) Getting up close to that camel made me sympathize with the wise men who followed the “star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright.”

We read about those wise men in Matthew 2:1-2:

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.’

“When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”

“Christiananswers.net” provides the following information:

The term “wise men” is translated from the Latin word “magus” and the Greek word “magoi.” “Magi” is the plural of “magus.” The only mention of magi in the New Testament is in the story of Jesus Christ’s young life. The magi who searched for Jesus were a priestly caste of scholars. The only known Magian priests east of Palestine (at the time of Christ’s birth), were in ancient Media, Persia, Assyria, and Babylonia. There is no proof of what country these men came from.

The word “magic” is derived from the same root as “magi,” and magi are generally associated with occult studies. These magi seem different. There is no indication that they practiced sorcery or claimed magical powers. Their recorded conduct is sincere and worshipful. They appear to have researched the Old Testament and believed its prophecies about the Messiah. They apparently gained nothing material from their long journey.

The record does not say there were three wise men or that they were kings (and there’s no mention of camels, either); some assume they were three kings because of the number and types of gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh – brought to Jesus. The gifts reflected aspects of Christ's nature: gold to a king; myrrh to one who will die; and incense, as homage to God.

Some scholars say the magi found Jesus just after his birth or within 40 days of it. Others say the wise men found Jesus two or three years after his birth. Experts say Jesus was living in a house in Bethlehem, as a young child, when the magi brought gifts to him. (By the way, many believe Jesus was born in the autumn, during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.)

Though we may not know all we would like to know about the wise men, the Bible clearly records this fact: they found Jesus.

King Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem, and “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him…” (Matthew 2:7-11).