Magicians

 

Chapter 15 Magicians

From Other Little Ships

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem." Matthew 2:1

"We three Kings of Orient are . . . ."

Who were these men?

Well, first we don't know how many of these "wise men" came for this wonderful visitation. They brought THREE kinds of gifts but Matthew never tells us how many were actually in the entourage. There were at least two . . . and possibly as many as a dozen, or more.

Second, they were surely dignitaries but the gospel does not say that they were royal.

And third, Matthew, our Spirit-driven author, would have considered the Orient (India or China) the Far East instead of merely "the east."

The word that is translated "wise men" in Matthew's text is actually "Magi."

They were of a priestly caste among the early Medes and Persians (today's Iraq and Iran). They were knowledgeable about all of the different religions of their region and were their day's experts in the sciences.

They were neutral religiously, politically, and to a great extent culturally. They served as counselors and advisors in kingly courts all throughout the Middle East. All the way down into Egypt, all the way up into Syria.

Other men of their bent appear in Old Testament stories. The "Magi" there are described as the "magicians and wise men" of Pharaoh's court (Genesis 41:8) in the story of Joseph. In that story THEY could not interpret Pharaoh's dream.

They also show in the story of the Exodus against Moses in Pharaoh's service (Exodus 7:11). They could duplicate some of Moses' miracles but they could not defeat him.

As a matter of fact, magicians do not appear in a very good light in ALL of the Old Testament (Daniel 1:20).

But then they showed up to worship Jesus. And, Oh, the magic they witnessed!

It's good to see that some of them finally wised up.