Tweet

by Pastor Tony

January 6, 2012 is the Feast of the Epiphany, a time to sing the hymn, We Three Kings, also called The Quest of the Magi. Written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., an Episcopal deacon, We Three Kings was first performed at General Theological Seminary in New York and later published in Carols, Hymns and Songs, in 1863. Here is the first verse, courtesy of Wikisource - http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/We_Three_Kings_of_Orient_Are :

We three kings of Orient are;

Bearing gifts we traverse afar,

Field and fountain, moor and mountain,

Following yonder star.

In Western church tradition, the names of the kings are Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, as transliterated from Excerpta Latina Barbari, a Latin translation of an Alexandrian document circa 500 A.D. (http://%20www.attalus.org/translate/barbari.html#51B ; see note 49). Eastern church tradition (Ethiopian Orthodox, for example) has the names Hor, Karsudan, and Basanater. Syrian and Armenian Christians each have their own sets of names for the kings, as well.

All of this makes a nice story, but what is the truth? Scripture provides the details of the first Epiphany in the Gospel of Matthew:

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

(Matthew 2:1-2, ESV)

Here is a summary analysis of how We Three Kings compares to Scripture:

• We: Hopkins did not name the kings in his hymn, which is good, because their names are not given any- where in Scripture. Thus, any names listed for the kings, whether in literature or hymnody, are fabrications.
• Three: No number is given in Scripture, but the noun “men” is plural, indicating that more than one wise man made the journey. Some, maybe several, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, but there could have been between two and, well, who knows? Most likely, people think there were three wise men because there were three kinds of gifts. But the gifts are related to prophecies, not the number of wise men.

• Kings: In the text, Herod’s title, “king,” is different from the that of the visitors, who were “wise men” — not kings. In fact, the original Greek makes this distinction: ηρωδου του βασιλεως is “Herod the king,” but ιδου μαγοι απο ανατολων is “behold, magoi from the east” (Greek NT, Textus Receptus, 1894; online at http://biblos.com/matthew/2-1.htm). Likewise, the 405 A.D. Biblia Sacra Vulgata — the Vulgate, or common Latin translation by Jerome — has Herodis regis, “Herod the king,” and magi ab oriente, “magi from the east” (see the previous source link). So these were magi, not kings, and really not just “wise men.” What, then, were the magi? See the excursus, below:

What Were the Magi?
Magi is the Latin plural of magus, from the Greek magos, from the Persian magus, from the Avestan maguano, the ancient priestly caste of Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism in the late seventh century B.C. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism) Zoroastrian magi were scientist-philosopher-priests who worshiped one, universal, uncreated god, Ahura Mazda, who was engaged in an epic battle of good versus evil with Angra Mainyu, an evil spirit who directed daevas (demons) to create chaos and destruction in the world, harm mankind, and lead mankind away from the “good religion” and worship of Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrians looked forward to the arrival of a savior, a saoshyant (“one who brings benefit”), who would usher in the end of time, the final victory of good over evil, and the resurrection of the dead, who would be reunited with Ahura Mazda. If all of that sounds familiar, remember that Judaism existed for 700-800 years prior to Zoroastrianism and had plenty of time, plus relative geographic proximity and connections via good commercial trade routes, to influence ancient Persian paganism.

Magi looked for signs in the stars as they awaited a savior, and both astronomy and astrology (then considered a science) were part and parcel of their religious practices. They were very well educated, usually knew several languages, and were versed in the religions of other cultures. Internationally known and respected, magi often served as trusted advisors to kings of foreign nations. And because these reverent scholars were so different, so aloof, so mystical in their bearing and practices, the name magi began to be applied to all kinds of occult practices and is the origin of the English term magic. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi)

What is most intriguing about the biblical magi is that they had come to worship Jesus! In Zoroastrian- ism, the saoshyant/savior was a spirit, but not a god. That the magi had come to worship Jesus indicates that they knew the Old Testament, correctly interpreted its Messianic core, believed it, and traveled a great distance at tremendous cost and risk to worship the God-man Savior, Jesus.

• Orient: From the Latin word oriente, the English word “Orient” means “east.” This matches with the magi, who would have been traveling from ancient Persia (Iran) in the east, toward Jerusalem, in the west.
• Gifts: We Three Kings explains the prophetic significance of each gift and demonstrates that the magi knew precisely what they were doing when they came to worship Jesus (text from Wikisource; see the source link, above):

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain

Gold I bring to crown Him again,

King forever, ceasing never,

Over us all to reign.

Frankincense to offer have I;

Incense owns a Deity nigh;

Prayer and praising, voices raising,

Worshipping God on high.

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume

Breathes a life of gathering gloom;

Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,

Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

• Star: Renowned scholars, the magi must have known this Old Testament prophecy: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.... (Numbers 24:17) Upon arrival in Jerusalem, the magi told Herod: For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. (Matthew 2:2) They definitely saw something big and unique in the sky. But what was it? See the excursus, below:

Star of Bethlehem

Astronomers have identified several major events in the skies over the Middle East during the last dec- ade B.C. Among them, three are very interesting:

• In 1614, Johannes Kepler published his discovery of a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. and a massing of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 6 B.C. — all four being clearly visible even in daylight. Ke- pler mistakenly thought the massing of planets had caused a nova, but the magi did not need a nova to guide them — conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn are heliacal, “rising” in the east and “traveling” west.
• In 1981, John Mosely, program supervisor at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, published a different perspective in a Planetarian article:
  In current planetarium shows at the Griffith Observatory we tentatively identify Matthew's "star" with the planet Jupiter, as Jupiter came into close conjunction with Venus twice and with Regulus three times in a 10-month period near the time of the nativity.
  (http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/articles/common_errors_xmas.html)

• Mosely goes on to describe two other celestial events, a large comet in 5 B.C. and another in 4 B.C. Both are listed in Williams’ Comet Catalog of 1871, and the comet of 5 B.C. is described as a “sweeping star” — a comet with a tail — that was visible for 70 days, beginning in March or April. Thus it would have appeared to be slowly traveling westward, night after night.

Critics respond that these dates are all too early, being between 7 and 4 B.C. But there are complex issues involved in setting the date of the nativity — not least of which is the fact that while there is a 1 B.C. and a 1 A.D., there is no year “0.” Scholars almost universally accept that Jesus was born sometime between 3 and 7 B.C. All of the celestial events just mentioned fall in the proper time frame to be associated with the nativity.

Bethlehem: We Three Kings lines up with Scripture in stating that the  wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem. Fortunately, the hymn does not assert that Jesus was still a baby in a manger — Scripture seems to indicate otherwise. But if Jesus wasn’t in a manger, where was he? See the excursus below:

Baby Jesus or Toddler Jesus?

Countless nativity scenes today — including our own at Gloria Dei — feature wise men presenting gifts to Baby Jesus in a manger. Matthew, however, records this about the arrival of the wise men: And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11; emphasis mine) In the original Greek, this is an οἰκίαν , unmistakably a house, and not a φάτνῃ, a manger/stable (as in Luke 2:7). Also, they find a παιδίον, a child, not a βρέφος, an infant — although I’m not willing to make too much of that, since παιδίον is one of those general terms with a meaning that can be expanded to include very young children.

Another clue to Jesus’ age appears later in Matthew chapter 2, in the horrifying “Slaughter of the Inno- cents”: Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16) Even if Herod rounded up to make sure he covered the date of birth, Jesus could have been nearly two years old — a walking, talking toddler in a house, not an infant in a manger — when the wise men visited.

• King and God and Sacrifice: In the final verse of We Three Kings, the beautiful theology of the Epiphany rings with great force, overshadowing the fact that there were not “three,” and they were not “kings,” and they were not at a manger. This, then is what really counts:

Glorious now behold Him arise;

King and God and sacrifice; Alleluia, Alleluia,

Sounds through the earth and skies.

Epiphany, ἐπιφάνεια, means “manifestation.” This feast of the church, mentioned by Clement 150-215( A.D.) and observed in both East and West since the end of the third century, celebrates the revelation of the Son as God and King and Sacrifice. Epiphany encompasses the visit of the magi —when Gentiles revealed the birth of the Savior to Jewish officials and first laid eyes upon the King —and also the baptism of Jesus, where the full Trinity was revealed to a lost and dying world.

Stunned and awed by the majesty of our King, by the unsearchable depths of God’s wisdom and love, and by the unimaginable suffering Jesus would endure for our sake, we cry out with all who believe, Alleluia,  Alleluia —a Hebrew word, הללויה, meaning “Praise Yahweh!” But it’s not just any old praise that we offer; hallel, the root, is a joyous, passionate praise or boast —a praise that sounds through the earth and skies!

In Christ, Pastor Tony