A Reflection by Terryn Boucher St. Pius Parishioner Who Were the ?

The second visitors to see in the gospel accounts are the magi. In Lesson 5 we have already discussed how they saw the Star of and followed it first to , and then went on to Bethlehem where they saw the child Jesus. These visitors are very familiar to us in our popular depictions of Christmas. We know them as , or Three Wise Men. They appear alongside Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds in all of our scenes. We have even named them: , Balthasar, and .

But what do we really know about the magi? Were there really three of them? And why did Matthew feel it was important to include their visit in his gospel? Let us explore some of these questions.

We must remember that Matthew was writing for a largely Jewish Christian audience, and even the gentiles in that area would have been familiar with Jewish customs. In telling the story of the magi, Matthew wants to highlight certain aspects of Jesus’ birth that are important for the birth of the Jewish . Matthew wants his Jewish audience to hear these things: 1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of , as prophesied by the , so he is the legitimate heir to David’s throne. 2. Jesus’ birth was welcomed by the magi, who were gentiles, but his birth was troubling to King Herod and the leaders of . This is a foreshadowing of his later rejection by the chief priests.

Matthew does not tell us exactly where the magi were from, or even how many of them there were. He simply says, “Behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem” (Mt 2:1) Scholars believe the magi were Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia. They saw the and thought it was important enough to journey to Israel to see this newborn king. Some scholars believe that the magi were somewhat familiar with Jewish history because the Jews had been in exile in Babylon for seventy years and thus their history had become known in that part of the . We probably have numbered them as three because of the three gifts they gave Jesus, “gifts of , , and .” (Mt 2:11)

Note how different the magi behave toward Jesus compared to Herod. They undergo a long and dangerous journey in search of him, and upon finding him prostrate themselves before him. Herod only cares about his own power, and sees this child as a threat to himself. Once he realizes that the magi are not coming back with the location of the child, “He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” (Mt 2:16) Herod would rather murder countless innocents than risk his throne. Matthew tells us that Herod is thwarted in his evil scheme. Joseph, warned by an , “rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for .” (Mt 2:14) Matthew’s infancy narrative has a bittersweet ending, and even in our world today we see that not all people welcome the coming into the world of Jesus.

Advent/Christmas Lessons Based on the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke references are from the New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, copyright 1970, 1986 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., Published by the Catholic book Publishing Company, New York, NY