Sunday Musings: The Wise Men
Can we put the story of the Three Kings into modern-day perspective?
Who were the Three Wise Men and why should we care?
They get no more than 12 lines in the book 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.” (Matt 2:1-2)
Matthew never names them. In fact, some biblical scholars think there might have been more than Three Kings but since Matthew mentions three gifts presented to Jesus (gold, frankincense and myrrh), we ended up with that number of wise men.
At some point, it was determined the men were Melchior (he brought the gold), Gaspar/Casper (frankincense) and Balthazar (myrrh). Tradition has it that Melchior was a king of Persia, Gaspar of India and Balthazar of Arabia or Ethiopia. (These names are not mentioned in the Bible, but can be found in an ancient text called Excerpta Latina Barbari.)
The Wise Men were likely aware of Old Testament prophesies about a new star heralding the new king of the Jews. After seeing that star in the East, they traveled hundreds of miles to find Jesus.
What of the gifts the Wise Men bestowed upon the baby? Here’s a Catholic perspective on them:
In giving the infant Jesus gold and frankincense, the Magi evoke Isaiah 60:3, 6 in which Gentile nations bring these gifts to the God of Israel (see also Tobit 13:11, Psalms 72:10-15). In addition, myrrh is an oil that was used to consecrate levitical priests and the wilderness tabernacle, the forerunner to the temple in Jerusalem (Ex. 30:23-33). Myrrh was also used as a burial ointment…. St. Irenaeus says that the gifts signify the mystery of the Incarnate Word (God who has become man): gold, a symbol of royalty, represents his kingship; frankincense, used in worship, points to his divinity; and myrrh represents his humanity, particularly in his passion and death (Against Heresies, 3, 9, 2).
That all sounds good, but what does that mean for “ordinary” people? Catholic Answers explains it like this:
In the moral sense, i.e., how we are to live, Pope St. Gregory the Great says in his Homilies on the Gospels (10) that the three items represent gifts that we are to present to God in our daily lives: gold is Christ’s wisdom, which is to shine in our lives; frankincense is the prayer and adoration we are to give him (see Rev. 8:3-4); and myrrh is our daily self sacrifices to the Lord (see Matt. 39; Rom. 12:1).
Is there a secular meaning to be gleaned from the story of the Wise Men?
Humans are constantly in search of truth and goodness. These might not be right in front of us, and it may require months, years or even a lifetime to find them. The point is to keep moving toward truth and goodness and to be changed by the journey.
As far as the gifts, perhaps those are items we should present to each other without hesitation.
Wisdom (gold) doesn’t so much mean intelligence as it does good judgment. We don’t have to be an old king of Persia to possess wisdom, and we don’t have to be afraid to use our good judgment to benefit ourselves and others.
Respect (frankincense) requires patience and concern for family, friends, coworkers, etc.
Selflessness (myrrh) is probably the most difficult of all, but putting others first is the hallmark of someone who employs wisdom and respect in whatever they do.
However many there were, the Wise Men teach us a valuable life lesson. We don’t have to be religious to appreciate that lesson and try to put it into practice.