THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST
By Kyria Miriam Lambouras
“WHEN JESUS WAS BORN in Bethlehem … there came wise men from the east.” In English translations of St Matthew’s Gospel the mysterious visitors from the east are called Wise Men. In the original Greek they are Magi, from which we get our words magic and magician. By the time the Evangelist wrote his Gospel, the word had a acquired a very wide and indefinite meaning.
The true Magi were originally a tribe or sect of the Medes set apart for the performance of sacred rites, especially fire-kindling, - fire being venerated as a visible symbol of the Good and the Light. They were men of learning, devoted to the study of astronomy, religion and medicine. The best of them were known as “they who are wise respecting the deity and His servants.” They also interpreted dreams and omens, and no transaction of importance took place without or against their advice. Their influence gradually spread over many parts of the East. Under King Cyrus these priestly scholars had found their way into Persia, where they became an honoured group at the royal court, held in high esteem as counsellors to the leaders, and accompanying the army camps in times of war to give advice.
Many thousands of Jews had lived in Babylon since the time of Nebuchadnezzar, when large numbers of them had been taken into captivity. From the Book of Daniel (ch. 5 v. 11) we learn that the prophet was placed as chief over the Persio-Chaldean Magi there, and it is very probably that the best of these men welcomed news from the exiled Jews of the true God and the coming Deliverer, and that some, at least, accepted the religion of Daniel. They would certainly have known of his prophecy concerning the time of the coming of the Jewish Messiah and of the prophecy of Balaam, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17).
They were particularly concerned with astronomy, the careful observation of the heavenly bodies, and for this purpose kept long vigils in high towers. Together with astronomy, they studied astrology, which they considered a science in itself, and through which they sought to foretell the future and the destinies of men by the position of the stars. But if a man’s life was governed by the stars, then it inevitably followed that man was a mere slave of the stars, and at different times and places Magism fell to a low level, sinking at its worst into magic, spells, fortune-telling and sorcery. By the time of the Nativity, the title Magus had come to acquire the bad sense of magician, sorcerer, among the Jewish people generally. Undoubtedly there were those who remained free from superstition, thoughtful and devout men, capable of rising to a higher understanding of spiritual things than the majority of their associates, and the Magi who came to Bethlehem were surely from among this honourable group.
Sometimes Magi also performed the task of diplomats and ambassadors, accompanying or representing their leaders on visits to foreign rulers or famous men. A Syrian Magus had predicted to Socrates that he would die a violent death. Seneca records that on a visit to Athens, Magi went to the tomb of Plato and offered incense there. In A.D. 63, Tiridates I of Parthia, who had conquered Armenia, was obliged to abdicate, following a military defeat, and to accept his crown anew at the hands of Nero. For this purpose Tiridates, accompanied by three Magi among his attendants, went to Rome laden with gifts for Nero, who was regarded as an Anti-Christ by the Christians of his day. The Magi who came to Bethlehem can be seen as coming in the name of the entire pagan world of star-gazers, to pay homage to the Messiah, the King of the Jews. If, as some suppose, they were followers of Zoroaster, their great hope would initially have been that the new-born Child was destined to be the Lord of the world, the future conqueror of Ahrimen, the evil one.
“Gentiles shall come to Thy Light” (Es. 60:3). Long ago Esaias (Isaiah) had prophesied the universal light of God’s salvation. The Gospel tells us neither how many Magi came to Bethlehem, nor from which country they came, - Chaldea (Abraham’s native land), Persia, Arabia or Mesopotamia. We only know that they came from “the east,” that is, east of Judæa. They came seeking the One who would be the Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the glory of Israel (Luke 2:32). In the journey of the Magi we are shown both God’s guidance of men truly seeking Him, and an example of humble acceptance and prompt obedience to that Divine leading.
