THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST, 2

At the time there was a widespread and persistent expectation of the coming of a great person. The Jews were looking for their Messiah, a temporal prince who would deliver them from Roman bondage. The many Jews living in Egypt, Rome, Greece, and in eastern lands had spread abroad their expectation of this Person. The Roman historian Suetonius declared: “An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the East that the fates had decreed someone to proceed from Judæa who should attain universal empire.” Tacitus wrote: “Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of their priests that at that very time the East should prevail and that someone should proceed from Judæa and possess the dominion.” The two Jewish historians Philo and Josephus confirm this expectation. Some of the most striking prophesies concerning the Coming One were those of Daniel, written while the Jews were captives in the East. The story of Daniel’s own wonderful deliverance from the lions’ den would have been handed down to the Magi together with the older prophecy of Balaam concerning the “Star” to come out of Jacob. In response to some strange and striking appearance in the sky, which God inspired them to accept as the sign that the Deliverer had come, the Magi set out in faith to pay homage to Him.

They journeyed not as the splendid kings of medieval imagining, but as unassuming pilgrims. They would have crossed the desert to the east of Palestine, a desert barren in itself, but across which travelled the camel caravans, not only transporting goods to and from India, Arabia,Mesopotamia and the West, but also spreading an exchange of ideas, which in turn would influence cultures and religious philosophies. Travel by camel being at best a leisurely affair, their journey may have taken six weeks or longer.

On arrival in Jerusalem they immediately sought the answer to their eager question, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” They explain that they have seen “His” star, a star specifically intended to indicate the time and place of His birth. The appearance of a new star was regarded in the Greek and Roman worlds also as an omen of some unusual event, or connected with the birth or death of a great man, and such events were recorded by ancient writers. As Alexander the Great lay dying, a radiant star was said to have appeared, and “when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes.” At the assassination of Julius Cæsar a comet had appeared and shone for seven days. Various theories have been put forward as to exactly what the Magi saw. However, it should not be supposed that the Magi’s star was what is commonly understood by a star. As God had spoken to Moses under the form of a burning bush, and the HolySpirit had descended on Christ at His Baptism in the form of a dove, so the Church fathers believed it was God or an angelic power under the form of a star that appeared to the Magi. They were astrologers, and all that is known is that God used what was familiar to them to guide them to Himself.

They had seen the star “in the East.” The original Greek shows that this refers not to the location of the Magi when they saw the star, but to the star itself. They were not saying that they had seen the star in their native land, but were using a specific astronomical term meaning the acronychal rising, its “rising on high,” a term in common use for the sun. There is no indication that they followed the star to Jerusalem, but rather that having seen its “rising on high” in their own country, and understanding something at least of its significance, they had set out in faith and were now seeking information and directions.

They had come “to worship Him,” or rather to pay homage to Him. The English word “worship,” besides meaning adoration, formerly also meant to respect, to honour, to treat with reverence. They had come to prostrate themselves before Him with the stately salaams of the East, the usual mode of honour paid to earthly great ones. Yet it has always been believed that they were enabled to see something of the “mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). Their homage was indeed more truly adoration.