IN SEARCH OF THE WISE MEN

One mystery that continues to surround Christmas and the birth of Christ is the visit by the Wise Men.  Many questions concerning the Wise Men are present today, centuries after their visit to Bethlehem.  Who were they?  Where did they come from?  How did they know to look for the Star to appear, and what it signified?  How did they know that Christ was a special child destined to be the Savior of the world? 

The Bible is brief in its description of the visit of the Wise Men, rather focusing on the birth of Christ, which is as it should be.  Only St. Matthew records the visit of the Wise Men saying only that they came from the East, brought gifts, worshiped the Christ Child, and left another way to avoid King Herod.

In story and song, we assume there were three Wise Men, even giving them names.  The figure three may come from the three gifts presented to Christ, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  In all likelihood, there were probably several of them.  We also portray the Wise Men coming the night of Christ’s birth, shortly behind the shepherds who were in nearby fields.  It may have been as long as two years from the time of the birth of Christ until the Wise Men arrived.  One instance that adds credibility to this thought is that King Herod in his attempt to destroy Christ had all the male children killed from two years old and under.

There are several theories as to who the Wise Men were and where they came from, as well as to how they knew to look for the Star, and knew its meaning.  Did the Wise Men come from Persia, now modern day Iran?  It was a belief prevalent in the early Christian Church.  A letter written by the Synod of Jerusalem in A.D. 836 contains a story about an incident that occurred in A.D. 614 when the Persian army invaded the Holy Land destroying Christian Churches.  When they came to the Basilica in Bethlehem, they refused to destroy it because of a mosaic depicting the Magi, which were dressed like them – Persians.  In Persian writings in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, 7:1, there is a reference to the Magi (Wise Men), coming to Jerusalem to worship an infant born to a virgin, the son having power to raise the dead, and defeat the forces of evil.

Did the Wise Men come from Arabia?  The Wise Men mentioned by Matthew are also mentioned in Isaiah 60:6 and Psalm 72:15,  mentioning people coming from Sheba, a country of southwest Arabia bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

Did the Wise Men come from Babylon?  The Babylonians were noted astronomers, well ahead of their time, and studied the night sky intensely, and would have almost immediately noticed the appearance of the Christmas Star.  There was a strong Jewish influence in Babylon due to their capture, and the fact that a number of Jews stayed in Babylon after the Exile in the 6^th Century, B.C.

Ancient papers located in 1925 in the School of Astrology in Babylon contain a clearly marked reference to a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces which was visible for five months in the year 7 B.C.  Some think this is what God used for the Christmas Star.

Daniel may have played a part in the Christmas Story though we do not include him in our Christmas programs.  Daniel 1:4 speaks of Daniel and the young men with him as being cunning in knowledge, and understanding of science, which no doubt would have included the study of stars, constellations, and planets.   In the book of Daniel, the astrologers of that area are referred to as “Wise Men”, the same term used in St. Matthew.   These wise men, through the teachings of Daniel would have been familiar with the prophecy of Christ, and the Star in Numbers 24:17.   In Revelation 22:16, Christ referred to himself as “The Bright and Morning Star”.    Isaiah 9:2 is also thought to be a prophecy of Christ and the Star as it mentions “those that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

Also said to have been found among the ancient writings of the Wise Men was this portion of the Old Testament; Numbers 24:17:  “There shall come a Star out of Jacob.”