THE MAGI COME LOOKING FOR JESUS
1Now after Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men
from the east came to Jerusalem, 2saying,
“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.”
3When Herod the
king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling
all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is
written by the prophet:
6“‘AND YOU,
O BETHLEHEM, IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE RULERS OF
JUDAH; FOR FROM YOU SHALL COME A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”
(Micah 5:2, from
paraphrased or lost translation)
7Then Herod
summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had
appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
“Go and
search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may come and worship him.”
9After listening
to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen
when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the
child was.
10When they saw
the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house,
they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
Then, opening
their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12And being
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by
another way.
MATTHEW
2:1-12
COMMENTARY
The Bible does
not say where these ‘Magi’ were from, or how many they were, but only that they
came from the East side of Jerusalem.
Judging by the
name ‘ΜΆΓΟΙ’, or ‘MAGI’ or ‘MAGUS’, commonly pronounced as ‘MAGICIAN’, and the
location given by the Scriptures, they could only be from the priestly class of
the ZOROASTRIAN religion of IRAN.
The ZOROASTRIANS
were a religion established by an Iranian religious leader call ZARATUSTRA or ZOROASTER
in the year 500 BC, and held a religious view similar to the Abrahamic religion.
The priests of this faith were the only ones called MAGI in the whole world.
It seems that
GOD’S glory became manifested all over the world, since these Magi, experienced
on the Jewish Scriptures from their own interests, and from the Hebrew
influence during the Babylonian captivity in this part of the world, knew about
the Jewish Messiah, and while observing the stars as they did normally, the
STAR of JESUS became visible to them, guiding them to Him.
These religious
men must have become closer to GOD through observing natural righteous life and
faith, and for that reason they were chosen by GOD ALMIGHTY to come to know the
incarnated GOD in JESUS.
They must have
come from a very long distance. Maybe even from the border with India, because
from the time they saw the STAR, until Herod found out that they were not
coming back to him, nearly 2 years had passed (Matthew 2:16).
But GOD guided
them to the feet of his only begotten Son, who they found already established in
a home, with his parents. And they gave Him probably many presents, among them,
GOLD, FRANKINCENSE and MYRRH, a typical gift presented to a King, besides the
symbolic meaning saints have given to these elements.
GOLD, to
acknowledge his royal power.
FRANKINCENSE, the
perfume offered to the sacred, acknowledging JESUS as the MESSIAH.
MYRRH, to anoint
his forehead as KING (Exodus 30:23-25).
They were warned
though, not to reveal JESUS location to Herod, and went back to their country
in secret.
In this
occasion, the mercy of GOD was manifested to all men, and maybe there were more
than just these Magi, because as the Scripture says:
“YHWH is
near to all who call on him”
Psalm 145:18
Even though many
legends were created in people’s imaginations about these righteous men, one
thing is certain, they met GOD face to face, and that must have changed them
forever. These men came pagan, and returned Christians, to preach the news of
JESUS to the far lands of the East.
Omar Flores.
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