Real Christmas

He was an evil tyrant.

In fact, just as the names Stalin and Hitler today are synonymous with evil rule, Herod the Great was infamous for his crimes against his Jewish subjects. Herod himself was not Jewish, of course. His heritage and family were Idumeans, far from Judea in distance and very different in culture.

Herod the Great was a self-absorbed king and he was forever suspicious of political opposition. He once executed his own wife and several sons of people he suspected were plotting against him. He heavily taxed his people to support his lavish lifestyle. And before he died, he directed that a number of well-known Jewish individuals be slain on the day of his death to ensure that people would actually mourn on that day.

The arrival of high-profile visitors who came to worship a king other than Herod must have been most disturbing to him. He hastily called his priests and experts in Jewish scripture to determine what this all meant. They told him that ancient prophecy predicted the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and that the Child was destined to be a ruler over Israel.

With evil designs in his heart, King Herod called the Magi before him. He told them that the Messiah was born in the city of Bethlehem. He instructed them to find the Child. “Go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” But worship was never clearly the intent of the request.

Following the star once again, the Magi traveled to Bethlehem, located the house of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, described now as a “young child” . There they worshipped the Child and gave unto him their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Magi, though evil in the eyes of Herod, made a lasting impression upon humanity with their Christmas quest. Though predicted in ancient scripture, the modern world is left to wonder who the Magi really were and why their pilgrimage had to take place.

The word “magi” comes from ancient Greek and Persian terminology referring to scholars and priests. In biblical times, these learned, respected holy men were commonly found in countries of what we call today the Middle East.

Common history identifies them as students of astronomy and astrology, and skilled in the interpretation of dreams and philosophy. Officially, many magi served in advisory capacities to kings and rulers. They were prolific writers and many their teachings survived to be an influence upon later Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. The magi were practiced magicians and experts in divination. The English word “magic” is derived from the ancient word “magi”.

Some believe the Magi had their beginnings in an ancient religion known as Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrians believed in the coming of a savior known as a saoshyant. In fact, they believed there were three saoshyants, Zoroaster being but the first. The third, or greatest of them all, would be born to a virgin mother and his exploits would include total defeat of the forces of evil, resurrection of the dead, termination of old age and renewal of the earth.

All of these known historical factors fit nicely with elements of the Christmas story as told by Matthew. As believers in a saoshyant they could accept the idea of a savior. As astronomers, they would have knowledge of the night sky and be able to determine significant celestial events. As astrologers they might have been practiced in reading the skies for a sign through the rising of an unusual star. And as interpreters of dreams, they understood fully the warning of the danger and evil designs of Herod the Great. But for all the efforts that historians and scientists make to justify the journey of the wisemen it cannot be discounted that they were driven by forces beyond stars and science.

For students of the scriptures the wise men could only be described as faithful. Their quest was spiritually driven. They could see the star when others could not. They knew enough of prophecy to fulfill it with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrhh. They too, like their brethren on the continents of the Americas who knew through recorded scripture of the prophecies of the Messiah and experienced his birth in their own land, were likely just “other sheep”, as Jesus later described. And though unlearned and unqualified — much like the shepherds abiding in the fields watching over their flocks by night — the Magi were called to participate in the great story.

Regardless of who they really were, they ultimately knew that they were in trouble. Upon falling asleep after presenting themselves before the Christ Child they were told in a dream to avoid going back to Jerusalem because of the evil designs of the King.Herod, of course, eventually found out the Magi had given him the slip. In a rage, he ordered all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem and “in all the coasts thereof” to be put to death.