Christmas in Perspective -The Wise Men's Story

Growing up, I always thought the wise men were just these three random guys who were really smart. But then I heard that they were kings. So that made a little more sense. They were rich, smart dues. But then I heard that they were Magi. What on earth is a Magi? Well, apparently a Magi is something like an astrologer. People who studied star patterns and what not. Okay, so they were three smart, rich dudes who liked the outdoors. But then they added something else. We don't actually know there were three of them. That's just a guess based on the three presents.

At this point in my life I was just like "enough with it already." Let's just agree on the fact that these were important people from the East who brought sweet presents. So that is what we are going to go with today. And for the sake of peace, we will assume there were three of them. 

We are first introduced to the wise men as they pull up in Jerusalem.

They get off their camels, buy a coke, and ask the nearest man, 

"Hey, where is the King of the Jews that was born recently? We were following that there star, well, you can't see it right now, but you could earlier. Anyway, the star that we can sometimes see if supposedly in the direction of the baby if we're correct. So all that summed up, do you know where this baby king is?"

The guy is thinking to himself, 

"I think these 'wise men' were riding in the desert too long." 

But instead he says, 

"Okay, here's the deal. I have no idea what you are talking about, but you seem like pretty important people so I'll talk to a friend I have who has a friend who has a friend who has an uncle who's grandpa met the king once. Maybe we can get you a meeting with him."

Well, apparently the grandpa and the king were still close, so the wise men ate supper with the king that night. They asked him the same thing. 

"Hey, where is the King of the Jews that was born recently? We were following that there star, well, you can't see it right now, but you could earlier. Anyway, the star that we can sometimes see if supposedly in the direction of the baby if we're correct. So all that summed up, do you know where this baby king is?"

Now I can't help but laugh when I think about this. I kind of wonder how "wise" these wise men were. Here they are in Jerusalem asking where a king is that could potentially overthrow this king. Either they were fearless or clueless. Well after a while the king says, "I'll tell you what. You go visit this king. Have a good time. Just make sure to come back and tell me where he is so that uh...i can kill....i mean worship him to!" 

The wise men are like "oh, yeah. okay. ha. this is a pretty cool king here in Jerusalem. I'd be ticked if 3 rich wise star dudes came into my country looking for a new king. In fact, i would probably tell them to tell me where he was so i could kill...i mean worship him. Good thing this king isn't like that."

So the wise men are back on the road again. Half way to Bethlehem they stop and look around. The small, chubby wise man speaks first. 

"Uh....does anyone know where we are." 

The tall thin one says, 

"Uh....no." 

The medium one says, 

"When was the last time someone saw the star?" 

The short chubby guy looks downward. 

"I never actually saw it. Jimmy (the tall thin one) is the one who pointed it out to me but...my eyes aren't very good." 

"Great!" said Jack (the medium one). "Not only are we lost, but only one of us knows what the star even looks like." 

Jimmy looked at Jack. 

"And that's you right?" 

Harry (the short chubby one) rolled his eyes. 

"I thought you saw it Jack?" 

"Well...I thought I did. But then it flew away. So i think it might have just been a firefly." 

"We've been following a firefly all this way?" 

"Well I didn't realize it until last night!"

The three "wise"men sat on their camels, dejected. But then, all of the sudden, Harry began to laugh. "What is it?" Jimmy and Jack asked. But then they saw it too. One star up above began to shine 10 times more brilliantly than the rest. Harry began to chuckle like a very strange person might chuckle (use your imagination). "Cool." And so the three wise men continued on their journey until they came to the house of Joseph and Mary. 

Now these three wise men had visited many kings before, even baby ones. They knew the usual routine of presenting gifts, kneeling, etcetera. And then they would leave feeling quite proud of being important enough to be invited to the King's palace.

But something was different about this baby boy. He was wearing simple simple clothing. His parents lived in a shack, and they were most definitely not royalty. The father was a carpenter for crying out loud. What were they even doing here? They thought this was supposed to be the most special king of all time, but he looked more than the king of the poor at best. 

That's when Harry fell to his knees, his eyes locked on the baby's. Jimmy followed suite and then Jack. You see, much like the star had suddenly appeared before their eyes. The message of this baby boy suddenly appeared in their hearts. No book they had read or constellation they had studied would ever have prepared them for this moment. Whether the baby had put this feeling in them, or God, or what. Somehow, they suddenly just knew. This baby. This poor, humble baby, was going to save the world. He was going to save them. They didn't know how, whether by sword or word or love or what. But they just knew he was going to save it. 

And so, for the first time in their lives, these three kings not only kneeled, but bowed before this king in complete humility. 

"Gold I bring." said Harry. 

"Frankincense," said Jack. 

"And myrrh," said Jimmy. 

They knelt there for a long time, awestruck by the scene. A child had come for the rich, that he might bring them to their knees. And for Jimmy, Jack, and Harry...being on their knees felt quite comfortable. 

However, being as how much the three kings were still fond of that Jerusalem king and were completely oblivious to his plan to kill the baby boy, and angel appeared to them in a dream, and told them to go a different way. Maybe the three kings suddenly realized how treacherous the king was. Maybe they complained about not being able to see that nice king again. But mostly...I think they were talking about the baby boy who had brought them to their knees.