Posted on 12/15/2014 1:25:07 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Who were the Magi?
The Gospel of Matthew mentions the Magi who came from the East to worship the newborn Christ child (cf. Matthew 2:1-12). Exactly who the magi were though remains somewhat of a mystery.
Oftentimes, the English translations of the Bible use the word astrologers for magi. In Greek, the original language of the Gospel' the word magos (magoi, plural) has four meanings: (1) a member of the priestly class of ancient Persia, where astrology and astronomy were prominent in Biblical times; (2) one who had occult knowledge and power, and was adept at dream interpretation' astrology, fortune-telling, divination, and spiritual mediation; (3) a magician; or (4) a charlatan, who preyed upon people using the before mentioned practices. From these possible definitions and the description provided in the gospel, the magi were probably Persian priest-astrologers who could interpret the stars, particularly the significance of the star that proclaimed the birth of the Messiah. (Even the ancient historian Herodotus (d. 5 century BC) would attest to the astrological prowess of the priestly class of Persia.)
More importantly, the visit of the magi fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament: Balaam prophesied about the coming Messiah marked by a star: "I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob and a staff shall rise from Israel..." Psalm 72 speaks of how the Gentiles will come to worship the Messiah: "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay Him homage, all nations shall serve Him" (72:10-11). Isaiah also prophesied the gifts: "Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord" (Isaiah 60:6).
St. Matthew recorded that the Magi brought three gifts, each also having a prophetic meaning: gold, the gift for a king; frankincense the gift for a priest; and myrrh -- a burial ointment, a gift for one who would die. St. Irenaeus (d. 202) in his Adversus haereses offered the following interpretation for the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh respectively King, God, and Suffering Redeemer as well as virtue, prayer, and suffering.
Traditionally, we think of the three magi as the three kings. We usually have the three kings in our nativity sets' We even sing, "We three kings of orient are...." Here the three gifts, Psalm 72, and the rising star in the East converge to render the Magi as three kings travelling from the East.
Actually, the earliest tradition is inconsistent as to the number of the Magi. The Eastern tradition favored 12. In the West, several of the early Church fathers eluding Ongen, St. Leo the Great, and St. Maximus of Turin — accepted three. Early Christian painting in Rome found at the cemetery of Sts. Peter and Marcellinus depicts two magi and at the cemetary of St. Domitilla, four.
Since the seventh century in the Western Church, the magi have been identified as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. A work called the Excerpta et Collectanea attributed to St. Bede (d. 735) wrote, "The magi were the ones who gave gifts to tile Lord. The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair "d a long beard... who offered gold to the Lord as to a king. I he second> Gaspar by name, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned. . . honored Him as God by his gift of incense, an oblation worthy of divinity. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, named Balthasar. .. by his gift of myrrh testified to the Son of Man who was to die." An excerpt from a Medieval saints calendar printed in Cologne read, "Having undergone many trials and fatigues for the Gospel, the three wise men met at Sewa (Sebaste in Armenia) in AD 54 to celebrate the feast of Christmas. Thereupon, after the celebration of Mass, they died: St. Melchior on January 1, aged 116; St. Balthasar on January 6th, aged 112; and St. Gaspar on January 11th, aged 109." The Roman Martyrology also lists these dates as the Magi's respective feast days.
Emperor Zeno brought the relics of the magi from Persia to Constantinople in 490. Relics (whether the same or others) appeared in Milan much later and were kept at the Basilica of St. Eustorgius. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, who plundered Italy, took the lics to Cologne in 1162, where they remain secure to this day in a beautiful reliquary housed in the Cathedral.
Even though some mystery remains to the identity of the magi, the Church respects their act of worship: The Council of Trent, when underscoring the reverence that must be given to e Holy Eucharist, decreed, "The faithful of Christ venerate this most holy sacrament with the worship of latria which is due to the true God.... For in this sacrament we believe that the same God is present whom the eternal Father brought into the world, saying of Him, 'Let all God's angels worship Him.' It is the same God whom the Magi fell down and worshipped, and finally, the same God whom the apostles adored in Galilee as Scripture says" (Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist, 5).
As we celebrate Christmas and the Feast of the Epiphany, we too must be mindful of our duty to adore our Lord through prayer, worship, and self-sacrificing good work. St. Gregory Nazianzen (d. 389) preached, "Let us remain on in adoration, and to Him, who' in order to save us, humbled Himself to such a degree of poverty as to receive our body, let us offer not only incense, gold and myrrh..., but also spiritual gifts, more sublime than those which can be seen with the eyes" (Oratorio, 19).
- Fr. Saunders is pastor of Queen of Apostles Church in Alexandria.
LOL!
There is a tradition in India that the three wise men were actually Saints who perceived a blazing inner light in meditation when Jesus incarnated, and went to find its source, because they knew it represented the coming of an Avatar.
Like everything else, that Sanskrit word has been diminished in the West. What it actually means is an incarnation of God who comes to change all of human history.
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The singular would be magus.
First, I think there were complex family ties between the priestly class and the royal/noble class in Persia, so there might not have been much distinction between a magus and a prince.
Second, there was a readiness to see this historic incident as a fulfillment o the prophecy (in Psalm 72:10) about who among the Gentiles would be moved to greet the Messiah: "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute."
The bible doesn’t say anything more about these fellows after they left the scene. Or even if their worship contained a personal salvational acceptance. Sometimes we have to be satisfied with not knowing.
We do know one thing, to be living in this world is to still sin.
And these tributes sound now like they are waiting for the second coming to take place.
But even if not, a magus would be a king-maker. They might have been tasked by the kings they had appointed to bring gifts and pay honor to the baby Jesus.
Some of these details won’t be known until we go to heaven.
Hindu faith doesn’t have any problem with worshiping Jesus Christ as a small-g god. It’s His exclusivity claims they have a big theological problem with.
True, we don’t know. I wish I knew more about the (non-Biblical) history of the Jews. We have couple of books here on the shelf,I guess I should just back off from the keyboard pickup a book and study up!
The presence of Daniel in Persia during the first exile would have been a heavy influence on the culture of the area. They would have had copies of the Mosaic books and some prophets.
It’s written in the Bible that the stars were put there for signs, at least in part, so condemning every act that could be interpreted as astrology is apparently not correct. The Bible is full of signs in the sun, moon and stars as well as astrological symbols. I tend to think that the condemnation centers upon those who seek personal gain, like Herod, rather than those who seek God. Others will no doubt disagree, it’s a controversial topic.
I’d evaluate the question of whether you can have “Christian astrology” partly on how the people who observe it actually act. If they act like they are so smugly smart, it ain’t God behind it.
Very true, and yet to clarify, they don't specify Jesus alone as an exclusivity problem - they'd feel the same way towards exclusivity claims for Krishna or Rama or any other incarnation of God. Though many try to claim Hindus are pantheistic, this is simply not true. There is only one God to Hindus. But to them, that one infinite God incarnates in infinite ways and during all times to correct imbalances people have created in the world due to the abuse of their free will through the rejection of dharma, or the proper, divinely-taught way to live.
An Avatar, such as they see Jesus as, comes with the full force and power of God at their birth, and exists because humanity has become depraved to the point where the full force of the direction of the entire human race has to be changed or it will destroy itself. Avatars are rare, but when they come they literally create a new human race that is no longer the same as before they came, simply because of the power they released by their existence.
It’s also a difference between pantheism and monotheism.
A lack of humility does tend to indicate too much of a personal interest.
They were from Orientar. You know, like the song we used to sing, “We three kings of Orientar, as we walked we smoked a cigar...” Young people these days just don’t get the education we got back then.
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