Real Hope: The Meaning of ChristmasSýnishorn

Wise-Guys And The Star Of Christmas

Their scrolls bundled up in calf-skin tubes, the three wise men mount up and goad their camels into their awkward gallop in gleeful anticipation of meeting the King of the Jews. Some time later, they locate the King (after a quick detour via the palace of the menacing Herod) to present the babe their exotic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

What if I were to tell you that much of our understanding of these three famous figures isn’t found in the Bible? For starters, we don’t know there were three. We draw that from the three gifts. Some biblical scholars believe there could have been up to twelve! What about their names then? Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Surely they’re in the Gospel accounts? No. These names come to us from other sources. Well, they definitely knelt before the baby Jesus, surely? Well, Matthew (the only Gospel that records the wise men story, incidentally) doesn’t actually confirm Jesus as a newborn baby either.  

I don’t recall who opened my eyes to what the Bible doesn’t say about these gift-giving gents, but I can still feel the churning realization that I’d been duped! Sharing these feelings with my youth pastor at the time, he smiled and asked: "Who is the real star of your story Dwayne? The wise-guys on camels or God now among us in a shape we can see, kiss, touch, and adore?"

This Christmas, once again, I’m peering around the kneeling wise ones to look into the eyes of God among us. A warm smile spreads across my face. The kind of smile that erupts out of "exceeding joy." 

God. With. Us.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES