Member-only story
What the Story of the Three Wise Men Really Means
It’s not just some guys showing up to see Jesus
“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him. Then they spread their treasures and presented Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”— Matthew 2:10–11
The story of the three wise men takes me back to my childhood when we would do the Christmas Eve Pageants and church. All the kids in our church would dress up as different characters from the Christmas story.
Mary and Joseph, shepherds and wise men, animals and angels, I can look back and see it so clearly in our minds.
However, when reading through this part of the Gospel of Matthew, I saw something for the first time that changed the way I knew this story. The story of the three wise men is very unusual. And today, I want to unpack that with you.
The Three Wise Men
First, the three wise men were from another county. It seems very interesting to me now that the people who would recognize the signs of the Messiah came from outside traditional Jewish traditions.
Then, there were the shepherds in the field. They were outcasts who may not have much training in Jewish…
