Sermon seeds from The Magi by Pastor Andrew Marttinen
- "We three kings of Orient are." Matthew did not refer to the magi as kings. Kings like Herod were tyrants that destroyed every threat to power. Herod was greatly distressed by the magi's question - “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" Who were the magi in Bible times? Magicians, servants. The magi did not come to be known as kings until much later. Perhaps it seemed more worthy over time to be kings rather than magicians and astrologers.
- "We three kings of Orient are." Matthew did not refer to three magi. The number of magi were not referred to as 3 until approx 700 A.D. likely related to the three gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh. Before 700 there was a wide range of theories as to how many magi there were. We do not know how many magi there were from the Bible record.
- "We three kings of Orient are." Matthew makes no reference of where the magi come from. One current song refers to "Magi from the east came to Jerusalem." The reference to the East is likely the source for this. Matthew does not provide any insight into where the magi came from.
- "The wise men saw a light afar." Matthew does not refer to the magi as wise. In Matthew's time magi were likely seen as generally foolish, such as how Balaam's donkey was seen as smarter than he was (Numbers 22). Magi would have been seen as fraudulent holy men who could not interpret dreams such as in Daniel's time. The first reference to the magi as wise men appeared in the 8th century. The magi did not exercise wisdom when they asked Herod "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?" The magi were not considered wise by those they sought guidance from. They likely would have been labelled as fanatical.
There is no evidence the magi were kings. There is no evidence that there were exactly three magi. There is no evidence of exactly where the magi came from. There is no evidence that they were regarded generally as wise men. There is evidence that they would have been generally regarded as simple, fanatical, magicians and astrologers. It is these men who paid attention to a symbol they understood, who sought this baby out to worship Him from the a genuine place of adoration. This is a different wisdom than the world generally recognizes today. These are the simple and genuine magi.