Magi. Wisemen. Mages from the East. Kings, perhaps. I’ve been thinking about these people who chose to make the journey to find a little baby in another country. They are really quite remarkable, these magi – but not because they were rich or wise. They are remarkable because they made the choice to set out on a journey of faith, not knowing exactly where that journey would take them, but committed to the journey none-the-less.
To understand their journey of faith, let’s take a step back and review a few details about this story. First of all, remember that the best question to ask of any Biblical story is ‘Why did people choose to tell this story and to record this story for future generations?’ Asking, ‘Did it really happen this way?’ doesn’t serve us. Asking, ‘Why was this story told?” leads us deeper into our own faith journey. So “why was this story told?” Let’s consider that.
The Greek word translated “wisemen” is magoi, or magi, or mages – from which we get our word magician. But these wise-ones were the scientists of their day, seeking to understand the world around them and the skies above them, rather than people who did magic tricks.