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Three Wise Men? Maybe Not Wise Men’s Gifts to Jesus Cause Confusion The Magi: Kings or Astronomers? Did the Wise Men Even Visit Jesus as a Baby?
Stan Wayne [12/28/2015 10:28 PM]
Tiresome
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 6:26 AM]
The wise men were wise!
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 8:53 AM]
YOUR TAKE – Go Corey Forsyth Ricky Grimsley John Conger Timothy Carter John Ruffle Charles Page
John Ruffle [12/29/2015 8:59 AM]
Looking at the stars was the only way to physically ponder beyond our own solar system. The Magi could easily have arrived in Bethlehem: it depends upon when they commenced their journey. I think astronomy and astrology were closely inter-related as the scientific method was not yet invented. I do believe there was deep significance in their homage and in their gifts. But I don’t want to be over-dogmatic about it.
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 9:00 AM]
were they magi or kings John Ruffle
John Ruffle [12/29/2015 9:01 AM]
My read in is they were Magi
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 9:01 AM]
new revised catholic translation?
John Conger [12/29/2015 9:03 AM]
Not as a baby.
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 9:04 AM]
John Conger you think it was 2 yrs later? Based on what?
Stan Wayne [12/29/2015 9:09 AM]
Too silly – obviously Magi are Magi are Magi and almost as obvious is that they were prepared by Daniel for this :
“Then the king made Daniel great, …and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.”
Daniel 2:48 ASV
“Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.”
Daniel 9:25 ASV
Ricky Grimsley [12/29/2015 9:40 AM]
It was was later because the wise men came to “the house”. Herod killed children two years and younger. They saw the star when jesus was born and then they started walking obviously they didnt make it to bethlehem in one day.
Ricky Grimsley [12/29/2015 9:44 AM]
Matthew 2:11 KJVS
[11] And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Corey Forsyth [12/29/2015 9:53 AM]
Well based on my nativity scene next to the Christmas tree, the wise men stood opposite the shepherds. Jesus was still a newborn so they must have gotten there quickly…
Based on Herod’s decree to kill children 2 years and younger, it seems rather obvious that Jesus was around that age when the magi showed up. Since social media wasn’t around, we can be certain that Jesus’ birth wasn’t plastered all over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so news travelled somewhat slower than it does today. Like John Ruffle, I also believe the gifts had significance in their symbolism.
Ricky Grimsley [12/29/2015 10:43 AM]
What always seems odd to me is that a “star” led them.
John Conger [12/29/2015 11:01 AM]
Question is: was the star the Holy Ghost?
John Conger [12/29/2015 11:02 AM]
I can’t see how anyone believes the wise men were at the Manger
John Conger [12/29/2015 11:03 AM]
Kinda like the dying on wedn3sday. Seems elementary
John Kissinger [12/29/2015 11:13 AM]
yes they were John Conger
Mark Tague [12/29/2015 6:25 PM]
Read the prophecies from Balaam and Balak’s interaction to find the star in question.
Timothy Carter [12/29/2015 11:20 PM]
The article said :
However, the magi, at least described by Ben Witherington, New Testament professor for doctoral studies at Asbury Theological Seminar, told RNS his definition of these revered men — one that certainly doesn’t encapsulate the word “king.”
“Magi were astrologers,” he said. “They were normally counselors to kings and priests, and hence considered wise men, able to read the signs of the skies and the times.”
My Question:
Are the men here in Matt 16 “Magi”- “hence considered wise men, able to read the signs of the skies and the times.”
Is this related to Jesus statement?
and in the morning, A storm to-day, for the sky is red [and] lowering; ye know [how] to discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot the signs of the times (Matt 16: 3 Darby).
John Conger [12/30/2015 11:02 AM]
Good points. Maybe was an angel if not the holy spirit. I never gave it much thought
John Kissinger [12/30/2015 9:45 PM]
John Ruffle [12/31/2015 12:44 AM]
Only Matt and Luke highlight the Nativity. Matt 2:1 “Now after Jesus was born…” (v7) “… then Herod … determined from (the magi) what time the star apeared.” So all we know here is that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem AFTER the birth of Jesus. How long after we do not know. (v16) “(Herod) sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in BETHLEHEM and all its districts.” (Emphasis added). From Matt account, it would appear that the magi arrived where Jesus was while the Holy Family were still in Jerusalem during the days of purification. I’ll deal with the Lukan account below.
John Ruffle [12/31/2015 12:58 AM]
Luke has the Holy Family returning to Nazareth (2:39) with no mention of the slaughter of the innocents or the Magi at all. Luke adds that “(Jesus’) parents went to Jerusalem every year …” (2:41). Now, this does not preclude the flight into Egypt, it just shows that Luke has chosen not to mention this part of the narrative at all. He may have realised that it would be impossible to include part of that narrative without going into the full details (given Luke’s very precise mind) and he might not have been able to verify every aspect of its sources, so opted to remain silent. Here, what Luke does not tell us is as important as what he does. I’m certainly NOT going to question the accuracy and the inspiration of both accounts, and will not accommodate the view that does is conflict here. I don’t fully understand it, but that dies not allow me to disbelieve. What I have not done at this point is to look at the Church tradition re. the Nativity. This is because most here would probably opt to discount extra-Biblical tradition, and so I am respecting that viewpoint. But from the Scripture alone, it would appear reasonable to suggest that the Magi arrived at a house in Bethlehem within a couple of weeks of Jesus’ birth (although someone may wish to consider the Greek for the words “young child”. That might settle things once and for all. Well … for THIS year, anyhow!) Hope this helps! ?
John Kissinger [12/31/2015 6:43 AM]
“The possibility that one or more of the magi were female cannot be excluded completely,” said a governing committee that has tweaked 68 other prayers included in the revised book of worship. The committee retained ‘magi’ on the grounds that the visitors were not necessarily wise, and not necessarily men.”
The decision to adopt what a spokesman calls a more “gender-neutral” term has riled those who say the 27.5 million-member church the mother church of Episcopal congregations in the United States is bowing to feminists in the name of political correctness, and altogether misinterpreting the account of Matthew 2:1 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/feb/11/20040211-121228-7836r/?page=all
