Wise Men Myths and Why We Sometimes Believe Things That Are Simply Not True

And let me just cut to the chase.

We sometimes believe things that are simply not true (like in a big-bellied man in a red suit who can fit down a chimney at Christmas time?).

And there are many reasons why we sometimes believe in what is false.

Probably the number one reason is we never really take the time to look into what we’re being told to see if it measures up. We just receive it at face-value.

I mean, our parents would never lie to us, would they? (Maybe I should have used the word, “fib”?)

THREE WISE MEN?

And then there’s the Christmas story itself and the so called “Wise Men” in particular.

First of all, there were only three (“Magi”), right? (Matthew 2:1-2) We equate the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh as indicating only three gift-givers? (Matthew 2:11)

And then, of course, the song, “We Three Kings of Orient Are” couldn’t be wrong, could it?

And then we see all the pictures and church plays where the Wise Men present their gifts to Jesus as He lay in the manger. And there are typically just three of them (Wise Men) there (probably because it’s too expensive for costumes for more than that?).

And they (the “three” Wise Men) are there at the manger. But were they really there? The Gospel of Matthew 2:11 says, “After coming into the house they (the Wise Men) saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him.” A “house” is different than a cave or barn or feeding trough.

And then when you consider why would Herod kill the male children 2-years old and under unless it had been approximately some time after Christ was born that the Magi appeared? (Matthew 2:16) It is believed that the Wise Men (more than three) didn’t appear until many days (up to 2 years?) later after the manger scene.

And for those who believe the “star” the Wise Men followed was a flying saucer (UFO) appearing here and there and at different times, well…

And the bottom line here is not to somehow wreck tradition and cause conflict (I’m really okay with there being only three Wise Men in Christmas plays and especially for budget purposes). Instead, it’s a challenge to care about and be committed to the truth above all else.

(The Magi picture above is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license: click here.)