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[Don't Bother]

Matthew 2:1-2 The three wise men? Were they Zoroastrian?

Jesus was visited by wise men as a child and received gifts from them. They claimed to have received a prophecy from God to come to Jerusalem. The Latin vulgate describes the men as “magi from the East.” Magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion, popular in the eastern empire of Persia.

Were these men truly magi? Why would people of a different faith celebrate Jesus? Was magi just an expression?

[jimwalton]

Originally a Median tribe, the Magi were a hereditary priesthood, often possessing great political power, in the Median, Babylonian, Persian, and Parthian empires. Their religion recognized the primacy of the elements: earth, air, fire, and water. They recognized only personal gods and did not worship images.

Why did they come to celebrate Jesus? There was a magian belief that a star could be the “fravashi,” the counterpart or angel (Cf. Mt. 18.10) of a great man. Abbott writes, "The ancients regarded any peculiarly bright star as a portent of the advent of some great personage, and they also believed that at death their heroes migrated into some star." Robertson shares: "Seneca (Epistle 58.31 ) tells of Magians who offered sacrifices in Athens upon knowledge of the death of Plato. Cicero (De Divin. i.47 ) refers to the constellation from which, on the birth night of Alexander the Great, Magians foretold that the curse of Asia was born."

It is interesting that the very first characters to appear in Matthew's narrative after the birth of Jesus are Gentiles. They come from the land of deportation: Babylon. The magi represent the pagan nations. They were astrologers, scheming politicians (see Dan. 2)—basically witches. When God invites people to come to him, whosoever will may come: prostitutes (see the genealogy in chapter 1), women, peasants, shepherds, and even the most pagan of Gentiles. Matthew is letting us know that God's mission was towards the Gentiles right from the beginning of his ministry. (Cf. also Lk. 2.23; Acts 26.22-23.) This story is an illustration of John 1.11-12. Follow with Mt. 3.9, and then Mt. 4.12-17, fulfilling the prophecy of Isa. 9.1-2.