The Missing Magi

Tonight Bailey and I are going to set up our little ceramic nativity scene, festively, on top of the microwave (it’s the only place in the house where Mason can’t get a hold of the pieces).

Almost every year, when people come by the house during the holiday season, someone inevitably says, “You forgot the Wise Men.” The reason for the lack of Wise Men is not due to forgetfulness, but rather it is due to biblical accuracy.

See, it’s a common misconception that the Wise Men (aka: the Magi) were present at the birth of baby Jesus. In fact, they didn’t show up until after Jesus, Mary and Joseph were back in their own home.

For those curious, the Christian bible says this of those three Wise Men:

“¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

. . .⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matthew 2:1,2 & 9-11 (NIV)

What’s the point of having a representation of a biblical event, if you misrepresent the event itself?

Related posts:

1. Only in New York…
2. Holy spam, Batman!
3. On that same religious note
4. Lord of the Rings racist?
5. On Larry King and New Jersey

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