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The Visit of the Three Wise Men to the town of Bethlehem was quite unexpected. Such important men seldom had reason to travel to this small city. The arrival of their extensive caravan should have caused quite a stir of excitement within the population, but oddly, the people of Bethlehem were much more excited about an event that had happened during the time of the gathering of all citizens and owners |
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of property required to report for a census demanded by the Roman governors of the region. So, when the three foreign kings arrived, there was hardly more than a ripple of surprise among the townspeople. It had already been a time of many surprising events for the little town of Bethlehem. These Three Kings had followed a beautiful, bright star in the heavens, traveling many, many miles from their own lands, knowing that it's appearance was a portent of some great event. What they found under the star must have seemed remarkable to them. They discovered a tiny baby boy, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a humble manger bed, nestled in clean, sweet smelling straw. He and his Mother and earthly Father were living in the stable of a wayfarer's Inn, far removed from the comfort of a palace... and yet, the Kings felt compelled to fall upon their knees and adore this child. Small children were most generally of little importance to such wise, learned, important men, but something about this Child and His serene young Mother caused them to give pause. They had traveled for many days, carrying valuable gifts to offer, in case the star led to an important new leader for this troubled part of the world. After they had observed the Baby Jesus, who was causing a great excitement among the humble shepherds in the hills around the city, they presented the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the young family. And then the Three Wise Men departed for their homes by a circuitous route to avoid passing near Jerusalem and giving the news of this amazing child to the Roman leader of the area, King Herod.
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| And now, over 2000 years later, much of the Christian world extends the celebration of Christmas forward until January 6, in order to commemorate the visit of the Three Kings. Regardless of how historically accurate it may (or may not) be, it is still a lovely way to make the Joy of Christmas last for a while longer.
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