Today is Epiphany, the commemoration of the visit of the Three Wise Men. They saw the Star of Bethlehem, and came to give the child Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Not too much is known about the Three Wise Men. Only Matthew mentioned them in the Bible. The evangelist Matthew referred to these men as “astrologers from the east.” They were called “magoi” in Greek versions of the Book of Matthew, so they got the nickname of “The Magi.” Maybe some people figured they were “kings” because they were bold enough to demand an audience with Herod, the Quisling whom the Romans used to rule the Jews. Biblical scholars figure they came from Babylon or from Persia, because the learned men of these countries knew how to chart the stars.
But like many things in the Bible, the precise trivia about the Wise Men isn’t as important as why they did what they did. As Matthew has it, the three saw the star, journeyed to Israel, demanded an audience with Herod, and said, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.”
Herod “became greatly disturbed, and with him all of Jerusalem.” (Actually, most of the people of Jerusalem could care less. Only those close to the government — much like the parasite class of lawyers, lobbyists, aides, and bureaucrats inside the Washington Beltway — had any cause to worry.) Herod had fathered many sons by many wives, but had many of them killed because he was paranoid. So a “newborn King of the Jews” in his mind meant his “rule” and his “line” was going to come to a bad end. And well he knew the end could come for him at any time … he owed his power to his willingness to do the bidding of the Romans, and the Roman emperor could put someone else on the throne of Israel with no trouble. Most Jews despised Herod because he was a bootlicking pagan who had essentially abandoned the faith of the people (he was an Idumean whose people were converts to Judaism), and a backstabber who had the last of the Maccabees put to death. Even though Herod had the Temple rebuilt, most Jews saw him for the corrupt little puppet he was.
Herod summoned the chief priests and scribes, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born. Quoting the prophet Micah, they said the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, a little town within walking distance of Jerusalem. Herod told the Three Wise Men they would find the newborn king of the Jews in Bethlehem, and asked them to give directions on how to find the child so he too could pay him homage.
The Wise Men didn’t know it just then, but Herod, having an evilly shrewd mind, figured he would get them to find the child for them, tell him how to find the child, and make it easy for him to have his guards kill the little boy. However, they eventually did get the word on what a louse Herod was, and they would visit Jesus and leave Israel without checking back with the insecure scumbag.
At any rate, the Wise Men went to Bethlehem, and found the moving star had stopped over a little house. They went inside, and found the infant Jesus with Mary. They were overjoyed at finding Jesus, and they prostrated themselves before him, doing Him homage. They then opened their coffers and presented the Christ Child with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
As the old carol “We Three Kings” explained it so nicely, one wise man gave Jesus gold because it was used for the crown of a king, one wise man gave Jesus frankincense because it was used in the worship of God, and one wise man gave Jesus myrrh because it was used to embalm the dead. In giving these gifts, the Three Wise men recognized Jesus was God, that He would suffer death to redeem people for their sins, and that He would rule as King of the people after His resurrection.
Mom and Dad had a Christmas album that Perry Como had recorded. On the really great side of the record, Perry told the story of the first Christmas. Every so often, Como or the other singers would sing a verse or carol that would illustrate the part of the narrative he was speaking. When it came time for Como to talk about the Magi , he introduced them as three shadowy strangers cloaked in suitable mystery, and asked, “Who were these men traveling on camels from afar?” Then three older men sang a verse of “We Three Kings.”
Of course I loved that album when I was a little boy, and I still love it today. As a little boy, I was captivated by the way Perry and the other singers made the Christmas narrative come to life for me. As an adult, I can tell Como, by the way he talked and sang, recorded the holy carols and the Nativity narrative on that album as if they meant something to him. The secular carols on the other side of the album he kind of walked through with his casual style, but the holy carols and narrative he really put his heart and soul into.
Como’s album could have been the plastic garbage that merchants pass off as “holiday spirit.” Instead, he worked to make it a real tribute to the birth of Our Lord. Likewise, The Three Wise Men traveled a great distance and brought valuable gifts because “the newborn King of the Jews” was someone worthy of such homage and such effort. And isn’t Christmas — and the whole rich spiritual and emotional life of Christianity — all about giving of oneself, which is what the Wise Men did?
As a bonus, January 6 is the day Joan of Arc was born, in 1412, in the village of Domremy in Lorraine near Germany.
France was divided between the English and what was left was in the unsteady hands of the crown prince. Since his mother the Queen was promiscuous and the King was not in his right mind, there was talk he was a bastard and he believed it.
Joan persuaded the local warlord her call from God to lead the French was true when she predicted a defeat for the French. When word reached the warlord, he ordered some of his men to join the two knights who swore fealty to her. The party of 25 or so reached the place in central France where the crown prince and his frivolous court were. The courtiers tried to trick her by having the crown prince hide in the court crowd while an impostor sat on his throne. Joan picked the crown prince (the Dauphin) out, and quietly told him it was revealed to her his father was the old King, and he was of legitimate birth and by right the next king of France.
The ladies of the court checked her for virginity, verified she was intact, and reported this to the court. A priest from the Inquisition questioned her, determined she was pure, faithful, blessed, and send by God. The crown prince reluctantly put her in charge of his small army.
Joan worked relentlessly to win over her generals and clean up the behavior of her men. She was practical as well. When they assumed her presence would guarantee them victory, she said they would still have to fight bravely and well and earn it. She had the officers and NCOs train the men better and she exhorted them to live better lives to be worthy of God’s promise of liberty and unity for the French.
In 1429, Joan led the army to several victories and had the crown prince crowned King of France in the cathedral of Rheims. She then begged to be discharged, because she hoped to marry and raise a family. The king and his court kept her in limbo. His ministers sold out the French by negotiating treasonably with the English, and her army was disbanded.
Burgundians (French allies of the British) captured Joan in a skirmish in 1430, and sold her to the English. Her king made no attempt to ransom her. Joan escaped twice but was recaptured. A disgusting French bishop had her falsely accused and tried for sorcery and a number of other crimes. A Hell-bound English nobleman raped her in prison, and some of the guards tried to do likewise, the vermin. Then they burned her alive in the town square of Rouen in Normandy on May 30, 1431. Joan died with the name of Jesus on her lips. She was only 19 when her soul winged its way to Heaven.
Joan’s work led the way to the establishment of France as a nation state. A girl born in Spain 20 years later, Isabella of Castile, would make her homeland a nation-state by marrying prince Fernando of Aragon, merging their realms, and fighting together to throw the Moslem invaders out of the Iberian Peninsula. They received the surrender of the last Islamic stronghold, Granada, on January 3, 1492. Later that year, Isabella sent Christopher Columbus in search of a short-cut to China, and he instead would find the New World.
Joan as a devout Catholic would have welcomed seeing the triumph of the Cross in the nation south of her own, by a queen young enough to be her granddaughter. Isabella the warrior queen would have been honored to have the peasant girl from Lorraine be her mentor in combat.
Scribes wrote down the transcript of the trial which cost Joan her life. They noted the black-clad booted teenager with black hair worn in a pageboy cut was bold and insolent and wise even without being allowed a lawyer to represent her before the sham trial. Only a priest from the Inquisition tried to intercede on Joan’s behalf, and the corrupt bishop and the English blocked him.
After the French won the Hundred Years War in the 1450s, Joan’s elderly mother petitioned the Pope to have her daughter’s name cleared. The Pope authorized a trial and had the survivors of Joan’s officer corps, those still alive who knew her, to include her brothers who nearly died in combat trying to save her from capture, come to Paris and testify. The tribunal’s officers even made the survivors of the fraudulent court that condemned her come to Paris and testify.
These judges cleared Joan of wrongdoing and declared her a woman of faith and virtue who did the work of God. Scribes also wrote down the testimony of witnesses and the interrogations by the officers of the court.
The actual trial documents of both trials, made of parchment, exist today in the National Archives of France. The custodians of these records have made copies of them and translated the medieval Latin into French. They are public records.
Of course, the Epiphany text of the Gospel of Matthew is a much better known public record, which the custodians of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches kept since its writing, so it would be available to all.
The officers of Joan of Arc spoke of her goodness and purity, her kindness and even her crush on one of their brother officers. She backed off when she found out he was married, but still called him little pet names she didn’t call the other officers. The officer in question, the Duke D’Alencon, told the court Joan told his wife it was revealed to her (Joan) he would come home safe from the wars to her (the wife). He also testified she was pure and did nothing unseemly.
The officers also testified Joan had the bravest men of the nation under her command, but behaved herself even though she was a normal young woman who enjoyed men and wanted to be married. The transcript of the rehabilitation trial preserved this testimony. Who better to testify than the people who worked for Joan who could say what a wonderful person she was?
Likewise with Matthew. He was one of Christ’s 12 Apostles. Christ saved Matthew from the corruption of tax collecting. Matthew didn’t witness the visit of the Magi, but talked to those still alive who did witness it and who knew about Herod’s slaughter of the innocents. Matthew could read and write, figure, and assess. Who better to note the visit of the Magi and other acts of Christ’ life than him?
The Three Wise Men set good example for us all and gave us one of our most joyous customs — the custom of giving gifts to those we love. Epiphany is truly a holiday worthy of celebration!
Thank God for these people who recorded the glorious truth so it could light our lives!
SHERLOCK JUSTICE
WE CAN SHOW YOU HOW TO BE YOUR OWN DETECTIVE.
