Some Thoughts on the Wise Men

A careful consideration of the query of the wise men in the audience of Herod yields an important thing about them. They were not soothsayers or astrologers who ascertained the meanings in things by the kinds of spurious means of horoscopes or wizardry. They did not approach Herod because they were hoping he could help them decipher the meaning in the heavens. They, rather, were confident: we have seen his star in the East and are come to worship him. No idle speculation detectable there. They knew already that the star was his, was Christ’s. And they also knew already that he was worthy of their worship.

They knew this because it had been revealed to them in Sacred Scripture. They knew the prophecy of Balaam: a star shall come out of Jacob; a scepter shall rise out of Israel. What they didn’t know was where in Israel he would be found, so they went to Jerusalem to find out. And again they were led by the Scriptures, from Micah:  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

What we are compelled to emulate in these men is not some astrological aptitude, therefore, but a determination to follow the Sacred Scriptures, and in turn to be led to the Christ Child to worship him.