Wise Men Came

As Christmas season is upon us many families decorate for the season.  I'd be surprised to learn of any family that decorated where their decorations didn't include a nativity set.  In our house we have somewhere around 10 or 15 nativities, including one that we keep especially so the grandkids can play with it.  Families put out their nativities, both inside and outside their homes.  The church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) came out this year with a new nativity video called "The Christ Child".  This depiction of the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures is set apart from other renditions of the Nativity by several things done in connection with the making of this movie. One of the things the church did was to attempt to relate the story accurately, as expressed in the scriptures.  Attention was given to the story of these real people participating in this real event.  The makers of the movie consulted historians and biblical scholars in an attempt to portray the events in an accurate setting, with the people's dress, the language, and the atmosphere as it might actually have been at the time in ancient Israel. Actors were selected with the age and ethnicity in mind of the people they would portray. Even the actors went to the effort of preparing themselves for their roles.  This effort resulted in some aspects of the story being portrayed differently than in some previous tellings of the Nativity, such as the story of "no room in the inn", the animal stall in which Christ was born, the shepherds, or the wise men's encounter with the Christ child.  Even the dialogue was in Aramaic, the language actually spoken in Israel at the time, so as not to distract from the events being portrayed.  I love it, it portrays the story much closer to how I have imagined it to have unfolded.

One of the things I most liked, was most touched by in the story, was the wise men.  Not a lot is known about the wise men.  If it weren't for the Gospel of Mathew, we wouldn't know at all of their visit.  Matthew's account (Matthew 2:1-13) does not give us much detail about them.  He didn't say how many there were, and only that they came "from the east".  Matthew says they followed the star to to come to where "the young child" was.  Tradition disagrees as to how many there were, who they were, and where they came from.  Over the years I have given a lot of thought to the wise men, who they were, and how they came to make the journey to Israel and bring their gifts to the young Christ child.  During His mortal ministry, Christ referred to "other sheep"  he needed to visit (John 10:16).  As Christ visited the American continent He spoke of still needing to visiting the other tribes of Israel whom the Father had lead away (3 Nephi 3:1-3).  I have always imagined that the wise men were from those others of the House of Israel that had been lead away.  They would have also been watching for the sign of the Savior's birth, the new star, and would have been elated when it finally appeared.  I don't doubt they were as much in anticipation as the Nephites were, waiting in anticipation, night after night, for the sign which, no doubt, had been prophesied among them in a similar manner as it had been among the Nephites (Helaman 14:2-7).

I would not be surprised at all if there were those who were anxiously awaiting the sign, the new star, planning on making the trip to Bethlehem, ready to go and waiting only for the star to appear before leaving. I don't doubt they were far enough east that the trip would have taken a very long time.  I liked how the movie portrayed them navigating across the continent, following the new star.

And, at last, they came to the city under the star

I have never imagined these wise men as having accidentally stumbled upon the Christ child, or men who went at the spur of the moment.  I think of them as prophets, or at least sent by prophets, knowing full well who they were going to see.  They would have approached the little family full of respect and reverence.  These would have been men like Simeon (Luke 2:25-32), "just and devout men, waiting for the consolation of Israel, on whom was the Holy Ghost."

Simeon met the Christ child as an infant.  By the time the wise men made their way from the far east, the Christ child would have been a toddler.  Matthews account of the visit of the wise men refers to Christ as a "young child" nine times; He was no longer an infant.

And yet, these wise men knew exactly who they were meeting.

 This was no ordinary child.

This was Emmanuel, the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Messiah, Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One of Israel, the Lamb of God.

I can readily see the wise men hardly able to contain their emotions.  Here, at long last, was the Christ child, God among men, here to perfect the atonement, to open the door and release the prisoners, and bring exaltation to all that are willing to take hold and live the way He taught.  They were seeing the "Condescension of God", not in a vision but it actuality, right before them. The event awaited by all the prophets and peaceable followers of Christ since before the earth was made was happening. The events that were the foundation of the entire Plan of Happiness were unfolding, moving inextricably toward the culmination on the cross. As President Gordon B. Hinckley reminded us, "There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection." (The Wondrous and True Story of Christmas, December,2000 Ensign)  I don't doubt that they, as Simeon, may have been moved and felt to say "Now let thy servant[s] depart in peace, according to thy word, for [our] eyes have seen thy salvation." (Luke 2:29, 30).

The time will come when we will have the record of the lost tribes of Israel (2 Nephi 29:11-14, D&C 133:26-33).  No doubt we will find then the other side of the story of the wise men.  I don't doubt we will find that they were righteous men, blessed to be able to come and met the Christ child and bless Him with gifts that enabled Him to safely live and grow to fulfill His mission.  What a marvelous way the Lord weaves together the tapestry of events to bless His children and move his work forward.