Wise guys: their gifts were perfect

Commonweal, Dec 18, 1992 by John Shea

In the midsixties a Roman Catholic cardinal and a priest Scripture scholar found themselves seated at the same table at a dinner party. The cardinal immediately put forth his grievance. "You know, Father, there are some Scripture scholars these days who are saying we don't know how many Magi there were."

"I am not one of them," replied the scholar.

"I am glad to hear that..."

"There were six."

"Six!" blustered the cardinal. "How do you figure six?"

"Well, in the reliquary at Cologne there are the heads of three wise men and in the reliquary at Milan there are the heads of three wise men. Three plus three equal six."

Although this anecdote is probably fictional, it gets big laughs when academics gather. I don't know if anyone has told it at a bishops' meeting.

The number of Magi is not given in Matthew's account. In Christian imagination they have ranged from two to a whole cohort. But in most of Nativity art, from earliest times to the present, there are three. It seems natural that three gifts should have three carriers. Can all those crib sets be wrong?

Of course, the original story in Matthew is the touchstone text. It is a tale steeped in irony, laden with symbols, and rich in theological associations. However, the popular Christian tradition never felt unduly tied to Matthew's text. The story became more a springboard for the imagination than an anchor for sober reflection. In a generous estimate, it might be said that the original story initiated a trajectory of concerns that later elaborations developed. However, a more accurate appraisal might be that the Magi of popular poetry and story are more indebted to the concerns of Christian faith in general than to the dynamics of the brief tale in Matthew. In Matthew's story the Magi came primarily to worship; in subsequent tradition they rode again, driven by desires not far from any human heart.

G.K. Chesterton wrote an essay on three modem Wise Men. They journeyed to a city of peace, a new Bethlehem. They wanted to enter this city and proffered their gifts as passports of admission. The first put forth cold gold and suggested it could buy the pleasures of the earth. The second did not carry frankincense. He brought instead the modem scent of chemistry. The scent has the power to drug the mind, seed the soil, and control the population. The third brought myrrh in the shape of a split atom. It was the symbol of death for anyone who opposed the ways of peace.

When they arrived at the palace of peace, they met Saint Joseph. He refused them entrance. They protested, "What more could we possibly need to assure peace? We have the means to provide affluence, control nature, and destroy enemies." Saint Joseph whispered in the ear of each individually. They went away sad. He told them that they had forgotten the child.

This tale is a critique of contemporary wisdom. The Wise Men come with the benefits of wealth and technology, and they think that those assets will bring peace. The story is suspicious of these gifts, but it does not deprecate them. It views them neutrally, suggesting that in themselves they will not provide access to the city of peace. The real problem is not what the modem Wise Men have brought, but what they have not brought. They have forgotten the child.

The enigmatic symbol of the child points to the missing ingredient of modem wisdom. The child image pushes the mind and heart in many directions. It is difficult to know which path will prove productive. It seems that Chesterton's concern is that the modem mind for all its sheer knowledge is divorced from something very simple. The Wise Men need the baby to save them from their own knowledge. They need to enter into the house where Mary and the child are or else they will journey forever over the earth and never be at home. When they worship the God who lives on the earth, the mind that studies the sky will be saved.

The Magi are searchers. They are looking for the Christ child, but they do not have exact directions and they cannot travel by day. A star leads them, a tiny point in a night sky. Their quest is mainly darkness and minimally light. They are manipulated by Herod and become unwitting accomplices in a horrible slaughter. They rejoice at their find and they present their gifts worshipfully, but they leave quickly and return home by another route. Darkness and danger are more a part of their lives than joy and worship.

Their situation is often contrasted with that of the shepherds. The shepherds do not have to deal with a mute star. They are blessed with a very talkative angel. This angel gives them exact direction to the birthplace of the child. They will not have to consult devious kings. They are also told the identity of the child and serenaded with a song about the meaning of his birth. Once they arrive everything is exactly as they were told. They skip off to tell everyone, and to a person everyone is astonished at what they hear. Angelic revelation, joy, and proclamation tell the shepherds' story.