This 2nd sunday after Christmas is where we celebrate the coming of the wise men (traditionally Jan 6th also known as “little Christmas” ) who came from the east to see the Christ child.
This Sunday feast also marks the final full week of Christmas under the current calendar. Under the old one the Christmas season ran a full 40 days.
The coming of the wise men is a big deal for several reasons:
- The Wise men were not Jews (likely Zoroastrians) yet they saw the star in the east and traveled to Bethlehem to worship the Christ child. As such a trip would be long and arduous this means that other than Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zachariah they were the first people who were aware of the coming of the Lord.
- Since such a trip carrying valuables was a time consuming and dangerous prospect the wise men had to be wealthy enough to make such a trip, have security for such a trip and to have the valuable gifts that were given to the Christ child. This flies in the face of many leftist Christians who uniformly attempt to give a Marxist spin on Christianity.
- It a notable contrast that these three wise men or kings not only humble themselves before God but follow God’s inspiration to avoid king Herod when heading back home while Herod with the knowledge of Jewish scripture and prophesy instead rebels against God with the slaughter of the innocents in order to circumvent what he sees as a threat to his rule.
So when people try to spin Christianity in general and Christmas in particular remind them of the wise men who confound their agenda but also confirm what is often said, that God works in mysterious ways.
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