Did Someone Say ‘New-Born King?’

“Glory to the New-Born King!”

‘Tis the season for that pronouncement, and I admit I enjoy belting out “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” during my annual visit to church services on Christmas Eve.

But now that the big day is over, the season carries on. We may forget about Jesus, but he’ll have the parting shot for this year’s holidays on January 6 — little noted outside of churches — when the three . . . um . . . uh . . . .

What were they anyway? The only accounting I find in my (King James) Bible is in the first twelve verses of Matthew, Chapter 2, where they are called “wise men.” That designation is then repeated further on. Nothing about kings or magi. And their number is not mentioned, but it seems likely there were more than three, which never occurred to me until I reread the passages closely.

Ah-ha! But I suppose they became three because of the three gifts: gold, designating kingship; frankincense, designating prayer and meditation, and myrrh, designating clairvoyant powers. They came “from the east to Jerusalem,” the text tells us, “saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” The East has always been the direction of spiritual origins.