Interview with One of the Magi

Oh hello. You won’t have seen me round these parts before. I’m not from here. I’m a long way from home. Hundreds of miles in fact.

You’ve probably heard of me though. I’m in that song “We Three Kings.” Do you know that song? “We three kings of orient are…” Great song. But I’m not a king actually. None of us are in fact.

We’re magi, wise men. Maybe you would call us scholars. We spend our time studying the world and the night sky, looking for signs about the future.

One night I was looking up at the stars when something caught my eye. The unusual light of a bright new star.

I quickly checked my star charts but nothing explained it. So I studied this light more closely. I watched how it interacted with the other stars and planets.

And soon it was obvious to me that something wonderful was happening. The star pointed to a royal birth in the land of the Jews. I had to learn more.

I quickly sent messages to my colleagues, telling them what I had seen and discovered.

When the second wise man joined us, he read the notes I had written and took some more measurements.

“There is more here than the birth of a king,” he said. “My reading of these signs is that God himself will come to dwell on Earth.”

We agreed that we had to go and investigate this thing. We decided that we should leave the next day. In the morning, as we were getting our camels ready, a third wise man said he wanted to come too and off we went.

As we travelled, we discussed what gifts would be best. I said, “A new baby? What about a cardigan, a rattle and a soft teddy bear?”

But the others said, “No. Gold, frankincense and myrrh would be far more useful.” I don’t think so to be honest, but it was two against one, so here we are. That’s democracy for you.

Anyway, as I said, I worked out that a new king was going to be been born.

Wise man number 2 worked out that this new king was God himself come to Earth.

The third wise man is blessed with the gift of interpreting dreams.

After we began travelling, the star became hidden behind clouds, so we went to the obvious place for a new King of the Jews.

We went to Jerusalem and asked King Herod if he knew anything about it. He was a very shifty looking man. We didn’t trust him at all.

But while we were there some experts in the Bible told us that it was Bethlehem we should go to, 10 miles down the road.

That is where all the prophets said God’s chosen one would be born. So we thanked them very much and decided to leave the next day.

That night, our third wise man had a dream that we should not go back to see King Herod because he wanted to harm the new child who had been born. I knew he looked fishy!

When we got on the road to Bethlehem, we looked up – and there it was! There was the star again. We were so excited!

That was about an hour ago. Oh, there’s not far to go now.

In fact, I can see the lights of the little town of Bethlehem up ahead. Just over there!

How still it lies. How silently it sleeps. All my life I’ve been waiting for this moment. To see God, come down to Earth.

Well, my colleagues are calling me. I’d better go. It was nice to meet you on my way. … …

You can stay here if you want. Or if you prefer, you can come along with me. To Bethlehem. To kneel before this new born king – and worship.

I’ve got goose bumps. I am getting this strange feeling that I will never be the same again after this night.

I have a feeling that nothing will ever be the same again. This night, I just know it, is going to change everything.



All-Age Talk given at Saint Mary's Long Newton, 1st December 2019
Inspired and adapted by a piece by Gord Waldie on his Worship Offerings blog.