Let Us Seek the Truth Like the Wise Men of Old!

Adoration of the Magi, Albrecht Durer 1504

Meditating on the Magi is a humbling experience. Think of the immensity of their project. It was over a thousand miles from their home in Persia to Bethlehem. As pagans, what did they know about the coming Messiah? They must have been great seekers of truth. And so they received a call from truth Himself. How else could they have the courage to even take the first step.

The Coming of the Wise Men

I love the Epiphany! What a wonderful story -- three wise men watch the skies for signs and portents, men of action ready to head off across the world on a pilgrimage following a star. And why? To seek the one who is all truth, all beauty, and all goodness, the Word made flesh, the newborn king. What do they do when they get to their destination? They prostrate themselves in humility before God made man. The three kings illustrate as much as any figures in Scripture the reality that "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Our God is an awesome God who inspires "fear" in the sense of  "awe and wonder." That the high and mighty are humble enough to see their God in a feedbox testifies to both their wisdom and humility.

"He came to His own and His own received Him not." They could not see the glory of God in the Son of a carpenter. But the wise men never faltered. Outsiders, gentiles, nevertheless they saw with the eyes of faith and acted with love.

You can't go wrong following in the footsteps of the wise men on a pilgrimage to the house in Bethlehem, a house filled to the rafters with holy truth. There you will meet, and see through the eyes of faith  the just man, the queen of heaven and earth, and the Savior of the World, Him through whom all things were made. Hosanna in the highest!