Matthew 2:1-2 reads:
[1] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
[2] 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.
Luke 8-12 reads:
[8] And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
[9] And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
[10] And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
[11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
There are some strange discrepancies here. Matthew calls them wise men. Luke says there were mere shepherds. And why do we call them the THREE wise men when, in fact, neither gospel tells us how many there were?
That comes from an Egyptian tradition that referred to them as the three kings. And who are these three? Well, Matthew gives us the clue:
...there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 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.
See the problem? If the wise men were EAST of Jerusalem and yet saw his star in the EAST, then how did they then end up going WEST into Jerusalem???
The story is an old Egyptian mnemonic device. In the constellation of Orion, his outstretched left hand is marked by a star designated as pi. The Egyptian priests watched for Orion as he rose over the eastern horizon. They saw pi first and then watched for the three stars in the belt that appeared to be following it. So the star in the east is Pi Orion and the three kings are the three stars in the belt. They are first seen in the east following the star in the east and end up following it westward.
So understanding the story as astronomy rather than a historical occurrence avoids assuming the writer made an embarrassing blunder. No mistake was made. Properly understood, the story of the three kings makes perfect sense.
|