The Median Magi, priests of fire worship, servants of Ahura Mazda, sages, stargazers... made a long journey to Bethlehem, not yet knowing that they would consequently abandon Zoroastrianism and their longstanding beliefs. Thirty-five years later, they were executed in the main square of Ecbatana, the capital of great Media. Both then and now, their descendants—representatives of the Iranian peoples, the Kurds—came and are coming to Christ. Here the story of the three Magi is retold by one of the Kurds converted to Christianity, Hieromonk Madai (Maamdi).
James Tissot. The Magi Journeying. 1894, Brooklyn Museum
In those distant times, when the world was wrapped in the mist of ignorance, and in the East, in Media, in the very land where heaven and earth joined in boundless expanses and majestic years, there lived Magi, priests of fire worship, servants of Ahura Mazda. Their name was known in all corners of the earth, from the ancient cities of Parthia to the wide plains of Hellas, where fire shone—a symbol of purity, strength and wisdom.
Three of these Magicians, Melchior, Kaspar and Balthazar, were, like many of their kin, passionate explorers of the heavens. They studied the stars, followed their movements, analyzed every moment of their appearance, because they believed that in their light one could find the keys to great truths, the keys to the fate of mankind. Centuries passed before they came to the conclusion that the stars could be not only luminaries in the night sky, but also signs—signs of the will of the universe, sent by Ahura Mazda himself.
That night, when the Star of Nativity, which had not yet appeared on the horizon, began its journey, it was unlike other stars. It was bright, unusual, and its radiance was so dazzling that all three Magicians who were watching the sky looked up at the same time, simultaneously feeling something more than just a physical phenomenon. It was not just a luminary, not just a star. It was a sign. And they understood its meaning immediately.
Melchior, the eldest, was silent at first, but his aged eyes, long accustomed to searching for a secret meaning in every movement of the heavens, now could not tear themselves away from this bright point in the night sky. He knew it was no accident. “It’s not just a star,” he thought, “it’s an omen. But a sign of what?” And in his heart there flashed an intuition.
From time immemorial, the Jewish prophets had been revealing to the Median Magi the secret of an ancient prophecy which spoke of the coming of the King of Judah, the great King. He was supposed to bring light to the world, and all nations would submit to Him. Expectation of this great event was a part of their knowledge, their ancient faith. Kaspar, Melchior’s student and rival, was the first to break the silence.
“That’s it, Melchior. This is the star about which Zarathustra spoke,” he said with a tremor in his voice, feeling without a doubt that he was witnessing the fulfillment of the prophecy.
He recalled the ancient legends of how Saoshyant, the Savior of mankind, would come, and that he would be marked not only by royal greatness, but by a special light, a light that defies human laws. Balthazar, the youngest and perhaps the bravest of the Magi, was not going to wait.
He knew that the moment had come, although fear remained in his soul. “So He’s already here,” he said. “So this Babe of Whom the prophets spoke has been born. This is He, and we cannot turn away from this path. We must go to Him. We must be the first to bring our gifts to this King, for He is the Savior.”
And thus, under the radiance of this unusual star, the Magi felt called by something great, unimaginable. In the hearts of these servants of fire, the servants of the ancient faith, there burned not material fire, but an inner flame of aspiration, and it was this inner flame that led them forward. This was no blind worship. It was the realization that they, as sages, as Magi, should follow this light, because it was leading them to the Truth.
So it was decided: they would go to Judea, to the country where their own fate was to intersect with that of all mankind.
Their gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh—will prove to be a recognition of the greatness of the One Who came into the world to change it forever.
They walked through the desert. This was their agony—but also their blessing. And every step, every doubt, every effort was not in vain, because they were going to where the Truth was revealed in the form of a Babe.
To be continued…
