Three Wise Men?


The three wise men are almost universally seen as positive characters.  Nicholas King in his annotated translation of the New Testament calls them the undisputed heroes of the story.  They are a colourful presence in thousands of nativity plays across the land and they have good literary credentials, particularly because of TS Eliot’s ever popular Journey of the Magi – which is indeed a very fine poem.  They have been particularly popular with kings and rulers , the Wilton diptych, a beautiful example of medieval English art, illustrates the wise men meeting Jesus.  Except in this case they are not wise men but have been transformed into kings – or specifically the young Richard the second and two monarchical companions.  Kings in the Bible are very rarely portrayed as unambiguously good characters, even King David is clearly described as abusing his royal power in the case of Bethsheba and Uriah, and more normally kings are portrayed as brutal and unreliable.  The example of King Herod is fairly typical. 

But the three Kings, as the wise men have become, are different.  Except, are they?  Rereading Matthews gospel again recently I began to see them in a different light.  Are they not, in some way, spiritual tourists?  They make their exotic journey to the stable in obscure Bethlehem to which they gain access through their wealth and prestige, they have their spiritual experience and then they are on their way.  It must have been an interesting experience for them, even if it was as unsettling as portrayed by TS Eliot in the Journey of a Magi.

But what about the consequences?  What did they leave in their wake?  That is quite terrifying, Jesus is forced into exile as a refugee in Egypt and dozens, hundreds, thousands?  of innocents are massacred.  It is a grisly story which, unsurprisingly, is always omitted from our nativity plays.  The same impact was not caused by the shepherds, they were poor, insignificance and no one noticed them, they came and they went leaving nothing and taking nothing.  The wise men, however, were part of an international elite and they blundered into the delicate politics of Palestine completely unaware of the consequences of their actions.  Of course, they went to the king, but with news of a new King of the Jews … what were they thinking of?  They must have known of Herod’s reputation, they were intelligent, educated men who knew the world, but it was natural for them to relate to the local elites rather than think about the consequences of this for the poor.  Clearly the wise men were not bad or evil, they were just part of a wealthy elite interfering in a country which they did not understand.  They had an impact analogous to that of modern day tourists who visit exotic locations without being aware of the consequences of their actions.  All too often their money is siphoned off by multinational corporations and whilst some money does trickle down to local people, the cultural disruption and impact of activities such as prostitution can have very destabilising consequences.

So what do we now make of the wise men?  It seems to me they can be read in different ways.  They are comforting to rulers such as Richard the Second.  They are inspiring to writers like TS Eliot.  They are fun for seven year olds who like dressing up.  But they can also warn us of the dangers of blundering into situations which we do not understand, especially if we are part of a wealthy elite.