The Three Kings

When I was a child, I always felt sorry for the Three Kings: they would make their appearance in the crib on the morning of the Epiphany, just in time for the crib to be taken down on the day after! Epiphany is the last major feast of Christmastime and my mother has always been a great believer that the crib shouldn’t stay up after that.

The Three Kings are sort of mysterious characters in the Gospel. For, to begin with, they are not described as ‘kings’ — but simply as ‘wise men’. Secondly, they were not three, but an unspecified number. And lastly, it is not clear where they were coming from, nor where they were returning to: the Gospel simply says ‘from the East’.

Yet tradition, the popular tradition of the Church, has always felt the need to fill in the gaps. They were kings, obviously, because they could have an audience with King Herod and were on their way to adore the King of Kings. They were three because they were bringing three gifts. In fact, we have also given them names: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar; and we’ve decided they were different ethnicities: one was white, another black and the third from the Middle East.

All this may sound childish, but it has great theological significance.

First, they were kings and they were wise men. When Jesus was born, the Angel first appeared to shepherds who were the first to adore Jesus — and shepherds were both poor and illiterate. The three kings, on the other hand, were rich and learned; wise men who would study and interpret the stars. Jesus came into the world not only for the salvation of the poor, and the ones at the margins of society, but for the salvation of everyone including the wealthier and the more learned. These in fact have a duty to use their gifts, material and intellectual, to know and to serve God.

Second, they were three and they brought Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Gold is a gift fit for a king; they brought gold to honour Jesus as the King of Kings. Frankincense is associated with the worship of God; they brought it to adore him as God. And incidentally, this is what we do when we have incense at Mass. Myrrh was the spice used for burials. This gift foreshadows the fact Jesus had to suffer and die before he could be acknowledged as God and Supreme King.

Finally, the three wise men were from all the various parts of the world known at the time; this indicates that the message of Christ’s salvation is opened to all, no matter their ethnic background.