Just How Many Wise Men Were There?

Today was one of the rare years where Epiphany actually falls on Sunday. At church we had the "Three Kings" bearing gifts in the processional, the postponed Christmas Pageant with Sound Effects, and two baptisms. All in all it was a joyous occasion.

As we went through the service, starting with the reading of the Collect, I could not help but be reminded of the small brouhaha over Katharine's choice of a Christmas card. Here is the Collect for Epiphany, Contemporary version from the 1979 BCP of the Episcopal Church:

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

No mention of manifesting God's only Son to only three men, be they wise men, kings, astrologers, or whatever. And for those who find the 1979 BCP to be a departure from the "classic" BCP, here is the collect from the 1928 BCP of the Episcopal Church:

O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, which know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Nope, no mention of the manifestation being just to men there, either. But let's take a look at the 1662 BCP, which seems to be the favorite of those who wrote the first draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant. Oops, identical to the 1928 version. Just to be safe, why not check out the very first BCP, which appeared in 1549 and contains Cranmer's original Collects:

O GOD, which by the leading of a starre diddest manifest thy onelye begotten sonne to the Gentiles; Mercifully graunt, that we, which know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruicion of thy glorious Godhead; through Christe our Lorde.

Interesting. Except for some archaic spelling and a missing "Amen," it looks like the same collect to me. Hmmmm..."diddest manifest they onelye begotten sonne to the Gentiles." No mention of it being just three men from outside of Judea. I may not be the most educated theologian in the world, but I do know that the Collect, in whatever version you choose, makes an interpretation of the Biblical text, because Matthew specifically mentions "wise men," not "the Gentiles:"

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV)

The Collect interprets the visit of the wise men as a sign that Jesus came for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

Now look at the passage again. Something struck me as our priest read the Gospel this morning. Do you see it? Or more specifically, do you see what isn't there? What I do not see is a clear enumeration of how many wise men came. We assume three because there were three gifts, but there could have been two or twenty for all we know. In other words, our traditions have interpreted the story as being about three wise men, and many of our visual interpretations of the Nativity depict one of the three as being black, in spite of the fact that Africa is WEST of Judea.

Matthew does not give us any specific place from which these wise men traveled; the Gospel says only that "wise men from the East came to Jerusalem." There is a whole lot of world east of Jerusalem. The wise men might could have come from the Indian subcontinent, China, or even the Americas. So the "multicultural" part of Greg Griffith's jibe is pretty silly. What really irks him, and many of the so-called "orthodox" folks is that the card depicted wise women. The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Fort Worth was not specific about their objections to the card, but given the diocese's stand on women's ordination, we can guess that it probably also had to do with the depiction of wise women.

Even if we stick strictly to Matthew's telling of the story of the "wise men," there is plenty of leeway for interpretation, midrash, and storytelling. When we consider both Gospel accounts of the Nativity, there is space to imagine women--even wise women--visiting Jesus in Bethlehem. There is space to imagine people just like us--ALL OF US--visiting God's Son in the stable in Bethlehem.

Peace,
Jeffri