The Wise Men

I think I should share something from last Sunday's gospel.

The gospel last January 4, 2015, during the Epiphany of the Lord, was taken from the Book of Matthew 2:1-12. It tells the story of the wise men who came and paid homage to Jesus Christ, the infant. 

Finding Jesus across miles and miles of desert by following a "star" is nothing short of a miracle. But that's not what I want to emphasize.

What I want to point out are three characteristics that can be gleaned from the wise men.

First, they had faith. They believed in the eventual success of their journey despite the almost insurmountable obstacles ahead. 

Second, they had diligence. Decades of poring over a foreign nation's literature and messianic texts prepared them for the moment when the sign would arrive. True, they had faith but, more importantly, it was an informed faith built over years of diligent study. 

Third, they looked past appearances. Anyone who saw Jesus Christ in a manger would be right to assume the child wasn't in any way royalty let alone a king. But the wise men knew deep inside their hearts that this child was the one they we're looking for.

And guess what? They were right.