Prayer

Lord as we ponder your words open our hearts that we may understand and know you. Amen 

Sermon    

  Take a moment to consider the last time you went away maybe just an overnight, A trip a lot goes into making a journey. 

 It truly is an event  that requires a list.  I think of the tour days.  Make sure all the travel arrangements are in place not just for you but your quests , passport up to date, plane tickets and everything handed out.  Order currency, go pick up currency divide currency among the various envelopes you will need.  Sort out your personal currency. Pick out clothes picked out too many clothes.  rethink clothes. Start packing.  Remember to squirrel your money in different places so the thieves won’t find it all.  All the other stuff.  I pod, I pad, I phone charger for I pod, I pad, I phone.  Adapter for the wall.  Everything you might need to make yourself look good. Oh that is a lot of work for that one.   Everything you might need if you feel ill or someone else feels ill  and don’t forget the Werther’s after all everyone likes a Werther.  OH…Camera, different camera lens charger for camera extra card for camera. All the paper work you might need. Clean the house, eat all the food. Make arrangements for the dog make arrangements for the Pastoral charge, make arrangements to get to and eventually back from Airport. Breath, just breath they serve alcohol on the plane. 

If we are not just a pick up and go kind of people imagine what   it took  for journey of all our Christmas characters. 

      The only folk not travelling in this story are the shepherds. But then I am sure they had to pack a lunch and walk over to the fields abiding. 

It starts with a journey.  Nazareth to Bethlehem

Nazareth is not near Bethlehem. 157 km   away.   The very fact that Joseph convinced Mary to get on the donkey is the first Christmas miracle but the fact they made the trip does indicate that they had a certain amount of wealth.  Things might have worked out a little better if Joseph had actually made reservations.

And the kings? Well you all know my great love for history. 

We like to place the Kings at the time of birth with the shepherds.   Makes for a good scene, some colour yet likely not the way it happened. 

 First,  the Kings, aka wise men were not kings, they may not have been overly wise. What they were, were Magi. Short for Magicians or more accurately they were Astronomers more than likely astrologers belonging to   Zoroaster

The East referred to is now believed to be Persia modern day Iran.   The journey would have taken some time which meant that Jesus was more than likely 1 to 2 years old when they finally found him. 

We like to say there were three of them with the romantic view of them on their camels trekking across the lonely desert, but let’s be honest. 

    If they had money enough to buy expensive gifts and travel they did not do it alone.  There would have been servants guards animal handlers baggage train. This was a rather big affair. 

There was no one star. However what they likely observed was a very special astrological event.  Scholars now believe that what they saw was Jupiter (the royal planet) moving into the constellation of Aries which was the sign of Irreal being eclipsed by the moon. 

This would signal that a king who would be the Saviour was to be born to Israel.  Now prophecy foretold this but it also foretold that it could be both a Heavenly and earthly Saviour so the gifts where wisely chosen. Gold, for Kingship Frankincense for divinity and Myrrh. Death and resurrection. The last I am not sure of however it was even more precious than Gold. If the child touched the Gold he was an earthly king, the Frankincense a Heavenly King. Supposedly he touched both.

The scriptures gives us a nice outline of the story, the faith story fills in some of the more details which becomes part of the Christian mythology

Traditions identify a variety of different names for the Magi. In the Western Christian church they have been commonly known as: Melchior  Caspar , a Persian scholar Balthazar Arab scholar.

These names apparently derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria Around 500 A.D., and which has been translated into Latin

As to their race they likely all looked very middle eastern .  Come to think of it, everyone would have looked middle eastern. 

The Magi. As per the story they did return home another route. There were Many places that claimed to be the final resting place However St Helena the mother of Constantine the great the great patroness of the faith responsible for the Church of the holy sepulchre, church of the nativity and the church of the baptism (which was destroyed in an earth quake and now an archaeology site) discovered what was believed to be the true final resting place had the remains removed to Constantinople. After the fall of the empire they were moved to Italy and know rest in Cologne Germany in the Cathedral there which by the way has a steeple over the crossing which is topped with a star rather than a cross inside a very ornate gold and jewelled Reliquary