The Adoration of the Magi

Although the magi visited Jesus when he was a toddler (not a newborn), it is my favorite Christmas story from the Bible. I suspect that the star they saw was a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, as described in The Star That Astonished the World by Ernest L. Martin. Below is a poem that I wrote about the moment when they first saw such a meeting of the two brightest planets in the sky and were discussing what it might mean.

The wise men, or magi, who came to worship little Jesus, seem to have undertaken their costly, long, and dangerous trip with no other motive than to adore and honor him.  They came from the east, which probably means that they came from Persia since the caste of magi originated in ancient Persia.  Magi were scholars trained in such subjects as history, literature, and dream interpretation. They were also stargazers, which explains how they understood the significance of Christ’s star.

The Adoration of the Magi (1894), tapestry, wool and silk on cotton warp Metropolitan University

Edward Burne Jones (with details by William Morris and John Henry Dearle)