who where the magies?

[orthedoxy]

Can anyone please explain this for me?
Matthew 2:1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
I know Magies are from the religion of Zorastrianism and Armenians were Zorastrian also Armenians were from north east of Judia so one of these magies might have been Armenian or from Iran.
My question is where these believer magies? Was there another believer nation beside the Jews? If so then these kings received Jesus with no problem, which make them more obedient then Jews.

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

Magi means "wise man".

 

[ChoirDir]

Magi means "wise man".

Which reminds me of a funny story. When my son was very young he used to call the Magi, the three wise guys. Somehow the Three Stooges and the Magi have always been linked in my brain since then!

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

Which reminds me of a funny story. When my son was very young he used to call the Magi, the three wise guys. Somehow the Three Stooges and the Magi have always been linked in my brain since then!

You may be the only person to have ever had that comparison pass through their mind, until now.

 

[countrymousenc]

The Magi recognized Jesus as the newborn king of the Jews, and when they found Him they worshiped Him, according to St. Matthew's gospel.

St. Justin Martyr said they came from Arabia...

Here's something else St. Justin wrote about them: "For the Magi, who were held in bondage for the commission of all evil deeds through the owner of that demon, by coming to worship Christ, showed that they had revolted from that dominion which held them captive." (ANF 1.238)

And this from Tertullian: "Now, the Magi themselves, on recognizing Him, honored Him with gifts, and adored Him on bended knee as Lord and King. They did this on the evidence of the guiding and indicating star. Accordingly, they became 'the spoils of Samaria,' that is, of idolatry - by believing, namely, on Christ." (ANF 3.162)

Origen wrote that the Magi were not Chaldeans (4.422) and that the art of magic derived its name from them (4.609, 610).

The Catholic Encyclopedia (on the web) seems to say that they were Zoroastrian priests and came from either Persia (according to St. Clement of Alexandria), Media, Assyria, or Babylonia, those being the only countries who still had such priests.

 

[Matrona]

Somehow the Three Stooges and the Magi have always been linked in my brain since then!

* pictures Larry, Curly, and Moe riding camels and wearing Magi outfits, while hitting each other over the head three-stooges style...

Awww, now you've gotten that mental image stuck in my head!

 

[Suzannah]

It also says in the Gospels that the Magi returned to Herod and lied to him about the location of the Child. This seems to suggest to me that they became believers.

 

[orthedoxy]

The magies were already believers before they met Jesus according to Matthew
"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
Magies were Zoroastrian priests ,Which means wise men.
Armenians were Zoroastrians as well before they became Christian. Was it possible that there were other believers beside Jews?
By the way countrymouse I’m going to look at the Church fathers to see what else they say about the Magies. How did you find that info on the Magies from the Fathers? Do you have any more quotes from the Church Fathers regarding the Magies?

 

[countrymousenc]

Suzannah, I think St. Matthew wrote that the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they took another route home. If I'm wrong, correct me.

orthedoxy, I got those quotes from a collection of excerpts taken from some, but apparently not all, ante-Nicene Fathers. The book is A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, ed. David W. Bercot. Excerpts are arranged by topic. It's handy for a quick topical look-up, but be aware that any time material is arranged and edited this way it can reflect biases the editor may have. As for other believers besides the Jews, I don't think so - at least not in the same sense as the Jews, who had the Scriptures and the Temple with its rites of worship. But, unless I have misunderstood, many of the Fathers believed that God didn't leave other cultures without any light at all, and that many things in other traditions beside Judaism were there to point to Christ when the time came. I've been a long-time fan of C.S. Lewis, as well, and he also wrote that the varioius pagan cultures' traditions whispered of a god who died and came back to life, and then Jesus came and really did it.

Personally, being only an Orthodox wannabe at this point, I don't feel at all authoritative on the full meaning of Matthew's account, so this is just a personal musing. I can't really tell whether the Magi were worshipping Jesus as Deity or simply paying Him homage as the new heir to the Jewish throne. I suspect, though, after reading a few comments by the Fathers, that the experience of seeing Him changed them. Did they come expecting to see God made flesh? Not necessarily. But they left forever different.

 

[ChoirDir]

Troparion in tone 4
Your Nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shone to the world the Light of wisdom!
For by it, those who worshipped the stars,
Were taught by a Star to adore You,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know You, the Orient from on High.
O Lord, glory to You!
Kontakion in tone 3
Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One,
And the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One!
Angels with shepherds glorify Him!
The wise men journey with a star!
Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!

The bold segments refer to the Magi

 

[Suzannah]

Countrymouse!
You are 100% right! I went and looked it up. My statement was based upon old Sunday school lessons rather than investigating myself....such are the garbled problems of my old denomination.... I am deeply sorry for misleading anyone. It is as countrymouse says. They left without returning to Herod, avoiding him altogether.

 

[countrymousenc]

Countrymouse!
You are 100% right! I went and looked it up. My statement was based upon old Sunday school lessons rather than investigating myself....such are the garbled problems of my old denomination.... I am deeply sorry for misleading anyone. It is as countrymouse says. They left without returning to Herod, avoiding him altogether.

Cool! (just glad to be of help Must confess that I used to be an awful homework dodger. Like you, I discovered that my denomination wasn't being accurate, either. Been doing my "homework" ever since!)