Magi

 "Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem," Matthew 2:1.

Who? Wise men, magi. What for? To worship the one born king of the Jews. From the east of where? Of the center of middle earth, of course! Which, biblically speaking, rested squarely in the Promised Land, Judea. So, what's east of there? Mainly Persia, well beyond the Euphrates River. The land of Esther, the queen, where many defeated Judah captives had been taken centuries earlier. Persia, under whose rule the prophet Daniel had prospered. A large population of displaced Jews had since developed in Persia. And the magi? Were they Zoroastrian (Persian religion) priests? Were they Jewish scholar star gazers? No matter. They came to worship Jesus.

With a brother or sister today, we join in worship of God and of his Christ, born king of the Jews, now king of the nations, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, resurrected to the right hand of majesty on high. And, together, in wisdom, we give thanks.