January 7, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, January 7.
Did you celebrate Three Kings Day yesterday? No? It’s an important religious holiday to many, especially in our neighbor to the east, Louisiana, where they were enjoying king cakes and kicking off their carnival season. Some call the day “Epiphany” and others refer to it as “Little Christmas” - it is, after all, 12 days after December 25 (cue the carol!)
The Kings, the Magi, are figures of some mystery to us. Who were they? What were they? Where did they come from? Here’s another question - How did they know that the Jewish people were waiting for a Messiah? The Magi, we think, came from Persia. Six centuries before Bethlehem that was a place called Babylon. And it was a place that plays a dark role in Jewish history - the Exile. A good portion of the Old Testament deals with this troubled time. Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because he lived during the Exile. The Book of Lamentations provides a sad commentary for this period of loss and challenge. We learn about it in the stories of Daniel. Even in the Psalms we read - “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion”.
When, after centuries, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland, many chose to remain in Babylon. The land of exile had become their home. Perhaps the priests and scribes of this group shared their history with Persian scholars, men who studied medicine and astronomy and religion, men who were called . . . Magi.
God works in mysterious ways.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
