The story of the Christmas season is made more colorful by the appearing of the Wisemen of the East on their camels, seeking to do homage to the Bethlehem babe (see Matt., second chapter) . The history of these men is obscure, but there is something about them that is of more than casual interest to Christian Scientists.
The Magi were possessed of the knowledge and skills of their day. In addition to this, these particular men were aware of the spiritual significance of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. A degree of spiritual-mindedness enabled them to look with considerable favor on the role Christ Jesus was destined to play in the affairs of men. No doubt they were able at least to glimpse the coming of a new day in which revealed Truth would supersede knowledge based upon superstition as well as upon mere sense perception.
With unerring direction these men were led to follow a star that pointed the way to the crib of the infant Jesus, whose life and work subsequently revealed to men the spiritual order, the divine Science of being. A well-known Bible commentary speaks of the journey of these Wisemen as illustrating the true relations between science and religion. It indicates that in the persons of the Magi, science paid homage to religion, stating: "The Magi were the men of science of the period, and their science brought them to Christ. And so it is now."
