The Three Wise Men: Legend or Reality?
Les Rois mages, que l’on connaît sous le nom de Melchior, Balthazar et Gaspard, figurent dans la plupart des crèches de Christmas, aux côtés des bergers, des moutons, de l’âne et du bœuf. Venus de pays étrangers rendre hommage à l’enfant Jesus, ils tenaient chacun en leurs mains un présent d’une grande richesse symbolique : l’or, l’encens et la myrrhe. Toutefois, un seul évangéliste en fait mention, Mathieu, lequel ne précise aucunement qu’il s’agissait de rois. Il évoque plutôt des mages, auxquels il n’attribue aucun nom, pas plus d’ailleurs qu’il n’en n’indique le nombre. Ainsi, le chiffre trois ferait plus particulièrement référence au nombre de présents apportés par les mages, qu’à celui de ces visiteurs lointains.
The Evangelist Luke, for his part, whose story differs from that of Matthew, rather mentions the presence of shepherds. According to the words that can be read in the Gospel of Matthew, once the Magi had left, Joseph, divinely warned, would have left Bethlehem, and brought Mary and her child to Egypt. However, it is unlikely that events unfolded in this way, because according to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus would have been circumcised on the eighth day, and it was only after the days of purification that Joseph and Mary would have taken their son to Jerusalem. Moreover, according to the Old Testament, more precisely in one of the five books of the Pentateuch, Leviticus, a woman who gives birth to a boy must receive a purification lasting 40 days after giving birth. If we rely on this rule, the family would therefore have remained in Bethlehem for at least forty days.
And still according to the Gospel according to Luke, the shepherds would have found Mary, Joseph and the child in a manger, while in the Gospel of Matthew, the Magi would have gone to a house. Consequently, neither the shepherds nor the Magi would have arrived at the same time, nor in the same place. Since the two versions do not correspond at all, the very existence of the Magi can undoubtedly be called into question.