All Kings

All Kings

Jan 4 2026

Rev. Stephen Milton

The story of the Magi who came to visit the Christ child has been told and retold for many centuries. Like a snowball, it has grown and grown. The original story is brief and telegraphic, it provides very few details. It mentions Magi from the east, but it does not give them names. We can’t tell from the story how many there were, or how they travelled - on foot, on horseback or with camels. We do know they came with three gifts, so over time people assumed that meant there were three Magi. But beyond that, there wasn’t much to go on about these mysterious travellers.

It was precisely the brevity and mystery of the story which has proved so tantalizing. The version of the story we heard Shan read was written in 1874 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was America’s most popular poet of the time, a former Harvard professor who wrote poems common people could understand. He made few claims to being original, usually drawing on older stories and traditions, and that is true for his poem about the three Kings. 

Longfellow mentions their names - Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior. 

Ravenna

 These names go way back, to the 6th century, when they first appear on a mosaic in an Italian basilica. 

In that same century, a story of Christ’s birth emerged which also mentions the Magi by name, and this time they are kings. It is a Gospel that may have been written in Armenia. In it, the Magi begin their journey in Persia. The three kings are also brothers. Melchior is the King of Persia, Gaspar is king of India, and Balthazar is king of Arabia. In this version, they travel for nine months following the star. But they do not come alone, they bring 12 generals with them, each commanding 1,000 soldiers. 

The procession

 They travel in a massive procession, a detail which becomes part of many paintings like this one. There is nothing meek and mild about their arrival. In the story, Joseph and Mary are initially terrified when they arrive in Bethlehem.

When the kings finally see Jesus in Bethlehem, they enter one by one to give their presents. Each sees Jesus differently. Gaspar sees Jesus as a king on a cosmic throne, surrounded by spirits. Balthasar sees Jesus as a human king on an earthly throne, surrounded by armies, reflecting his humanity. Melchior, who brings Him myrrh,  sees Jesus dead and resurrected. Three kings, three gifts, and three visions of Jesus: a king of heaven, of earth, and a king who triumphs over death.

This version of the story floats through history. What began as a story about a few nameless Magi becomes rich in legend and meaning. Later versions include ages for each of the kings - one is young, the other is middle aged and the third is an old man, reflecting the three ages of human beings. 

From a brief story in the Bible, a rich backstory of legend and wonder has grown, which we will still sing about in our carols. It is a testament to the human desire to embellish a story, to add details where they are lacking, to make a bare story something worth exciting the imagination, and our hearts. 

This drive to fill in the blanks, is still very much alive today. When Hollywood produces a surprise blockbuster film, there is an immediate desire to create more of the same. Over the last 50 years, we have seen countless single movies spawn prequels and sequels - the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, the comic book movies from Marvel and DC. This logic applies to Christmas stories, too. There have been multiple movies providing the back story on Santa Claus - how he got his job, what he does at the North Pole, who inherits his role when he gets too old.

This desire to provide back stories also applies in real life. In its most innocent form, it is why history books, memoirs and biographies are written. We want to know the backstage details of what happens to famous people and politicians. But there is also a more sinister version. Conspiracy theories. People become convinced that there is a back story to how the world works which powerful people are keeping secret. These used to be considered crank theories, the preserve of people who believed the government was covering up the existence of aliens. The same logic applied to the Kennedy assassination, and the idea that 9/11 was an inside job.

But, in the past few years, conspiracy thinking has become mainstream. In the U.S., online conspiracy theorists became convinced that the government was being run by a secret society of Satanic pedophiles engaged in cannibalism and sex trafficking of minors. They were the ones who were really in charge of the Deep State, the people who really control society. This Q Anon conspiracy group latched onto the idea that there was proof of this in the Epstein files. The emails and documents government had collected on Jeffrey Epstein contained proof of this sordid secret society of Democrats, wealthy elites and bureaucrats. Trump fed into this theory by promising to release all the files once he was elected. Finally, all the blanks and mysteries would be revealed. 

After months of resistance, the files are finally being released, a chance for a conspiracy to be tested against the facts. So far, the files make it clear that Epstein was trafficking in underage girls, paying them to attend parties, and then abusing many of them to satisfy his own sexual desires. There doesn’t appear to be any evidence of Satanism or cannibalism, as earlier conspiracies had claimed.

But the funny thing about conspiracy theories is that they seem to be immune to evidence. If the documents fail to prove that the elites were Satanists, conspiracy theorists may claim that the deep state is still hiding that evidence. Or that it was destroyed. The line between fact and fiction is usually blurred in conspiracy theories, where the story is always the most important thing. Ultimately, the imagination is king, and facts are just useful props, that may or may not serve the theory.

Will some good come out of the release of these files? Some prominent people, like Prince Andrew, have already been demoted and disgraced. Perhaps more powerful people will be exposed and denounced in the court of public opinion. It would be nice to think that the women and girls who were abused will receive some justice from this. However, it seems unlikely that this American President who acts like a king will be their champion. He was elected even though he has been accused of sexual assault by 27 women, and was indicted in a civil case for raping a woman. He was Epstein’s good friend for many years, and knew that Epstein had desire for underage girls. And, let us not forget that this is the President who granted pardons to 1500 people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. It is hard at the best of times for men to be convicted of sexual assault in the courts. It seems highly unlikely Trump’s administration will be these women’s champion.

So where does that leave us? With another reminder that powerful elites will do what they want behind closed doors. That some of them will exploit and abuse other people, using their money to cover up their deeds. This is terrible, and should stop, but it is not news. Certainly not to Christians. Just four years after Jesus died, a new emperor took over the Roman Empire. His name was Caligula, an emperor who quickly became infamous for incest, rape and adultery, even among the elite. But he protected himself by declaring that he was a god, and even built temples where he could be worshipped. 

From the beginning of the Christian movement, disciples have known that powerful people will act as though they are above the law, and even claim they are gods. This is where Christianity sounded a new note. Unlike paganism, our faith did not say that the powerful automatically have the approval of the gods, so they can do whatever they want. Instead, the Christian imagination expanded its reach to include the rich and powerful. Christianity asserts that the morals and virtues God expects of common people apply to everyone,  including kings.

That may be why, as the centuries passed, the identity of the Magi changed. They started out as wise men from the East, bearing precious gifts. But over time, the Christian imagination came to see them as kings from distant lands. And they got names, Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior, they became specific people, not just roles.

Adoration of Kings

 They became powerful kings who travelled from afar to bow at the feet of a new kind of king. One who would not care for wealth or palaces. 

 This new king, Jesus, is a king of the spirit, whose teachings and life would inspire everyone who followed him to engage in respectful self restraint to prevent harm to others. To consider the needs of others to be as important as their own. By imagining the Magis as Kings, Christians served notice to real kings and queens - they, too, would be expected to adhere to Christian values, and to not abuse their subjects. Far from accepting that power always corrupts, Christianity taught that even kings and princes, tycoons and tech bros are expected to live ethically and without cruelty.

This demand is renewed each Christmas, when we remember the arrival of the Magi, the wise people, the three kings. In our collective imagination, Christ the King makes a demand on earthly kings, one which all of them are expected to meet, and if they fail, to seek repentance and keep trying. Many will fail. But the offer of repentance and salvation is offered to all people, high and low, rich and poor, royal and commoner. We are to treat each other justly. We are to be subject to the golden rule, a gift more valuable than all the gold in a king’s treasury. Amen.