okay, so be honest here. what thoughts go through your head when you see this photo? or when you see someone from an arabic background? or a turban?
i think for the first time ever the reality of the ‘wise men from the east’ has struck me. fortune tellers from the middle east. most likely arabs with turbans. those who read the stars for signs. it was these guys who were among the first worshippers of Jesus.
and then there’s the shepherds. outcasts of their day. mistrusted. treated with suspicion. those on the fringes of society. these were the first people on earth to discover that God had stepped into time.
no celebrities. no royalty. no westerners.
and what does this tell us about the heart of God? for me its a reminder of his heart for the outcast. for the misunderstood. for those on the fringes. for all the world.
Dec 21, 2009 @ 13:08:29
Hey Rick
Merry Christmas.
Tradition in Iran has it that the Wise Men were astonomers from Kashan. If that is true then they were Persians and not Arabs. Since we can’t be sure Wise Men from the East it must remain.
It was interesting though to visit the city from which the Wise Men may travelled and in which they may have lived so many years before.
Dec 21, 2009 @ 13:24:47
Brilliant insights Gary. Much more knowledgable than I!! Thanks…