January 3 

We Three Kings 

TEXT AND TUNE: John H. Hopkins Jr.

b. October 28, 1820, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

d. August 14, 1891, Hudson, New York

John Hopkins was a multitalented individual in both the arts and theology. He spent time as a journalist, and then considered law. Hopkins graduated from General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in 1850 and served as the first church music instructor. He became a member of the New York Ecclesiological Society and used his talents to design stained-glass windows and church ornaments while also composing hymns. Hopkins never married and had a family, but he loved his nieces and nephews dearly. In 1857, he wrote a song for them as an Epiphany gift. Imagining what it might have been like to be a visitor from the East, he told a story in the first-person voice of the three kings. As early as the second century, Tertullian had called them kings, saying they fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:3). Although the Scriptures do not specify, tradition has numbered them as three because of the three separate gifts. But the number of visitors could have been more.

Hopkins created the tune, named KINGS OF ORIENT, in a lilting rhythm that imitates the swaying gait of camels. The stanzas tell the story in a minor key, giving it solemnity and a touch of Middle Eastern flavor. (Orient should not be mistaken for East Asia or China but rather Persia, known today as Iran.) At the repeating refrain, the music changes to the relative major key as we joy in the wonder of the star that led them.

As you sing this hymn … you are singing a story of joyful worship. What is the purpose of this story that only the gospel of Matthew gives to us? It focuses on two things: the desire of these men to find the prophesied King and their understanding that when they found Him, He was to be worshiped and honored with gifts. Read the entire Matthew account found in “Christmas in the Bible,” #27–30. Some translations describe the reaction of the travelers upon seeing the Child as, “they fell down,” literally prostrating themselves. Further, Matthew adds powerful adjectives. Their worship was not just with joy, but with great joy. They didn’t just rejoice; they did so exceedingly. Can you even imagine this scene?

The carol interprets the significance of their gifts: precious gold that you would give a king as you submit to his reign; frankincense, a precious incense or perfume used to honor a deity; and myrrh, a rare and strong perfume that was particularly significant as a burial ointment to counter the smell of death. Was the latter a prophetic gift regarding the future of this King? These gifts serve as symbols of our heart-gifts of worship. Christmas gifts remain a holiday custom, but at some point, our gifts changed from gifts to God into gifts to one another. Giving one another gifts at Christmas is not wrong. But the question should be asked, what are you giving to God in your Christmas worship? Most important, do you look as did the wise men for the glory of God revealed—perhaps not by a star, but in the wonder and glory of God’s redemptive work in your life? Then do you follow the example of these wise men to fall down, submitting your allegiance and obedience to the Christ of Bethlehem? The carol says His light is still leading and still proceeding to guide us to the Perfect Light. Let us follow the wise men’s example.