Mathew 2 (NASB) 1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, m agi

from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the ea st and have come to worship Him." In Jesus' time the Magi were Zoroastrian priests! As the Zoroastrian faith, and the Persian empire, expanded westward into the territory of Media, the priests o f the old religion (an ancient variation of Hinduism), the Magi, adopted themsel ves into Zoroastrians. The general scholarly opinion is that these priests of th e old INDO-Iranian faith (NOTE: many of the spirits worshiped or renounced by Zo roastrians also appear in early Hindu texts because the ancient Iranians and Ind ians shared a religious and linguistic heritage.), re-adapted many practices of the old religion back into the faith - such as reverence for subordinate divinit ies, the homa- sacrifice, and purity rituals. The three kings, to a Zoroastrian, symbolize the Threefold Path of "Good Though ts, Good Words, and Good Deeds." Many other Zoroastrian symbols also follow this threefold symbolism, such as the three steps to the ancient Achaemenian fire-al tar or the three windings of the kushti cincture. Christians, though, interpret the three kings as Trinitarian, one to adore each Person of the Trinity. Franki ncense, which the Jewish/Christian authors interpreted as honor to Christ's divi nity, is actually part of ZOROASTRIAN worship: known as LOBAN - frankincense is sprinkled on the embers of the Sacred Fire as a fragrant homage to the bright sy mbol of Ahura Mazda. So, the first people to recognize anything special about Jesus were PAGANS and O CCULTISTS! The very people later persecuted by the church. The Magi who were featured in the story of Jesus' birth may not have been comple tely Zoroastrian. They may have been practicing a mixed tradition that included not only Zoroastrian and Mesopotamian elements but practices and beliefs from va rious pagan traditions. One idea held by many scholars is that they were searchi ng for the Saoshyant or "Savior," who was an ideal king-figure hoped for by both Persians and Jews. As a Savior, Jesus functioned purely along Zoroastrian lines. While purportedly of the Davidic line, he offered only redemption from sin, rather than national s alvation for the Jews. He was a World Savior, rather than a Jewish Messiah. Jews did not recognize him as their Messiah, and in a real sense he was not. Their M essianic expectations, those which originated prior to the captivity, went unful filled; in fact their nation was ultimately destroyed. Neither did Jesus effect a final triumph over Evil; this has been reserved for a Second Coming, in conjun ction with the Last Judgment and the reward of Heaven or the punishment of Hell.