Twelfth Night celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings to the

birthplace of Christ. It is on January 5th. Eastern Orthodox

churches celebrate the Three Kings on a different day.

The Three Kings are:

Caspar, King of Tarsus -The land of Myrrh

Melchior, King of Arabia-The land of Gold

Balthasar, King of Saba Frankincense flows from trees.

Three Kings or the Wise

Men are vital part of the
Nativity scenes and birth
of Christ acted again and
again in churches at
Christmas. They
travelled for miles to see
baby Jesus and brought
him the gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
Known as the Magi
(scholars, priests or
astrologers), these three
men were first mentioned
in the New Testament as
the 'wise men from the
East'.

They followed the divine star that led them to the child Jesus to worship the Messiah
and brought gifts for him. Since, these men were from different cultures and bore rich
gifts that were laden on many camels, they caused quite a stir in Jerusalem and were
highly regarded. They came inquiring about the newborn 'King of the Jews'. What made
their arrival even stranger was that coming of the foreign kings and gentiles bearing
gifts of gold and frankincense for the promised Messiah was foretold in the scriptures.
According to the legend, there were three Magi and they were so talked about that
they attracted the attention of King Herod too. Herod the Great was one of the kings
sharing a family name of 'Herod' who held the throne at the time of Jesus's birth. He
was evil, tyrannical and delighted in torturing his Jewish
subjects. He was very suspicious and levied heavy taxes on
his people. When he came to know that some distinguished
visitors have entered his kingdom, he consulted his priests to
know more about the ancient prophecy that predicted the
birth of Christ in Bethlehem and he was to be the future
ruler of Israel. Then, he invited Magi to his court and told
them that the Messiah was born in the city of Bethlehem and
asked them to find the child and inform his whereabouts to
the king so he could also go and worship the child.

The Magi who were being led by the divine star followed
Herod's directions and the Christmas Star and reached
Bethlehem. There, they found Virgin Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus in a lowly stable.
They worshipped the Child and gave Him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As
they fell asleep that night, they were warned in the dream not to go back to Jerusalem
and King Herod. Similarly, Joseph and Mary were asked to leave Bethlehem immediately
with the Holy Child until Herod dies. Thus, Magi took a different route to their homes
and Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with the baby before Herod realized that Magi had
given him a slip and ordered all the children under two to be put to death.

True False

1. The Three Kings came to visit King Herod

2. They walked and followed a star that showed them
the way
3. They found Baby Jesus in a stable with his parents and
worshipped him.
4. Then they went back to their countries without seeing
King Herod again.
5. King Herod noticed that he had been deceived by them
and was very cruel with the little children.