The secular world was done with Christmas 12 days ago, but in the religious, liturgical world, we celebrate until Epiphany and the coming of the Magi. The shepherds arrived at the nativity earlier in the story and went out into the surrounding areas to tell of what they had seen. The coming of the 3 kings, or wise men, give Jesus's birth a different perspective and impact. The shepherds were regular people, even lowly, but the magi were much more important and elevated in terms of status. Both visits are important and significant: They show that Jesus was, in fact the Messiah, being visited by wise men who had followed a star to find him and pay him homage with impressive and expensive gifts, but also that Jesus was not going to be the expected Messiah. He was born in in a stable and laid in a manger, and his first visitors were less than impressive. Shepherds and wise men both indicate the type of Messiah brought forth in Jesus.
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