gospel · -5 · Bethlehem
Magi from the east followed a star to Jerusalem, asked Herod where the king of the Jews was born, and found the child with Mary his mother; they opened their treasures and offered gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew alone tells it, and where it belongs beside Luke's forty days no gospel says — the order here is the harmonization the tradition settled on, not a dated fact.
The Adoration of the Magi — also known as the Adoration of the Kings or the Visitation of the Wise Men — is the name traditionally given to a popular subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art. In these depictions, three Magi, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him. The scene originates from the Biblical account in Matthew 2:11: "On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path".
The gentiles come first to the child — the mission's opening note.