SOME people seem to think that Christmas ends on December 25. They are wrong!

December 25 is the beginning – the first day of the 12 days of Christmas. January 5 is the 12th day but, even then, Christmas is not over: January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany when we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men.

We know very little about the wise men – and much of what we think we know is probably wrong. They didn’t see Jesus in the manger. By the time they reached Bethlehem, the family was staying in a house and Jesus was about 18 months old – a toddler trotting about and saying his first words.

They weren’t kings. They were scientists – men who studied the stars, the forerunners of today’s astronomers and astrophysicists.

We don’t know how many there were (and we certainly don’t know their names!). Just because there were three gifts does not mean that there were three donors; there could have been two or seven or even more.

But what we do know is that some wise and learned foreigners were among the first people to see Jesus, to recognise who he was (or is): a king (gold), a priest (frankincense) and a saviour (myrrh) and to worship him.

They began a tradition that continues to this day. We give gifts at Christmas not only to express our love to our family and friends or to spread a little joy to others but principally to celebrate God’s incredible act of love in sending Jesus, his son, into the world to live as a true human and to die for our salvation.

“What can I give him? Poor as I am… what I can, I give him, give my heart.”

Liz Burroughs

Local preacher, St Austell Methodist Circuit