JANUARY 4, 2026
A quite beautiful painting, attributed to a fifteenth-century Peruvian artist, Benedetto Bonfigli, presents the visit of the Magi in unusual circumstances.
The painting on wood is entitled ‘The Adoration of the Magi and Christ on the Cross’.
The infant Jesus is shown seated on a cushion on the Virgin’s lap and he assumes a position of authority as he accepts the gifts and homage of the Magi, who are shown as kings.
The eldest of the three kings has taken off his crown and laid it at the feet of the Virgin and child as a gesture of submission. He holds the infant’s feet in his right hand, perhaps intending to kiss them with reverence and devotion. Acceptance of the Magi’s homage was understood as Christ’s prophetic acknowledgement Of his destiny to die on the cross. Bonfigli shows the crucified Christ in the middle distance among the hills, his head bowed and blood trickling from his wounds. The painting illustrates the point that Christ was born in order to die for humanity. The two episodes in the one painting illustrate the beginning and the end of the earthly life of Jesus.
It may seem to us extraordinary that those men should set out from the East to find a king, but the strange thing is that, just about the time Jesus was born, there was in the world a feeling of expectation of the coming of a king. The Jews had the belief that about that time one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth’. When Jesus Christ came, the world was in an eagerness of expectation. People were waiting for God and the desire for God was in their hearts. They had discovered that they could not build the golden age without God. It was to a waiting world that Jesus came; and, when he came, the ends of the earth were gathered at his cradle. It was the first sign and symbol of the world conquest of Christ.
The faithfulness of the Magi in following ‘their star’ and discerning that something more than a mere secular event was here is important. They set out, to where they didn’t know; to see what, they weren’t sure. They were willing to take the risk. They were willing to let go of reputation, security and home to follow the hunch that God was speaking to them and inviting them to come. When Jesus said ‘Come follow me’ to the disciples, their positive response was fraught with uncertainty. To follow Jesus is to be willing to walk the path of uncertainty without an insurance policy under one’s arm!
Herod’s fear was that his power might be challenged. The wisdom of the kings is hearing the voice of God speaking to them in their dreams. The strangers were accepted at the cave of Bethlehem – the first of many Gentiles who were to see, in Christ, a Saviour.