One of the curious things about the story of the Magi or the Wise Men in the Gospel of Matthew is that it is not the sort of thing which a real Jewish Matthew would invent out of nothing It is, though, one which could be such a person’s attempt to make sense of an already existing story which he did not fully understand. The elements of that story appear to be: wisdom somehow connected with the East; calculation, or observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies; and antipathy between the implications of the news from the Magi and the settled status of the Jerusalem establishment as represented by Herod.

Keeping those three elements of Matthew’s story in mind, let’s turn to Luke’s narrative of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Is there any indication of some wisdom with a connection to the East? There is certainly a buzz of expectation in the air – lots of people seem to be convinced that this is the time when Messiah is to appear. Where could this expectation have come from?

As we read on in Luke’s gospel we come across various references to Daniel the prophet, the wise Jew living in exile in Babylon whose visions indicated, somewhat cryptically, what time was to elapse before Messiah could make his appearance. Reading between the lines here makes me wonder whether an interpretation of the seventy weeks (or seventy years repeated seven times) figured in this – it was 490 years or thereabouts since the “issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild…” (Daniel 9:25) And now we can see hints at similar ingredients which were put to quite different use in Matthew’s story – star-gazing/calendar-watching, wisdom associated with the eastern parts of the Diaspora.

And then, bearing in mind that the Greek word “angelos” means “messenger,” not necessarily or even primarily a supernatural being, I find that three names of “wise ones” stand out in Luke’s gospel. Not Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar of later tradition, but Gabriel, Simeon and Hannah bat Phanuel. (And Phanuel, it is interesting to note, is another of the traditional names of an archangel.)

Could all of this, I wonder, really point to the possibility of a lost base level story which comes from the actual time of Jesus’ birth? That part of my make-up which is the biblical scholar says, “This is speculation without proof.” But the novelist says, “Now there’s something I could work with!”

At this point it might appear that I am inching towards some kind of liberal Christian acknowledgement of the significance of Daniel’s seven times seventy. Indeed I am, but let me offer a daft joke to illustrate an important aspect of this:

Dave was fast running into financial difficulties. He needed to do something desperate to improve his situation so he went into church and knelt in prayer. “Lord,” he prayed, “I really do need to win big time on the lottery this week.” The weekend passed but Dave won nothing. Undaunted, he persevered in prayer until, at last, he was on the point of bankruptcy. “Lord,” he prayed, “it’s getting real bad now. Please, grant me a big win on the lottery.” As he knelt there, a voice came from heaven. “Okay, Dave,” said the divine voice, “I’ve heard your prayer. But you’ve got to meet me half way on this one. You’ve got to do your own bit. Go and buy a lottery ticket.”

This is not as irreverent as it might at first appear. The principle is the same as the principle in this Rabbinic parable: “A king’s son was at a distance of a hundred days’ journey from his father. Said his friends to him, ‘Return to your father.’ He said to them, ‘I cannot. The way is too far.’ The father sent to him and said, ‘Go as far as you are able, and I shall come the rest of the way to you.’ Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, ‘Return unto Me, and I will return unto you. [Mal 3:7] (Midrash, Pesiq. Rab. 44.9)” (Quoted in Hyam Maccoby, Jesus the Pharisee, p105.)Much prophecy was understood in a similar way – the fulfilment depends in part upon the way in which people respond to the prophet’s message. That is the lesson taught in the story of Jonah whose warning of destruction for Nineveh is not fulfilled because the people repent.

There is a similar message in the prophecy of Haggai. The people have returned from exile in Babylon to restore their homeland but they complain that they have not received the blessing they had hoped for. Haggai’s message to the people is that they have not fulfilled their own part of things – they should get back to work on rebuilding the temple and God’s blessing will then follow.

If the people are to benefit from what has been promised in prophecy, they must do their own part. They cannot simply sit and wait for God to act. So, I suspect, with the prophecy of the seven times seventy – if they want Messiah to come and restore the ancient Davidic monarchy and all that belongs with that golden age, then they must ensure that they have a man worthy to be anointed. Is this, then, the role of Gabriel, Simeon and Hannah bat Phanuel? They must see to it that a young woman of fit character and family is found who will give birth to a baby who will be ready to be designated Messiah in time for the conclusion of the seven times seventy years.

An intriguing but unanswerable question arises from time to time: what was Jesus doing during the thirty years or so before he turned up at the Jordan where John was baptising? The only thing we can suggest in answer is that he would probably have been engaged in the same trade as Joseph, his father.

More intriguing to my mind, and one which is hardly ever asked, is: what became of the messianic hopefuls who were very much in evidence around the time of his birth? The three “Wise Messengers,” Gabriel, Simeon and Hannah are no longer around, but the buzz of expectation involved more than these three and it seems legitimate to wonder whether, by the time Jesus came to John at the Jordan, there were still people around who had been aware at the time of his birth that he or someone born then was going to take on the role of Messiah. That seems to me to be entirely possible and plausible.

This does, indeed, appear to be the case. “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one more powerful than I will come…’” (Luke 3:15,16) As we read on in the stories of the gathering of the first band of disciples it becomes apparent that it does not require a great deal of argument, scripture exposition or persuasion to gather those early disciples. It takes little more than a simple, “Follow me,” and the inner core of Jesus’ following is mobilised. This suggests to me that these people were already expecting Jesus or one of his contemporaries to make his move – and that Jesus knew some at least who were already committed to the cause.

At this point we can ask another question – and it is one whose answer may appear so obvious that the question quite simply does not arise. Who founded or set in motion the movement within Judaism which was to develop into Christianity and the Church? Was it Jesus himself (the “obvious” answer) or was it already in existence when he was born? I will opt for the second possibility here and suggest that the proximate founders of Christianity were the three “Wise Messengers” – Gabriel, Simeon and Hannah. Drawing upon the apocalyptic visions of Daniel, the seer exiled in the east, they sought to fulfil the role of the faithful people and meet God half way by ensuring that a Messiah-in-waiting was present at the expiry of the seventy weeks. The rest was up to God himself – and to Jesus, of course, who would have to be faithful to his calling.