What made the three kings the wise men? This question under girds Glynn Cardy's first Sunday of Christmas sermon. "The exotic entrance of the mysterious Magi adds colour and class to the manger scene. Our imaginations are fired. We love to conceive the wise ones, adorned in sparkly splendour, riding the hills on humps, then alighting to offer their obscure gifts to the wee babe. Have you ever wondered why they were called “wise”? You don’t hear, for example, about the wise shepherds, or wise angels, or the wise Mary or Joseph? Why are the Magi considered to have a monopoly on wise?" Full text at http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=447&id=909.