Journey of the Magi Religion Quotes

This passage could be a reference to the effect of Christianity on the world (as told by Christians, of course). The Magi, having tramped through the awful cold and slush of winter, suddenly find themselves in an altogether more pleasant climate (though still not as hot as where they've come from—not Hellishly hot, in other words, hint hint). It smells of vegetation, which signals fertility and food, which is a relief to the Magi for sure. The whole thing is a bit odd though, because of what Christianity will mean to the Magi by the end of the poem. But the whole point of the piece is that religion is mighty complicated, so we're pretty sure that contradiction isn't a mistake.

This reference to not only Judas's betrayal but also to the Romans' divvying up of Jesus's clothes could be looked at as emblematic of religion because of the way in which it contains both sin and salvation. After all, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, according to Christian belief, are what will save us all.

If we look at this quote as a prophecy entirely fulfilled—the Magi followed the star, they listened to the angels, and everything went according to plan—then the "you may say" part may well be the Magus's first realization that the prophecy doesn't include his own salvation. So while the prophecy has been satisfied, and everything should be in its right place, nothing could be further from the truth for the Magi. So you may say, but the Magi sure don't.

While widespread religious change may bring about good things (for all this skepticism, according to the Bible, Jesus did some pretty awesome stuff), the process can be painful, messy, and even slightly reminiscent of death itself. You have to give up a lot in order to gain a lot, in other words.

The second-to-last line of this poem is a powerful image of the Magis' people, suddenly transformed into heathens "clutching" (what a word!) at their soon-to-be-false idols. Thus the last real image we get of anything in this poem is a bunch of people desperately hanging on to a way of life that's about to be, well, kaput. As if that weren't enough, the guy who's going to do the transforming is the infant to which the leader of these very people just went to pay tribute! So this is yet another image that illustrates that while Christianity has proven to be a very good thing to a great many people, the process by which it came to be was not all rainbows and sunshine for the folks on the ground.