Christmas Blessings: Black Wise Men Christmas Card Box Set

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
Matthew 2:10-11 (KJV)

Long before the first gift was ever wrapped and set under a tree, wise men left everything familiar and followed a star across the desert. They did not know the road, but they knew the King they were looking for. And when they found Him, they did what every heart should do at Christmas: they bowed down, they worshipped, and they opened their treasures. Every Christmas blessing we share flows back to that night and to the greatest Gift of all. Keep Christ in Christmas, and let the card you send say so.

The Christmas Blessings card brings those travelers to your mailbox, painted as three Black kings. They stand shoulder to shoulder in jeweled gold crowns and wrapped turbans, faces lifted toward a burst of starlight in the upper corner. Their robes move from midnight blue to deep plum to cream, trimmed in gold embroidery, and each man holds an ornate gold vessel close to his chest: a carved chest and two domed, lidded jars. Flecks of gold drift across the blue robe like stardust. Above them, "Christmas" sweeps across the sky in gold foil script over "BLESSINGS" set in clean black capitals, and the foil catches the light the same way the star does in the painting.

Who Were the Wise Men?

Matthew's Gospel calls them magi, from the Greek magoi, a title for the priestly scholars of ancient Persia who studied the night sky and advised kings. They arrived in Jerusalem asking where the newborn King of the Jews could be found, because they had seen His star rise. King Herod sent them on to Bethlehem, where the star led them to the house of the young child and Mary His mother. After they worshipped Him, God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went home by another way.

Scripture never says how many wise men came or what their names were. The number three grew out of the three gifts, and the names Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar entered church tradition centuries later. Early Christians also connected the visitors to Isaiah 60:3, "and kings to the brightness of thy rising," which is why art so often crowns them as kings, just as this card does.

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

For generations, preachers have read the three gifts as a sermon in themselves. Gold honors a King. Frankincense, burned in temple worship, honors God. Myrrh, a spice used to prepare the dead for burial, points ahead to the cross. Three treasures, one message: the child in Mary's arms came to reign, to be worshipped, and to give His life.

Why Black Wise Men?

The wise men were the first Gentiles to worship Christ, and the church has long seen in them every nation of the earth coming to the manger. An eighth-century writer described Balthazar as a dark, fully bearded king, and by the 1400s European painters regularly portrayed him as a Black African king. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church holds its own tradition linking Balthazar to Bazen, an ancient king of Aksum. Scripture does not describe what the wise men looked like, so this artwork is an artistic interpretation, one that places all three kings in our image and reminds every family that the invitation to Bethlehem has always included us.

Inside the Card

Open the card to a red and gold ribbon bow trimmed with holly, followed by this printed blessing:

That silent night, a bright star above,
a gift filled with hope, peace, and love.
Have a Blessed Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A soft snowflake pattern fills the left inside panel, and there is plenty of open space below the greeting for a handwritten note. The gold foil-lined envelopes and gold seals complete the set, so each card arrives looking like a gift before it is even opened.

Send Christmas Blessings to your church family, your pastor, the mothers of the church, and everyone on your list who knows exactly whose birthday we are celebrating.