When the Magi finally arrived at the house in Bethlehem, they did not find a palace, a throne, or a crown. Instead, they found a young mother and her child. And in that moment, they saw something far greater than all the wisdom of the nations — they saw the love of God revealed in flesh.

In Japanese, the kanji for love, 好, is made of two simple parts: 女 (“woman”) and 子 (“child”). At first glance, it looks like a picture of ordinary affection. But what if the earliest shapers of this character were pointing back to the very moment the Magi witnessed in Bethlehem — Mary with her child, Jesus?

In this episode of Gospel Kanji, we follow the Magi on their journey past the wisdom of empires to the humble house where divine love was revealed. We uncover how this image of “woman and child” became a sign of God’s greatest message: Emmanuel, God with us.

🔹 Discover why the Magi bowed.
🔹 See how their encounter shaped the Kanji for love.
🔹 Learn how knowledge is powerful, but wisdom is only found in the Child.

This is the story the Magi couldn’t forget… and neither should we.

After seeing the star in the east, visiting the Christ child and then returning to their home country, thirty years later, the Magi returned to Jerusalem expecting to see Jesus on the throne. Instead, they arrived to discover He's been crucified… and whispers of something impossible — His resurrection.

In this episode of Gospel Kanji, we follow the Magi into the crowded streets of Pentecost, where they hear the gospel in their own language for the very first time. That moment of astonishment, doubt, and belief becomes the seed of something extraordinary: they encode their entire journey — from hearing to understanding — into just two kanji characters, the classical Japanese name for Jesus.

耶 — “ear” and “town,” capturing the shock of hearing the message in the language of home, moving from questions and doubts to faith in the Father.
蘇 — “resurrection,” built from “grass,” “fish,” and “grain,” picturing His humanity, His burial in the depths, and the life that springs forth from His rising.

Together, these two characters are more than a name. They are a confession of faith, a visual testimony hidden in plain sight for two millennia.

If the Magi could embed this much meaning into just two kanji, what else might they have hidden in Japan’s writing system? Next time, we’ll uncover another character — one that reveals the surprising reason the Messiah came at all.

In this episode of Gospel Kanji, we lay the groundwork for a journey that spans centuries, continents, and two profound transformations. We're diving deep into the ancient characters of Kanji to explore a hypothesis: what if the Magi who visited the Christ child in Bethlehem didn’t just make one journey, but two?

We start by reviewing the clues hidden within the Kanji characters for wisdom, book, and the very word "Kanji" itself—each one containing echoes of biblical prophecy. But there's more to this story than meets the eye. What if the Magi’s journey didn’t end after they worshipped the child in Matthew's gospel? What if their story continued, and their second journey brought them to Jerusalem decades later, witnessing the fulfillment of what they'd once hoped for?

This episode sets the stage for a larger investigation, mapping the Magi’s travels from Japan to Jerusalem and back, exploring the hidden messages encoded in the very characters that would eventually become Kanji. What does this ancient writing system reveal about their spiritual transformation? And how might their story challenge our understanding of history and faith?

Join us as we uncover the mystery of the Magi’s double journey and start to piece together the hidden gospel woven into the Kanji. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and tap the bell for more discoveries!

What if the ancient writing system of East Asia held a secret pointing directly to the Christ?

In this episode of Gospel Kanji, we explore the mysterious connection between the Kanji for “wisdom” and the prophecy in Isaiah 49:1–2—a prophecy that speaks of a chosen one whose mouth would be like a sharpened sword, hidden in the shadow of God’s hand.

This same imagery—the mouth and the arrow—forms the backbone of two striking Kanji: “wisdom” and “news” (知). Could this be more than coincidence? Could these characters be silent witnesses to a divine message, embedded long ago by those who had seen the Christ with their own eyes?

We’ll follow the trail of linguistic breadcrumbs back to the islands mentioned by Isaiah, revisit the Magi’s mysterious journey, and ask:

Who does this Kanji point to… and why has no one noticed until now?

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💬 Comment your thoughts—What do you think this points to?

What if the Kanji for “book” doesn’t just mean book—but points to one book in particular? And what if that book’s central message… is the cross?

In Episode 2 of Gospel Kanji, host Kent Sisco takes us deeper into the mystery of the Wisemen who visited the Christ child—and then vanished from the pages of history. But what if their trail didn’t end? What if it was hidden… in the strokes of an ancient writing system?

This episode investigates the Kanji character for “book” (本), its astonishing visual components, and how it might be pointing us to the New Testament—and more specifically, the cross of Christ. Could one of the Magi have preserved the gospel not in scrolls or sermons, but in symbols?

We’ll explore:

The layered meanings of the Kanji 本 (book)

Why the cross might be embedded at the heart of it

How ancient trade routes made global transmission possible

And why this hidden code may be the legacy of a forgotten wise man

Could the greatest story ever told be etched into a writing system still used today? And could this be the proof that the message reached the ends of the earth—long before we thought it did?

📌 Subscribe to follow the investigation.
🔔 Hit the bell so you don’t miss what’s coming next.
🌏 The truth isn’t lost. It was hidden… in plain sight.

What happened to the Magi after Bethlehem?

If the Wisemen were truly wise… why didn’t they write anything down?

They journeyed across nations following a star no one else could interpret, knelt before the Christ child, and then—vanished from history. No scrolls. No monuments. No clear homeland. Arabia, Persia, India? Nothing definitive.

In this episode, we reopen the case. Like detectives returning to a cold trail, we ask: Could the Magi have left behind clues in a place no one thought to look? And more intriguingly—what if those clues are hidden in plain sight… inside the very characters of an ancient written language?

We’ll follow the footprints of the Wisemen, question long-held assumptions, and investigate a trail that just might lead us somewhere unexpected… East. Far East.

🎙️ Hosted by Kent Sisco
This is not just a podcast. It's an unfolding investigation into one of history's most overlooked mysteries.