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.