“I Sent You Wise Men”: Jesus’s Confession to the Pharisees That Changes Everything

The Most Overlooked Statement in the Gospels

In Matthew 23, Jesus delivers his most scathing rebuke of the Pharisees — the famous Seven Woes. Scholars have analyzed every word of this confrontation. Yet one statement has been consistently overlooked, its implications too destabilizing for traditional Christianity to process:

“Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.” — Matthew 23:34

Jesus is not speaking hypothetically. He is not quoting scripture. He is speaking in the first person: “I send you.”

He is telling the Pharisees — the guardians of Yahweh worship — that HE sent them wise men. Not Yahweh. Not the God of Abraham. Jesus himself.

And who were the “wise men” in the biblical narrative?

The Magi. Zoroastrian priests.

The Context: Jesus vs. The Pharisees

To understand the weight of this statement, we must examine the full confrontation in Matthew 23 and John 8.

The Seven Woes (Matthew 23:13-36)

Jesus systematically dismantles the Pharisees:

• “You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (v.13)
• “You travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves” (v.15)
• “You are like whitewashed tombs” (v.27)
• “You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets” (v.31)

Then comes verse 34: “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes…”

Jesus is claiming personal authority over the sending of spiritual teachers to Israel. This is not the language of a Jewish prophet speaking on behalf of Yahweh. This is the language of someone with independent divine authority.

“Your Father is the Devil” (John 8:44)

In John 8, Jesus makes an even more explosive statement to the Pharisees:

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”

The Pharisees claimed Abraham as their father. Jesus rejected this. They claimed to worship God. Jesus told them their god was the devil.

Who were the Pharisees worshipping?

Yahweh.

Who did Jesus say was their father?

The devil — the adversary, the deceiver.

In Zoroastrian terms: Angra Mainyu. Ahriman. The Lie.

“Wise Men” — The Zoroastrian Connection

The Greek Word

In Matthew 23:34, the Greek word for “wise men” is σοφούς (sophous) — sages, wise ones.

In Matthew 2:1, when the Magi visit the infant Jesus, the Greek word is μάγοι (magoi) — specifically Zoroastrian priests.

While different Greek words are used, the conceptual overlap is significant. In the ancient world, “wise men” from the East were understood to be Persian. The Magi were the intellectual and spiritual elite of the Persian Empire — astronomers, theologians, keepers of sacred fire.

The Only “Wise Men” in the Gospels

Ask yourself: Who are the “wise men” that appear in the Gospel narrative?

The Magi who honored Jesus at his birth.

Zoroastrian priests.

When Jesus tells the Pharisees “I sent you wise men,” he is claiming responsibility for sending Zoroastrian teachers to the people who would become the Pharisees.

This aligns perfectly with history. The Jews encountered Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian Exile (586-539 BCE). They lived under Persian rule for two centuries. The Pharisees emerged afterward, carrying doctrines that did not exist in pre-exilic Judaism:

• Resurrection of the dead
• Heaven and Hell as moral destinations
• Angels with names and hierarchies
• Satan as a cosmic adversary
• Apocalyptic final judgment

These are Zoroastrian doctrines.

Jesus is telling the Pharisees: “I sent you the teachers who gave you these truths. And you rejected them.”

The Implications: Jesus Did Not Follow Yahweh

What Jesus Never Said

Examine the Gospels carefully. Jesus never says:

• “Worship Yahweh”
• “Follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”
• “Obey the covenant of Moses”

Instead, Jesus consistently:

• Refers to God as “Father” (Ahura Mazda — “Wise Father/Lord”)
• Claims to be “the Light of the World” (light vs. darkness = core Zoroastrian theology)
• Promises “Paradise” (a Persian word)
• Casts out demons (daeva — Persian concept)
• Teaches resurrection (Zoroastrian doctrine)
• Warns of final judgment (Frashokereti — Zoroastrian eschatology)

What Jesus Did Say

To the Pharisees — the guardians of Yahweh worship — Jesus said:

1. “Your father is the devil” (John 8:44)
2. “I sent you wise men” (Matthew 23:34)
3. “You shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13)
4. “You make your converts twice the children of hell” (Matthew 23:15)

Jesus is not reforming Judaism. He is rejecting it.

He is telling the Yahweh-worshippers that their god is the deceiver, and that HE — Jesus — sent them the true teachers (the Magi, the wise men, the Zoroastrian priests), whom they persecuted and killed.

The Pharisees as “Persianizers”

The etymology of “Pharisee” itself may confirm this connection.

The standard explanation derives “Pharisee” from the Hebrew פָּרַשׁ (parash) — “to separate.”

But scholars T.W. Manson and Louis Finkelstein proposed an alternative: “Pharisee” derives from the Aramaic word for “Persian” or “Persianizer” — those who adopted Persian (Zoroastrian) religious concepts.

The Pharisees held beliefs that did not exist in pre-exilic Judaism:

The Pharisees were Jews who had absorbed Zoroastrian theology during the Persian period.

But they kept the name of Yahweh while adopting Persian concepts.

Jesus is telling them: “You took what I sent you — the truth from the wise men — and corrupted it. You serve the Lie while using stolen Light.”

The Confrontation Decoded

Let us read the confrontation with fresh eyes:

Jesus: “I sent you prophets and wise men and scribes.”

Translation: “I sent you Zoroastrian teachers — the Magi — who brought you the truth about resurrection, judgment, heaven, hell, and the cosmic battle between truth and falsehood.”

Jesus: “Some of them you killed and crucified.”

Translation: “You persecuted the bearers of Asha (truth) while claiming to serve God.”

Jesus: “Your father is the devil.”

Translation: “You do not serve Ahura Mazda (the Wise Lord). You serve Angra Mainyu (the Destructive Spirit) — the father of lies. You call him Yahweh, but he is the adversary.”

Jesus: “I am the Light of the World.”

Translation: “I am the embodiment of Asha — cosmic truth, divine light, the eternal flame that Zoroaster proclaimed.”

Why This Matters

This interpretation resolves contradictions that have troubled scholars for centuries:

1. Why did the Magi honor Jesus?

Because they recognized him as the Saoshyant — the Zoroastrian savior figure who would bring Frashokereti, the final renovation of the world.

2. Why did Jesus constantly conflict with the Pharisees?

Because the Pharisees had taken Zoroastrian truths and grafted them onto Yahweh worship — mixing light with darkness, truth with lies.

3. Why did Jesus call the Pharisees’ god “the devil”?

Because Yahweh, as portrayed in the Hebrew scriptures, exhibits characteristics of Angra Mainyu:

• Commands genocide
• Demands blood sacrifice
• Claims jealousy as a virtue
• Punishes children for parents’ sins

Jesus was not a reformer of Judaism. He was a Zoroastrian prophet rejecting the corruption of Asha.

4. Why did Jesus use Persian words and concepts?

Because his theology was Persian:

• Paradise (pairidaeza)
• Light vs. darkness dualism
• Resurrection
• Final judgment
• The cosmic battle between truth and falsehood

The Hidden History

The early Church Fathers worked diligently to obscure these connections. They:

1. Suppressed Gnostic texts that preserved Jesus’s Persian theology
2. Emphasized the Hebrew scriptures while downplaying Persian influence
3. Created the doctrine that Jesus came to “fulfill” the Law of Moses
4. Reframed the Magi as curious foreigners rather than recognizing theological kinship

But the text itself preserves the truth.

Jesus said: “I sent you wise men.”

He was speaking to Yahweh worshippers.

He was claiming to have sent them Zoroastrian teachers.

He was identifying himself not as a servant of Yahweh, but as the divine authority who sent the Magi — the source of the truth that the Pharisees had corrupted.

Conclusion: The Zoroastrian Christ

Matthew 23:34 is not an obscure verse. It is a confession.

Jesus declared to the guardians of Yahweh worship:

• Their god is the devil
• He (Jesus) sent them the wise men (Magi)
• They rejected and killed the truth-bearers
• They serve the Lie while claiming to serve God

This is not Judaism reformed. This is Zoroastrianism reclaimed.

Jesus was not a Jewish messiah who happened to use some Persian concepts. He was a Zoroastrian spiritual master who confronted the corruption of Asha by those who mixed Persian truth with the cult of Yahweh.

The Magi knew this. That is why they came.

The Pharisees sensed this. That is why they conspired to kill him.

The Church buried this. That is why it has remained hidden.

But the words remain in the text, waiting to be understood:

“I sent you wise men.”