BETHLEHEM - Three wise men visited the baby Jesus, presenting gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to his mother Mary. Afterward, the wise man who brought myrrh confronted the other two wise men since it had been his understanding there was an agreed-upon spending limit for the newborn king of the Jews.

"We all said before this, since we're buying gifts for God among men, that there would be a temptation to go overboard," said Caspar, the wise man who brought myrrh. "That's why I distinctly remember us setting a denari limit on the gifts. What happened?"

"Well... I thought she'd like gold," replied Balthazar, the wise man who brought gold.

"Of course she'd like gold!" shouted Caspar. "That's not the point. We weren't supposed to try to show each other up here. But instead, she's like 'Wow! Gold!' right before she opens my gift where she's all, 'Oh. What's this?'"

"She seemed to like the myrrh once you explained it to her," Balthazar said.

"Yes, she was very polite about it," Caspar responded. "But do you know what you don't have to explain to people? Gold!"

"Hey, I got showed up too," said the wise man Melchior, who gave frankincense.

Caspar pointed an accusing finger at him. "You were also over budget."

"Hey, you get to give gifts for the birth of the Messiah only once," said Balthazar. "It's time to splurge a little."

"Or, at the birth of the man who will judge all our sins, maybe it's time to keep your word," Caspar responded. "I'm just saying."

They did all agree the baby was very cute.