Journey To Bethlehem Part 3 Series

Along with the shepherds, the low class of society, God also chose to reveal the coming of the Savior to the Gentiles through the Kings that traveled from the Far East.

Matthew 2:10-12, "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. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

In reading the story of the 3 Wise Men, or Kings of the East, I am reminded of the statements of Jesus when he says in Matthew 7:7-8, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." He repeats this again in Luke 11:9.

God will always reach out to a hungry heart. He will always reveal Himself to those who are searching for real truth and who are knocking at the door of Heaven trying to reach God.

God knew that his chosen people, Israel, would reject Him, but would be accepted by the Gentiles, and so He began to reveal Himself through the astronomers.

We have been studying the message of the gospel that God put into the stars at the beginning of creation so that His story could be told long before the days of books and written history. Each of the constellations tell a part of his story from the birth of Jesus in the constellation Virgo to the Coming of the Lord in triumph as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the constellation Leo.

We read of the star that shone forth in the sky at the time of Christ’s birth and that astronomers have determined that it burst forth at that very time and then faded away.

Some legends say that, as the Wise Men reached Bethlehem and looked down into a well to draw water, that the reflection of the star was centered in the deep well, letting them know that this was the exact spot to find the King that was born.

Another legend says that, as the wise men approached the stable where the baby lay, a comet flew across the sky over his head and that is this is also the source of the ancient paintings that show a halo over the head of Baby Jesus.

Still another story is that the wise men didn’t even find Jesus until He was two years old because it took them two years to follow the star from their homeland to Bethlehem and eventually to Nazareth where Jesus was at that time because the scripture says that they found him in a house, not a stable, that he was a child, not a baby any longer and that Herod killed all the male children 2 years old and under because it was unclear to him how old the child really was.

Regardless of how it all happened, God revealed the coming of the savior to those hungry hearts of the wise men because they sought Him and desired to know Him.

My hope is that all of us would have the same hunger, the same desire and be willing to do whatever would could to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior.