Introduction: the shepherds of Bethlehem were the only recorded visitors to go see Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus on the night He was born. Sometime later, Matthew recorded that “wise men (KJV)” or magi (several other translations) came to Jerusalem. The purpose of their visit was to worship the One born “The King of the Jews”. Even though they probably didn’t get to Bethlehem on the actual night of Christ’s birth, they could still be considered people of the first Christmas. They came to worship, visited the newborn King where He was staying, and were smart enough to listen to God’s message they received in dreams. They were truly wise men!
1 The Wise Men arrived in Jerusalem
Text, Matthew 2:1-8, KJV: 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
The King James Version of the Bible calls these men “wise men” but several other versions call them “magi”. They were from the “east” which is a very indefinite term: this could be any region from Arabia to Babylon or Persia, perhaps even further. Apparently the wise men had knowledge of various things, ranging from astronomy to theology and even geography. They were able to trace or combine something in the sky (a “star”) with a prophecy (which one is not specified, but could be Daniel’s prophecy of the “70 ‘weeks’”) in a land far away, Jerusalem.
Nothing is mentioned about the logistics of their journey. We not only don’t know where these wise men came from, we also don’t know how many of them came to Jerusalem or their true status. A popular Christmas carol refers to them as “We Three Kings of Orient Are” but the song writer may have taken some liberties with Matthew’s text. It’s true they brought three kinds of gifts (the gold, frankincense, and myrrh) but it’s probably also true they didn’t come alone. The risk of having their treasures plundered or stolen, long before they ever reached Jerusalem, might well have been on the minds of each wise man!
Whoever they were, and wherever they were from, they knew something special had happened. They took action to prepare for the journey and set out for Jerusalem. Digressing for just a moment, there weren’t that many good ways to get to Jerusalem from anywhere else. As Israel was basically a strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and desert to the east, any traveler from the East would probably follow the so-called “Fertile Crescent”, or taking the path of the Euphrates River. This river had its source near the Black Sea and emptied into the Persian Gulf (using current-day terms), flowing generally south to south-east. Abram, for example, could have followed this river easily from Ur of the Chaldees all the way to just south of Haran, where he stayed for a period of time before heading on to Canaan (Genesis 11-12).
Eventually they arrived at Jerusalem and began asking questions. This would have created at least a little bit of a stir because, for the people, the only king they knew was Herod, and he was certainly no infant! How many of the people saw, or even remembered, or even heard of the events at Bethlehem some time before is not certain; maybe none of them knew anything about the heavenly hosts and shepherds going to the manger to see the Baby.
The wise men or magi had been in Jerusalem for at least a little while, apparently, because word came to Herod about their questions. Herod decided to find out for himself about this “king of the Jews” so he called the chief priests and scribes. Why there was a distinction between priests and the chief priests is nowhere explained; in the Old Testament, there was the high priest and the other priests. Every priest had to be able to prove he was a direct descendant of Aaron or he would not be able to serve as priest (example, Ezra 2:61-63 and Nehemiah 7:63-65 describe how some of the priests who, after the Exile, returned to Jerusalem with other Jews but were disqualified from the priesthood).
Then Herod “demanded” the chief priests and scribes tell him where the Christ “should be born” and they replied, “In Bethlehem of Judea”, only a few miles away from Jerusalem. This location and prophecy is found in Micah 5:2, and in that context Micah was prophesying that even though Bethlehem was small in comparison to Jerusalem, the Messiah would be born there. One wonders how much searching the chief priests and scribes undertook to find this prophecy. How well did they really know the Old Testament Scriptures?
Supplied with this information, Herod “privately” called the wise men in for a conference! Matthew relates how Herod “diligently” asked the wise men something that, on the surface, doesn’t seem to make much sense—he asked them when the star appeared in the east. Perhaps he had asked them other things, too, because the wise men seemed to be of high enough rank or social status for Herod to even take notice of them.
After this, Herod sent them on their way to Bethlehem, allegedly find out where the Child was located so that, incredibly, Herod could come and worship Him too!
The wise men did so and eventually did find the Baby. But that wasn’t all that happened.
2 They arrived at the house where Jesus was living
Text, Matthew 2:9-10, KJV: 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Matthew again says that the wise men followed the star, the same one they had seen back in their home country. This star led them to where it stood over where the young Child was located. The location, interestingly, is never given but Jesus, Joseph and Mary were probably not in Jerusalem during this time. One idea is that they were living in Bethlehem, where the prophecy of Jesus’ birth had now been fulfilled (partly—He had not yet come as “governor” as recorded in the last part of the verse). After all, this was the ancestral home of both Joseph’s and Mary’s “father”, David so it would seem logical that they would remain there at least for the time being.
Others aren’t so sure. Some think that they moved to a different part of Jerusalem, and at least one other commentator thinks they had returned to Nazareth. Again, the location of the house—not the stable—where they were living is not given. Perhaps God in His Wisdom knew that people would make a shrine out of this house if people knew Who had lived there before! Regardless, the star led them to the exact house where Jesus was staying. Of note, Jesus was not a baby or infant by this time. In the original language, Mary did indeed give birth to an infant, but by this time, the visit of the wise men, Jesus had grown somewhat. He could be called a toddler by
this time.
No matter where the star was, it led the wise men to the right place. And now they were going to fulfill the purpose why they came. They had come to worship; now that’s what they did.
3 They came to the house to worship Jesus
Text, Matthew 2: 11-12, KJV: 11 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. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Again notice how Matthew tells the readers (including us) that Joseph and Mary were living in a house, no longer having to remain in a stable. The location of this house, as mentioned, is not given and we accept God’s silence on this matter. After all, it was never so much the house itself as Who was living there!
And the magi/wise men found the house. They had followed the scriptures, now they followed the star, which took them directly to the place where Jesus was. If anyone else even noticed, or took time to even look at the Old Testament—the Bible of their day—we are not told. Now, once they had reached the house, they did what they came to do. The wise men had told Herod they had come to worship the king of the Jews, and now, in that house, they did exactly that.
Notice the order: they saw the young Child first, then Mary, His mother (where Joseph was at the time is not stated). They saw Jesus, and it seems immediately fell down and worshiped Him—and only Him. Then they presented unto Him—and only Him—gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Some have taken time to analyze these gifts and their interpretations are very interesting: gold, of course, could be used for any number of things. Frankincense and myrrh had strong aromas or fragrances but I don’t remember what they were used for in New Testament days. The important thing is that these wise men gave costly things, but valuable things, which were practical indeed and helpful to a young family.
Now that they had worshiped the Child Jesus, their mission was complete as far as they were concerned. They had seen the star, now they had seen the Child. They had come to worship Him, and they had done so. For them, they had one other stop to make, or one other item on the agenda, to complete before they could return to their homes.
And that was to report back to Herod where the Child was located.
Probably that was what they intended to do. How much they knew about Herod’s reputation is debatable; news traveled slowly but travel it did, and if word of Herod had reached Rome, it may well have reached far to the east as well. Perhaps the wise men were going to act in good faith, and trust Herod to keep his word. At any rate, they were apparently on the way back to Herod when some, if not all of them, had one of the most important dreams in human history.
That dream contained a warning from God, telling them not to go to Herod. Wisely, they obeyed the dream and returned to their home by another way (a way not disclosed to us). Were they already believers in the God of Israel? Or did they believe when they saw the Child? No matter what or when, they came to worship—and worship, they did. They had the privilege of seeing the Son of God as a small Child, perhaps wondering or marveling how such a thing could happen: that God would become man and live among His own people.
Wise men sought Him—and, as some have observed, they still do! May we all be wise enough to seek the Christ, and to worship Him, just like the wise men. And we don’t need to offer Him any gifts at all. He only wants us to take His gift, salvation, eternal life, for all who believe in Him!
Wouldn’t you want to be as wise as the wise men?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
