December 21
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wisemen from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’…. After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was---the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshipped Him.” Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11
Some of the details of the visit of the wisemen from the east have been distorted through the years to fit into a nice neat scene that can be played out in a Christmas pageant. We do not actually know how many wisemen made the journey. We only know that they brought three gifts, so the dramatic script has three wisemen each carrying one of the gifts. There is also no indication that they were kings. It is more likely that they were astrologers or magi (from which we get the word magicians) and probably did not wear crowns like the young boys who play them on stage usually do. But the most significant difference between the biblical account and that of the one played out in pageants is the timing of their journey. We have been led to believe that all of the events took place on the night Jesus was born and that the wisemen followed the shepherds visiting in the stable. This is not accurate. The journey from the east most likely took several months. The text gives us two clues regarding the timing. When the wisemen came to Herod he asked them for the exact time that the star had appeared in the sky. When they did not return to him after visiting Jesus, He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years or younger indicating that it may have been up to two years before that they had seen the star. Also, in Matthew 2:11, we are told that they visited Jesus at a house and not in the stable where He was born, so by the time they came, Mary and Joseph had returned home and were living in a house.
Unlike the shepherds, these wisemen were not visited by an angel telling them that the Messiah had been born and to go visit Him. So how did they know the significance of the star in the sky? How did they know that the King of the Jews had been born as they told Herod? In Daniel, we are told about wisemen from Babylon who served in the king’s court and attempted to interpret the king’s dreams. It is possible that these wisemen were from that area as well. If that is the case, then they no doubt would have known about Daniel’s God and possibly had heard about the prophecies of the coming Messiah. Numbers 24:17 speaks of the star coming from Judah so somehow, they knew that the star they saw in the sky meant that the Messiah had arrived. They were overjoyed beyond measure and left to find Him. It is significant to note that God calls whoever He chooses, and He uses different methods to reach each of us. Stars were important to these men. They had spent much time studying them and God used a star to draw them to His Son. He knows us better than we know ourselves and He knows what will get our attention. He calls us individually and personally by whatever means He needs to draw us to Him.
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