Christmas - How wise were those wise men?

The Bible does not tell us very much about those visitors from the East who came to worship the Christ Child.

Christmas carols and Christmas cards speak of the three 'kings' presenting their treasures to the infant.

Were there three? We don't know. There were three gifts mentioned, but nowhere are we told how many Magi came.

We are not told they are kings and we don't know when they arrived in Bethlehem.

Since they came from a great distance, their journey would have taken more time than the shepherds' trip. And since Herod had all children under 2 years of age be killed, we would think that they arrived some months after Jesus was born.



In Matthew 2:16 we read:

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.


Likely in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi indicated that they had seen the star almost two years earlier and Mary and the family were then settled in a house in the area.


On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh (Matthew 2:11).


What about that star?

We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him, the Magi told the people in Jerusalem.

Many scholars have explained 'his star' as an astronomical phenomenon.

One of the earliest explanations was that it was a comet. That was the view of the great church father
Origen of Alexandria.

Later, Johannes Kepler, the father of modern astronomy, explained it was the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces in the year 7 BC.

This fits a logical timeline and is probably the favorite view of astronomers today. (It makes a great planetarium demonstration!)

More likely, though, is that the 'star' was a miraculous phenomenon. (Remember Jonah and the great fish? The text says God "provided a great fish to swallow Jonah").

Maybe God "provided" this miraculous appearance in the eastern sky.

And maybe, since the Jews were scattered throughout the known world, the Magi had heard rumors about their coming Messiah/King and understood he would come to Israel.

So when they saw the display in the sky, their thoughts turned toward the Jewish homeland.

Maybe this miraculous star was the appearance of the Shekinah glory that accompanied the people of Israel in their desert wanderings, signifying God's presence with them. James Montgomery Boice favors
this view.

Only something like the Shekinah manifestation could have led the wise men over the desert to Jerusalem, reappeared after their meeting with King Herod, guided them to Bethlehem, and then "stopped over the place where the child was" (Matthew 2:9), which seems a clear explanation of the written record.

What's most important?

Matthew doesn't seem concerned with exactly where the wise men came from, how many there were, or with the star itself.

Rather, he wanted us to know that from the very beginning of Jesus' story, Gentiles came to worship the Jewish Messiah, and that the message Jesus brought was for the whole world.

Which brings us back to Matthew's closing words when Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared to His disciples:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,  baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

So during the first months of the life of Baby Jesus, Gentiles, not just Jews, came to worship Him. And at the end of His earthly life, He reminds us to go out to the whole world, Jews and Gentiles alike!

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations....



From John's Revelation of the future....

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb....
(Revelation 7:9).

Disciples from all nations!