Matthew 2:1–12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Magi were from the region of Babylon or Persia, where the science of astronomy had been highly developed and had spawned its related pseudoscience, astrology. Magi were valued as counselors in the courts of ancient kings. As they told King Herod, they had seen an unusual star in the east, which they had related to prophecies about a king of the Jews. Many Jews continued to live in that area after the Babylonian exile, so it is not improbable that the Magi had learned of their messianic hopes.
Today, some scholars relate the star to a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC which would have appeared to the Magi as a bright star low on the eastern horizon. God does indeed at times use natural means to manifest and assert His will and purpose, but this naturalistic explanation does not fit the biblical account in all details. Matthew said the star went before them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem “until it came to rest over the place where the child was.” Clearly this was a miraculous phenomenon, designed and utilized by God to lead the Magi to Jesus.
Herod’s reaction to the inquiry of the Magi was what you would expect of this shrewd, ruthless old king who had murdered his wife, three sons, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, and others whom he saw as challenges to his throne: he immediately began plotting the elimination of this new rival, this King of the Jews.
--
Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,