In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV)
We are very accustomed to the wise men being a part of the manger seen we have at Christmas, we may wonder why we are talking about the wise men now…
Well in the timeline of biblical events, the wise men did not arrive until Jesus would have been 2 years old. You see the star did not rise until the birth of Jesus, so the wise men could not follow it until after He was born. And after our text above in Matthew we read that Herod had boys 2 and younger killed to make sure the Christ child was not able to become king. So the wise men were not in the manger with the shepherds….
And how many wise men were there? We want to say 3, because of the names we know of Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. But if you read the above text, there is no names for the wise men. The reason we say there was 3 wise men, is because there were three gifts. But the text does not say how many wise men there were.
But does the fact they did not make it to see Jesus until He was 2 or that there could have been 2 or 14 really change what happened?
No. God still worked through the lives of the people who were thought to be outside of the promise to spread the news of His birth. He made Himself known to a people who were not the chosen of God, and made them to be part of the promise.
And still today He is calling wise men and women to Him, changing the world, one person at a time!
aSacredRebel 