THE WISE MEN
Matthew 2:1-2 puts the story of the Wise Men this way: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’”
This familiar story is often told each Christmas without much thought as to what must have taken place behind the scenes. The “Magi” were certainly not Jewish, but they seemed to know more about the Jewish prophecies than did the scholars of King Herod. For although the prophecies were known, the signs were not, and so Herod had to ask the wise men to bring back to him the location that was being sought.
The prophecies were well known. Genesis 49:10 states that “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes…” and when the Romans took the sceptre (the symbol of authority) from the Jewish people, it is apparently recorded in the Babylonian Talmud that the Jewish priests tore their garments because the prophecy had apparently gone unfulfilled. They were not expecting the course of events that was about to transpire.
How did the “wise men” know about the prophecies of the Jewish people, what to look for, or have the confidence to set out on such a journey? After all, it would have taken about four months to make the trip from the area of Babylon to Jerusalem. It states this in Ezra 7:9 “On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem…”
Perhaps a clue is also found in Daniel 2:48 for it states there that after Daniel had interpreted the kings’ dream “…the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.”
So the wise men of the time of Daniel could have been informed about the Jewish prophesies by Daniel, with this knowledge being passed down to those similar persons at the time of Christ’s birth. They were certainly more in tune with the signs, because Herod needed to have the wise men find for him where Christ was born.
Such it was that wise men, who were not Jewish, apparently were more aware of the Jewish prophesies and more able to see the signs than were the chief priests of Herod and the other Jewish leaders. And they had such confidence in their findings that a journey of four months was not enough to deter them from their quest. So they arrived at the completion of their quest and gave homage to Christ.
The leaders of the Temple, of the Jewish nation, did not see the sign of Christ’s coming; they apparently did not interpret properly the Prophecies and mistook His coming entirely. It took pagan wise men from the East to see what needed to be seen; and they had the conviction to act.
So is there a lesson in all this for us? In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked “…what shall be the sign of Your coming…?” Jesus, in Matthew 24:6-10, replied: “…you will hear of wars and rumours of wars…nation will rise against nation…there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places…many will be offended…the love of many will grow cold.”
At Christ’s first coming, those who were closest to the scene missed the signs entirely. Those who should have been “in the know” were not. Let us not become too complacent with what we think we know that we don’t recognize an unplanned for event and an unexpected sign. After all, if unbelievers would travel for four months because of their conviction regarding the Messiah’s coming, shouldn’t we, if we truly believe, watch for the signs in a like manner. It would be a tragedy to be like the priests of Herod and miss Christ’s second coming entirely.
As we consider the birth of Jesus this Christmas, that’s just something to think about.
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