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THOSE WISE MEN – WHO WERE
THEY?
Unless otherwise
denoted, all Scripture references are to the
New International
Version (NIV; British text)
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in
the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east
to
Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King
of the Jews?”
(Matthew 2: 1, 2 – King James
Version)
WHAT DO WE
KNOW about those
mysterious visitors who appeared briefly on the scene after the birth of Jesus
in Bethlehem? Pictured
on Christmas cards in our day, and
portrayed by artists since the early days of Christianity, their identity has
intrigued the world through the passing centuries, but the Wise Men remain
anonymous. They arrive from the
unknown and they return without
trace. Their nationality, their status and their religion are not
revealed. Nor does Matthew’s account support the idea that there were
three Wise Men. There may have been two, three, or
more.
Called by the Greek name Magi – believed to indicate scholarly
Persian
astrologers – the Wise
Men arrived
in Jerusalem and made inquiries about a
newly-born Jewish King. According to the prophets, Messiah,
promised for centuries to be a great deliverer and King, was due to appear about
that time, and there was a general
air of expectancy. This would be
heightened by the coming of the Magi
from a far country to show homage to the infant
king.
IN HEROD’S PALACE
It is perhaps an indication of their high status that the Magi made their
way to what they would regard as the seat of authority – the royal palace. Herod
the Great, the detested tyrant over an unwilling people, was thrown into a fit of
alarm and anxiety by the visit of these men who claimed they had seen a star
indicating the birth of a new king. Herod was a cruel and violent monarch. He
was also crafty and clever in achieving his own way, and to this end he feigned
great interest in their enquiries.
So Herod sent for the leading priests and theologians of the Jews, who
might be expected to have some indication of the birthplace of the new king who
might one day threaten his own leadership. They told him that according to the
prophetic writings the child would be born in Bethlehem. Concealing his
murderous intention, he directed the Wise Men to that small town, urging them to
report to him as soon as they had found the child, so that he too might come and
worship Him.
THE STAR IN THE EAST
So the Wise Men went on to Bethlehem, guided by a star.
That
star has fascinated professional
and amateur
astronomers for
centuries, and a tremendous amount of time
has been spent calculating
just what was the nature of the
appearance, but no convincing astronomical explanation has yet been presented.
The Greeks and
Romans had always considered that the births and deaths of great men were
symbolised by the appearance and disappearance of heavenly bodies, and the same
belief was continued down to comparatively modern times.
At the time of Jesus’ birth the star could have been a natural
phenomenon
used by God, or perhaps a special
Divine revelation to manifest the tremendous significance of the birth of the
one who would be the Saviour of all people. That there was a special star cannot
be doubted. Its appearance to the Magi prompted their undertaking a long and
arduous journey in order to honour the new King and to present their gifts.
Whatever
the star was, it appeared at precisely the correct
moment to achieve the desired result and therefore was under the direct control of
God.
That they had been watching for such a sign
suggests that they were familiar with the Jewish prophetic writings. The Magi
through past ages may have learned much from Jews held in captivity for long
periods in their history, some of whom were still scattered abroad, dwelling
even in the East, from where the Wise Men had
journeyed.
THE ESCAPE TO
EGYPT
Following the star to Bethlehem the Wise
Men found the child in a house, evidently no longer in the stable, which on
the night of His birth had been the only available accommodation. It is clear from St. Luke’s gospel that the family
stayed in the Bethlehem-Jerusalem area for some time.
According to the Law, a firstborn son must be
presented to the Lord and an offering must be made – a pair of doves or two
young pigeons being acceptable. Joseph and Mary gladly fulfilled this obligation
when they visited the temple in Jerusalem at the appropriate time (Luke 2:
22-24).
It is possible that they had relatives in or near Bethlehem,
in whose home they were welcome to stay a while. And in that humble home those
Wise Men from the East found
Joseph, Mary and Jesus. There they worshipped the
infant who would become a King and presented their
gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Perhaps the Magi were already uneasy as to King Herod’s intentions
concerning Jesus, and being further warned in a dream not to return to Herod’s
palace, they made the journey back to their own country by
another route. Matthew tells us that
When they had
gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said,
“take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you,
for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (Matthew 2: 13).
In great haste the little family slipped quietly away to Egypt. They
could not have known at that time what terrible suffering other parents in
Judea would undergo, but would later learn that,
When Herod
realised 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
(Matthew 2: 16).
Probably more than eighteen months passed before Joseph was again told by an angel to return
to Israel. By that time a new king was in
power, a man as evil as his father, but as his rule did not extend to
Nazareth in Galilee, the town from
which they had originally set out, Joseph, Mary and the child returned safely to
their home.
There the baby Jesus, who had been visited by the Wise
Men, grew to manhood in comparative obscurity until at thirty years of
age He began the great mission for which He had come into the
world.
And he will
be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no
end (Isaiah 9: 6, 7).
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