The Way to Bethlehem
Around 14000 miles
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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.”
Matthew 2:1-2
Stories and songs have been written about the enigmatic gift-givers, but the only clues the Bible gives us are those provided by Matthew in his Gospel.
They were “from the East” (Matthew 2:1)
They came to pay homage to a new king after seeing and following a star (Matthew 2:2)
They brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11)
Were they kings? We don’t know. Were there three of them? We don’t know. Were their names really Melchoi, Caspar, and Balthassar? Probably not since these are the names of three kings mentioned in the Armenian narratives dated AD 500.
There are three theories that do have some credibility.
They were Babylonian or Persian astrologers who had studied the stars in search of an anomaly that would hail the coming of the Messiah. From Jews who had settled in the area, they might have learned of the prophecy of Isaiah : “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6). One of my favorite Christmas readings is this interpretation by Norah Lofts in How Far to Bethlehem?
They belonged to a class of Persian priests. Philo, a Jewish philosopher, noted that the Magian often investigated nature in order to ascertain the absolute truth, so the appearance of an unusual star set them on their journey.
They were magicians, people who had special knowledge of the magical arts. In Acts 13:6-8, Paul and Barnabas encountered a “magi”. The magicians in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court were called “magi” (Daniel 1:20). They may even have been familiar with Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27).
We can’t know for certainty who the magi—or “wise men” as they came to be called—were. What we do know is that they came a long way to worship the Messiah, even though they were not Hebrew. As the Bible Archaeology Report states, they were real people, not mythical, and were “overjoyed” when they found the Child (Matthew 2:10). Rather than return to Herod, as he had commanded, they were warned by an angel to “return to their country by another route”(Matthew 2:12) prompting Joseph to take his family into Egypt and sparing the life of the Child.
Whoever the Magi were, they followed the Star by faith and they went many miles to worship the Child. In your own life, how far have you been willing to go to worship Jesus?
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