Post #14. The Christmas Card tradition shows the three wise men, or Magi, dressed in their kingly attire, trudging across the desert over sand dunes at night, following after an astronomical phenomenon (star) westward to Jerusalem.
The most important element of the Christmas story is the Good News of the birth of the new King of Israel – Jesus – the arrival of the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) – Emmanuel – God with us (Matthew 1:20-24). God also chose to inform a group of shepherds, the humblest sector of Jewish society, of the birth of Jesus by an angel of the Lord, and a host of angels (Luke 2:6-20).
God informed the Gentile world by a ‘star’ which appeared to a group of Magi somewhere quite far east of Judea. So God informed the Gentile world and the Israelite world equally. After seeing the ‘star’ the Magi took about two years to make arrangements and preparations plus travel time to Jerusalem, as they related to Herod; when he asked them about when the ‘star’ first appeared.
As a deliveryman I imagined how I would approach the assignment to deliver the precious parcel (gold, frankincense and myrrh) to the new King of Israel, who presumably would be born at Herod’s Palace in Jerusalem. This was the only clue to the destination available to the Magi at that time. There were well known trade routes in those days and Jerusalem was a kind of hub. When kings went to war they would pass through Judea on there way to somewhere else. Robbers were quite plentiful so security measures would include traveling in daylight only and not wearing regal robes or jeweled crowns. There may have been inns along the way or sheltered places to rest, feed and water their animals.
All went well along the way and they arrived intact at Herod’s palace (Matthew 2:1-15). When they asked, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”, Herod the king was troubled and called together the chief priests and scribes; Who said he was to be born in Bethlehem, according to the scriptures. Before sending them away, Herod asked the magi privately when the star appeared and urged them to report back to him after they found him, so he could ‘worship’ him as well. The road to Bethlehem went south for about 10 miles from Jerusalem. This pretty well rules out following a natural phenomenon, since stars move westward only.
Nobody knew where in Bethlehem that Jesus might be living, or even if he were still there. Sometime after they departed Herod and were on their way to Bethlehem the ‘star’ they saw in the east appeared again and this time it led them right to the house where Joseph, Mary and Jesus (now up to 2 yrs old) were living. You can imagine how the Magi were relieved to be guided supernaturally to their destination. Matt.2:10 says, “When they saw the ‘star’, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” I believe only the Magi could see the ‘star’. God does things like that in special circumstances – especially when security is paramount. This is compatible with the theme that Jesus emphasized when he said that his kingdom was not of this world.
After offering their gifts of gold , frankincense and myrrh and telling the whole story of their pilgrimage and the appearances of the ‘star’ to Mary and Joseph, they rested overnight. As was her custom, Mary would have pondered these things in her heart and after Jesus’ resurrection would have relayed the Magi’s story to Matthew and the other apostles – thus we have it recorded in the Bible. The Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, but to return home by a different way. So there was a road available to bypass Jerusalem (no need for a star on the way home) and make connections with trade routes back to their home country.
The traditional theory that a star was needed to find Jerusalem, assuming the absence of trade routes, in my opinion, does not give due respect to God and the Magi; who were noted for wisdom. Also they knew of an alternate road home that bypassed Jerusalem. All that said, the most important element of the story is the birth of the new King of Israel – the arrival of the WORD who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) – Emmanuel – God with us. The gospel message would begin to be preached some 30 yrs later, which is the Good News of God’s free gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of God – by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord over our lives – whose Spirit leads us to love and obey him and become like him in attitude and character.
Mark 1:14-15 tells people what to do, “ Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.’”
Jesus, in effect, was saying that we need to turn from unbelief to belief in him and his message of Good News.
Acts 2:36-40 sheds more light on what we need to do. 36 “’Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ 38 Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.’ 40 With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation!’”
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