Matthew 2:1-11

There were quite likely many people living in Christ’s day who knew and studied scripture and were well aware of these prophecies and they must have wondered how all of them could be fulfilled. It would have seemed difficult, if not impossible.

Let’s see list several of them here here, then we’ll see how they were fulfilled at the time of Christ’s birth: He was to be born in Bethlehem and that’s prophesied in Micah 5:2. He was to be called out of Egypt in Hosea 11:1. There was to be weeping in Ramah so says Jeremiah 31:15 and He was a root from the stem of Jesse and therefore to be called a Nazarene we see in Isaiah 11:1.

Now, since Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, why should there be weeping in Ramah, which is a long way north of Jerusalem? And He was to be called a Nazarene although He’d be born in Bethlehem and called out of Egypt. The question is: How could all of these prophecies be fulfilled in a little baby, especially when the jigsaw peices didn’t seem to fit?

Well, Matthew shows how literally, accurately, and easily all were fulfilled without any strain on prophecy or on history. It just came about as God said it would come about.

In our day there’re certain prophecies that relate to the second coming of Christ, and, just like the times of old, we may find it difficult to align them up and place those jigsaw pieces in the right sequence with what we see in the world today. However, they’ll all be fulfilled in the exact same way that past prophecies were.

More than likely were going to find that it’ll all take place in a normal, natural way without over the top fanfare.

It looks like a jigsaw puzzle to us down here, but, when we get into His presence and it’s all fulfilled, it’ll have been just as natural as the prophecies about His first coming. Every little piece in the jigsaw puzzle will fit into place, and we’re going to wonder why in the world we didn’t see it at the time.

So, we shouldn’t waste or time trying to figure out who the antichrist is or if the rapture’s going to be tonight before dinner. The Lord has it perfectly under control and His timing cannot be interfered with.

 

Now let’s start Mattew 2:1,

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, 

 

This is the historical record of the coming of the wise men.

Notice here that they came in the days of Herod the king and the one thing Herod did not want was competition. In fact, the one thing that Herod would not tolerate was competition. So, the wise men coming to Jerusalem really alerted him.

Now, no matter how hard you look at this verse you’ll not find anything about 3 wise men.

All the Christmas cards may say that, and every Christmas play, or Christmas display you’ve ever seen may represent that, but the Bible definitely doesn’t.

Many people know more about the Christmas story from Christmas cards than from the Bible, and therefore they have many ideas that’re simply not true. Let’s try and correct several of them in this chapter and let’s keep in mind some very important scripture as we do.

In Mark 7:9 Jesus said to the Pharisees and Scribes, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition”.

Mark chapter 7 verse 13 talks about making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.

In other words, we cancel the Word of God, His truth, in order to hand down our own traditions and there are a number of other scriptures which reinforce this. God has no place in the traditions of man.

 

So, the Bible record doesn’t tell us there were three wise men. In fact, it doesn’t give us the number at all. But it does give us a clue. For example, in chapter 3 we see that when Herod the king heard about this company of wise men he was troubled and all of Jerusalem with him.

It’s very doubtful whether three wise men would have disturbed Herod or excited the whole of Jerusalem in such a way. The number was more than likely closer to three hundred men than three and they certainly would have troubled the king and the city, and we can especially see that when we understand who they were and where they came from. There’s a deep history at the back of who these men were and that history goes right back to the book of Daniel. Like many subjects we’ve looked at in our study so far, we can’t derail the study of the Gospel itself to delve deeper into the subject. Many of these subjects we encounter as we go through the Bible take us down rabbit holes that lead into a maze of truly amazing subjects. However, if we went down those rabbit holes we’d spend an entire lifetime getting through Matthew.

These travellers are called wise men, which in the ancient Greek is magoi which we know as magi. Misconceptions and legends abound about these wise men. They were not kings as tradition holds but wise men, which means they were astronomers. They were not followers of the pagan astrology that’s rampant today, but they understood God’s plan of salvation that’s clearly seen in the stars. This is what’s known as the Mazzaroth.

The Mazzaroth is 12 constellations that circle the earth and in it God’s entire plan of redemption is displayed including the virgin birth of Christ.

My friend, the heavens really do declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork as Psalm 19 verse 1 tells us.

These wise men came from the East. Notice that they were from the east, and we’ll see why that’s important shortly. They evidently came from different areas but from the east. They’d been studying the stars, the Mazzaroth and when this new star appeared, they joined forces and came to Jerusalem. As we’ve said, we don’t know how many there were, but we can be almost certain it wasn’t three. Probably three hundred would be more near the truth, and if they were the powerful group of kingmakers, and nation builders that we understand them to be from a deeper study, there could have been a thousand or more of them and they would have more than likely been travelling with a powerful armed escort.

Now that certainly would have disturbed Herod and the whole city.

But the wise men came in verse 2,

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.” 

 

These men were looking for a King, and that certainly got Herod’s attention.

“We have seen his star in the east.” They said. Here’s another misrepresentation that we’ve got from manmade Christmas tradition.

If they’d seen His star in the east and it had been an eastern star, the wise men would have ended up in India or China because, you see, they were already in the east. East of where? Well, Jerusalem. So, if they followed a star that appeared in the east of where they were, then obviously they would have travelled further eastward from their already eastern position. That would have taken them in the exact opposite direction to which they actually travelled.

No, the star was in the west! Again, the wise men were situated in the east. The star was in the west, and they followed it. They came west, not east. The text in the verse basically says that, while these chaps were in the east, they saw a star. It wasn’t a star hovering over the east as we tend to think.

 

Now, how did they associate a star with a King, and how did they identify it with Israel?

Well, we’ve only got speculation to go on here but these men probably new the Mazzaroth as well if not better than most people of the day and they knew full well the prophecies about the coming King.

Also, in that section of Israel in the East, the people had a prophecy given by Balaam, which is recorded in Numbers 24:17,

“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.”

The prophet Balaam specifically gave this prophecy concerning the nation Israel.

And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. The star and the sceptre go together. The wise men in the East had that prophecy, along with a knowledge of the coming Messiah, The King that would rule Israel.

There’s been all sorts of speculation throughout the ages as to which star within our planetary system this was and some weird and wonderful concepts have been put forward, however, this was no ordinary star from the night sky.

In verse 9 of this chapter we read that the star went before them (that’s the wise men), till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

Has any star from our planetary system ever done that? No!

This was a supernatural phenomenon that God used to guide these men and it’s almost certain that these men would have been fully aware of that.

 

Verse 3,

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 

 

So then, when this very impressive delegation of wise men converged on the city of Jerusalem asking a question like this, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews” the whole city was disturbed.

Herod wanted to know about this. This man Herod was Herod the Great, and he was a very superstitious man.

A good Bible dictionary will tell you a lot about the Herod family. They were as bad a bunch as there’s ever been, very cruel and power hungry and Herod the Great was the biggest scoundrel of them all. He was an Idumaean, meaning an Edomite, who had bought his position from the Roman government, so he wasn’t of Israel at all, and he was really anxious to locate this One who appeared to be a rival for his throne.

 

Matthew 2:4

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 

 

He was basically saying to the chief priests and scribes, “I know that you have the Scriptures and in them you have a record of a Messiah that’s coming. I want to know where He’s to be born.” One of the amazing things is that they were able to tell him.

 

Verses 5 and 6,

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 

‘BUT YOU, BETHLEHEM, IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, ARE NOT THE LEAST AMONG THE RULERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’ ” 

 

When Herod asked the scribes this question, they didn’t have to search the Scriptures for it; they knew exactly where it was, Micah 5:2.

They didn’t need to even turn to the scriptures and scroll through them, or do a phrase search on the computer, because they knew it off by heart.

They could quote it. They knew all about the coming of the Messiah. The problem was that their knowledge was academic rather than personally meaningful to them. If this knowledge had been within their hearts and not just their heads they would have already been on their way to Bethlehem themselves.

Since the scribes knew the Old Testament Scriptures so well, you’d have thought that they’d have gone to the wise men and said, “How about letting us ride down with you guys? We are looking for the Messiah too!”

They’re examples of folk who know the history contained in the Bible and they know certain factual truths, but these things carry no personal meaning for them.

How many of us are really looking for the coming of the Lord?

We talk about it, and we study a great deal about prophecy. We know about the antichrist, and we can speculate for hours about the one world government, a cashless society, and the horrors of the great tribulation but how many of us really want to see Him right now, today?

Would He be an interruption to what we’re currently doing? Would we say to Him, “Could you postpone your visit till some other time, maybe after I’m finished what I’m into at the moment”?

 

Herod got the information he was after from the scribes we see in verse 7,

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 

 

We see here that the star had appeared sometime before the wise men arrived in Jerusalem. Remember that they made the trip by camel and it would’ve been a long, hard trip!

Most likely, they didn’t arrive in Jerusalem until at least a year after the appearance of the star. This wasn’t just a little Christmas celebration for them. As they travelled the long, weary miles, they had been hanging on to the hope of seeing Him, the new King that was born, and presenting their gifts to Him.

In the King James and most other translations, Herod “inquired diligently” or “determined exactly” the time of the star’s appearance. This’ll be an important fact later in the story.

So, Herod sends the wise men on to Bethlehem in verse 8 and we read,

And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 

 

Herod’s being as subtle as the old serpent that he was.

He well knew that he couldn’t say what was on his mind, which was to find this new King and get rid of him for good by murdering Him.

He knew that they never would have allowed him to get his hands on the Child because He would have been hidden.

He knew that the clever way and the best way was to let the wise men go down and find the child and then come back and tell him. He said he wanted to go down and worship Him, but of course what he really wanted to do was to murder Him.

 

Verses 9 and 10,

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 

 

Now the star appears again, and this indicates that they travelled a lot of the way without seeing the star all the time.

That should be enough to put paid to the nonsense we often hear about today about planetary movements that occurred at this time in history that revealed a star that the wise men followed.

Matthew makes it clear that this star was a very unusual star; in fact, it was a supernatural star. It was miraculous, and we simply don’t need to try to find some sort of natural explanation for it. Now, it may be, as many astronomers think, that there was quite a movement in the heavens at that time. When He came, heaven and earth both responded to His coming into this world. It’s entirely possible that many unusual natural phenomena did take place, however, what the wise men saw was a supernatural star.

 

Verse 11,

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

 

 

When these wise men arrived, Jesus wasn’t in the stable behind an inn.

The great movement of people into the city of Bethlehem was now over. Everyone had gone back to their homes because the enrolment for taxes as ordered by Rome was over and that was the reason that town had been packed full of people

Probably such a perilous and rough trip for the family looking after a newborn Little One would have risked His life. So, they’d stayed in Bethlehem and had, by this time, moved into a house.

The wise men found the family in a house. Again, the Christmas cards show the wise men coming into the stable. Well, unless Joseph gave these men a sightseeing tour of where the Baby Jesus was born, they never even knew where it was. They came to the house.

Here we must note that when they saw the young child with Mary His mother, they fell down and worshiped Him, that is the Child.

If there was ever a time when Mary should have been worshiped, this was it. But they didn’t worship her, they were wise men!

They worshiped Him and presented to Him their treasures: gold and frankincense and myrrh.

It was common in the East in that culture that you’d never appear before royalty or a person of importance without bringing gifts. Considering who these wise men believed the young Child to be, it’s not surprising that they gave such lavish gifts.

The idea that there were three wise men comes from the fact that there were three gifts mentioned in the Bible.

The precious gifts were not presented to Mary or Joseph, but to Jesus Himself. Yet undeniably, the infant Jesus did not use or spend any of these precious gifts, but His parents used them, hopefully wisely, on His behalf and to His benefit.

Gold speaks of royalty, the frankincense speaks of divinity, and myrrh speaks of death. Yet it’s more than likely that the Magi weren’t aware of this.

How useful would this gold have been to Joseph in the following months. God knew what their needs would be, and He met them.

Also, we must note that the wise men, the magi, didn’t worship a newborn baby, but a young child.

At this time, He was probably between 6 and 18 months old. Also notice that the Child is mentioned before the mother which was against the custom.

These wise men gave more important gifts than the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They gave Jesus their worship. They fell down and worshipped Him. It must have been a strange sight to see these very impressive and important men bowing before a young child.

 

This chapter shows three different responses to Jesus, and we could categorise how everyone responds to Him from one of these three ways.

1. Herod displayed an open hatred and hostility toward Jesus.
2. The chief priests and the scribes were indifferent toward Jesus, while still clinging to their religious respectability.
3. The wise men sought out Jesus and worshipped Him – even at great cost.

 

It’s very interesting to study the facts concerning Jesus’s second coming as they’re related to us in Isaiah 60:6 which reads,

The multitude of camels shall cover your land, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba shall come; They shall bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD. 

What gift is left out at His second coming? Myrrh! They don’t bring myrrh because that speaks of His death. When He comes the second time, nothing will speak of His death. As we’ve said Gold speaks of His birth. He’s born a King. Frankincense speaks of the fragrance of His life, His divinity. Myrrh speaks of His death. All of this is indicated in the gifts that were brought to Him at His first coming. But at His next coming, myrrh will not be brought to Him. He’s already been through the doorway of death, but death could not hold Him because death is the wages, the payment, for sin and He had not and could not sin. Therefore, He was resurrected, defeating death and the grave. The next time He comes, He won’t come to die on a cross for the sins of the world. He’ll be coming as King of kings and Lord of lords.

When we get to the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 2 verses 15 to 20 we’ll see that a bunch of shepherds visited Jesus after His birth but before the wise men.

In comparing the visit of the wise men to the earlier visit of those shepherds we see:

• Jesus came to the Jew first, then to the Gentile.
• Jesus came to the humble and ignorant first, then the honourable and learned.
• Jesus came to the poor first, then the rich.

 

Also, we can learn something from the wisdom of these wise men.

• They weren’t satisfied with just looking at the star and admiring it; they did something about the star and set out and followed it.
• They persevered in their search by following after the star.
• They weren’t discouraged in the search by clergy and doubtful religious leaders.
• They rejoiced at the star.
• When they arrived at the destination the star led them to, they entered in.
• When they entered in, they worshipped.
• They sensed an urgency to worship Him now and not wait till later.
• When they worshipped, it was to give something – not empty-handed adoration.

There’s a wonderful pattern in this account. Those who look for Jesus will find him: those who truly find him will worship him: those who worship him will dedicate all they have and all they are to Him. They’ll give Him the glory for all they’ve been provided with in this life and for the hope and the joy and the rest and peace that they know they have throughout eternity because of His sacrifice.

 

Until we take up the rest of this most incredible of all stories my friends may God bless you and keep you and may you trust in Him and in His goodness in your life.