Anchor My Faith

The Wise Men Are On the Move

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-2

With this lesson we begin a new section of our journey and experience a visit with the wise men who came from somewhere east of Jerusalem: “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” (Matthew 2:1 ESV). Bethlehem of Judea is located about six miles south of Jerusalem and therefore marks him as a member of the tribe of Judah. Back in the days of the judges, Naomi went with her husband and two sons from Bethlehem to the country of Moab where one of the sons married Ruth. In time Naomi’s husband and both sons died leaving Naomi and Ruth as widows. They returned to Bethlehem where Ruth married Boaz and gave birth to Obed, who fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David (Ruth 1; 4:21 – 22). “Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. . . David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem” (1 Samuel 17:12, 15 ESV). Both Jesus and king David were from Bethlehem.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod the king, who ruled Israel and Judah from 37 – 4 B.C. Herod was an ambitious and ruthless ruler, even killing his own wife and several sons as well as other relatives. He was a master builder, building many buildings and restored the temple in Jerusalem.

Sometime (maybe a year or two) after Jesus was born, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. It is not clear what country they might have come from as both Persia and Arabia were located east of Jerusalem. They probably came to Jerusalem because it was the capital of Judea. They were probably looking for direction to where to find Jesus.

These wise men came to Jerusalem: “saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Matthew 2:2 ESV). Here is another sign and example that God is at work preparing the way for Jesus. He selected several men in a foreign country and in some way informed them that a king had been born to be king of the Jews. This revelation to these wise men was enlightened by the appearance of a star that rose at the time of the birth of Jesus.

Because of Jews being in Babylon, these wise men may have been familiar with Old Testament prophecies of a coming king. They may have been familiar with the prophecy of Numbers 24:17 (ESV): “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.”

There has been much debate over what the star was, but since it was so distinct and seemed to move as a guiding light, it would not appear to be a natural phenomenon but was supernatural. It would be like God was holding a distinct light overhead that shown down, like a spotlight that moved, showing the way to go. The wise men refer to the light as “his star” as a connection to the star that shall come out of Jacob.

Why did the star not lead the wise men directly to where Jesus was? Why did they go to Jerusalem first? It appears that God wanted Herod and maybe other leaders to know about the birth of Jesus. God is gradually increasing the level of awareness that someone very unique has arrived and one day will become the prime focus of history. These wise men have come seeking the location of Jesus so they can go and worship him.

Prayer

Father, another sign in the form of wise men and their guiding star has drawn our attention as we walk along the gospel path. To see these pieces of the story come together in a time reference is exciting and gives much more meaning to the gospels. Father, with four gospels there are four different focuses, but with this gospel path we are taking, there is one focus, which I find refreshing.