Jul 02 2008
The Who, Where, When and What of the Wise Men
1. Who were the wise men? It is thought that they were perhaps a group of religious astronomers living in the Mesopotamian area.
2. How did they associate the star with Christ? There are several possibilities. In the fourteenth century, B.C., a prophet from their area named Balaam had spoken of this star. (See Num. 24:17.) They also had the writings of Daniel, who had been prime minister of both Babylon and Persia some six centuries before Christ. Daniel, of course, wrote much about the second coming.
3. Why did they come? These men were doubtless acquainted with the various religions of the East and knew the emptiness of them all. It would seem that they followed this star to find peace and purpose for their lives.
4. When did they arrive in Bethlehem? It was perhaps not until some two years after the angels announced his birth to the shepherds. He is referred to as “the young child” (Matt. 2:9, 11, 13-14), and is not a tiny babe at this time. When Herod later attempted to destroy this unknown Babe, he had all children in the Bethlehem area two years and under slain (Matt. 2:16).
5. How many wise men came? There is no evidence that there were three. On the contrary, the group may have numbered from two to several hundred or more. Tradition, however, claims that there were but three and that their names were Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.
6. Why did the star, after leading the wise men to Jerusalem, apparently disappear for a brief time and then reappear, taking them directly to Bethlehem? It may be that God intended this visit for the sake of the Jewish leaders. However, they had degenerated to such a level that they were unwilling to travel down the road a few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see if their Messiah had really come. But here was a group of sincere Gentiles who had traveled across a hostile and extended desert to find him.
7. Was the star a regular one? The astronomer Kepler said there was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn about this time in history. However, by no stretch of the imagination could a planet or star located thousands of millions of miles from earth function in the precise way this star did as recorded by Matthew. “The star … came and stood over where the young child was” (Matt. 2:9). It is not at all unreasonable, however, to suggest that the star was actually a New Testament appearance of that Old Testament Shekinah Glory cloud that led Israel across the desert.
8. What gifts did they offer him?
● They gave him gold, which spoke of his deity.
● They gave him frankincense, which spoke of his humanity.
● They gave him myrrh, which spoke of his future sufferings.
Reg Grant writes:
“During her life, Mary would see Jesus receive the gift of myrrh on five occasions; twice from Gentiles and three times from Jews.
a. On the first occasion, the Magi brought myrrh from the east in honor of Jesus as King of Kings (Matt. 2:11). This event anticipated the worship Christ will receive from the Gentile nations in the future kingdom.
b. The second occasion found Jesus in the home of Simon the Pharisee receiving myrrh from the loving hand of a contrite woman who approached Jesus as her great High Priest, the One who could forgive her many sins (Luke 7:36-50).
c. The third offering of myrrh came from the devout Mary of Bethany as she anointed Christ for his burial prior to his death. This showed that she understood the sacrificial nature of his ministry in a way that even his closest disciples had failed to grasp.
d. Just before the crucifixion, the Roman soldiers offered Christ a fourth ‘gift’ of myrrh mixed with wine—a kind of narcotic to dull the pain—but he refused it.
e. The fifth and final offering came from the hand of Nicodemus when he provided a mixture of myrrh and aloes for anointing Christ’s body following his crucifixion (John 19:39).” (Kindred Spirit Magazine, Winter 1988 edition, pp. 13-14)