One of the big hot topics about this time every year, around Christmas, is the subject of the three wise men and the baby Jesus. What controversy is that? Well, there are several. The first is, were there three wise men, or many? The bible never really says one way or another. It merely states that "wise men", plural, came to Jesus. The idea of three wise men comes from the fact that there were three gifts given to Him. Namely, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. One thing I will recommend, before I get too much further into this, is to do a word study on the gifts given to Jesus.
It's really fascinating, because they each symbolize different important things in His life, including His kingship, and his eventual coming death several decades future. But that's for another time and another place. Now, stepping off from the subject of the wise men, we will enter into the second great controversy of the holiday season, and that is, "What age was Christ when the wise men came?" There's been lots of theories spanning a whole gambit of ideas. But as with anything I post here, I find it best to let the bible speak for itself on this topic.
Matthew 2:1-11 (KJV) - "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born."
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw 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 exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh."
This verse is a rather interesting bit of scripture in that it tells us very clearly the answer to our question. Allow me to explain. The wise men, those that came to visit Jesus, were those who were trained in the colleges of the day. They're sometimes referred to as Chaldeans, which is less the name of a location in that time, and more of a title. Think of it like this. It'd be like saying you're a Philadelphian, not because you're from there, which you likely aren't, but rather because you express or display the same characteristics of someone from there. That was a Chaldean, a wise man, a doctor of science in that day.
These guys studied the stars with an accuracy and an attention to detail that in some ways even rivals our best astronomers today, despite their technological advantages. So where would they have been stationed at and come out of? Well, the verse says it. Out of the east. But which east? Well, the bible doesn't specifically say. A lot of great theologians believe they came from Babylon. Why? Well, what other city could they come from? I ask that because, Jesus, otherwise known as Yeshua (aka, Joshua in English) by the Jewish people, was Jewish. The wise men were not. So how could they have come to know about the prophesy of the savior and known what stars and constellations to look for? There's only one way, and through one man that anyone really knows of. Daniel.
Yes, our favorite prophet in the lions den. But I'll leave you to research the rest of that another time. A couple of good places for clues comes from Jonathan Cahn's teaching on the birth of Christ as well as "The Bethlehem Star" by Mike Cunningham which tracks the star of Bethlehem and in turn nails down the birth of Christ. And it's not December 25th. However, interestingly enough, the visit of the Magi is. But I'll let their teachings explain that in more detail as we have a different topic to attend to.
Now, getting back to our original point, according to the bible the Magi came to visit the "young child". Some scholars, and a wide variety of layment, believe the wisemen came to the infant Jesus in the same way it was portrayed in the movie "The Nativity Story". But that couldn't be further from the truth, and I'll now explain why. First off, if you look above at the highlighted text you'll notice that it says "in the east". As I said before they likely came from Babylon. That's a journey of AT LEAST several months, if not years, depending on how they did their journey. Especially if they're following a star that can only be tracked at night. That kinda slows down your progress a LOT.
They also wouldn't have moved until they'd seen the star, so if you consider the time required to confirm what they're seeing, pack their bags, and get on the movie, six months would be a minimum to get them on the road and into Jerusalem, given the travel methods of the day. So already you're talking about a child that couldn't be an infant. Plus, if you dig into the bible, and you look at the original Greek words, you'll notice something that is very tell tale. The word used in chapter 2 above is the Greek word paidion, which means a young child, a toddler, someone about 1-3 years old. The word for infant is brephos. This is any child under 1 year old. IE, a new born. This is the same word used in Luke 2:12 for when the wise men arrived.
Luke 2:12 (KJV) - "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
Babe. Infant. Brephos. The baby Jesus was a newborn when the shepherds came to see Him. But by the time the wise men got to him, he was a young child. Now, if that's not enough to convince you, there's one other clue that tells us without a doubt approximately what age Jesus was when the wise men arrived and gave Him gifts.
Matthew 2:16 (KJV) - "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men."
Two years old and under. Hmm, sure sounds like a toddler to me. And while the bible doesn't specifically state when the star appeared, it's a good bet that it appeared to the wise men at the same time the shepherds in Jerusalem were visited by angels. It also means that if Herod inquired of the wise men when they saw the star, and he gave that clear of an order to his soldiers, it's a pretty fair bet that they knew the exact time the star appeared to them in the sky, and it sure wasn't the same day they arrived, given the distance they had to travel. So all in all, the answer to the ages old question of the age of Jesus when the wise men visited was somewhere between one and two years old give Herod's reply and the fact that the bible tells us that the wise men visited a "young child" and NOT an infant. The shepherds visited an infant. The rest got a toddler. And that's the end of this debate. :)
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