Advent: 10 Days to Go
In this installment of our Christmas adventure, Herod tries to use the Magi...
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 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.
9 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.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 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.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
--Matthew 2:7-12 KJV Bible
Herod asked the magi when they first saw the “star” (astronomical event) in order to get an estimate of the age of the child. We do know how old Jesus was by the time the magi arrived, but we can estimate. A journey from ancient Persia to Jerusalem (roughly 1,000 miles apart) would have optimistically taken 2-1/2 to 3 weeks. And the 6-mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem would have taken 1 or 2 hours. Unfortunately, there are several uncertainties in our estimate. First, we do not know how long the magi stayed in Jerusalem while waiting on Herod. Second, we do not know how long the magi waited before beginning their journey from Persia. And third, we do not know how the timing of the “star” (astronomical event) compared to the actual timing of Jesus’ birth. It is probably safe to say that at least a month had passed since Jesus’ birth. We know that the family would still have been in the area at this time because Mary would not have completed her time of purification until forty days after Jesus’ birth, whereupon Jesus would have been presented in the temple as the firstborn of Mary (and seen by Simeon and Anna). Following the birth, Joseph would have worked to move the family out of the stable and into a house as quickly as possible. It would have been easier for the family to wait out the time in Bethlehem rather than making the 65-mile journey back to Nazareth, only to come back in two weeks. And it is always possible that the family could have stayed longer in Bethlehem if Joseph had found carpentry projects in town to support the family and pay for their room and board. It was in these temporary quarters that, not a stable, that the magi would have found the “new king.”
If the magi were suspicious of Herod’s desire to know the location of the child, they did not show it to Herod. They would likely have maintained a pleasant relationship with Herod in order to obtain assurance of safe conduct within Judea while they continued their search.
It is apparent from the gifts of the magi that they knew a bit about what was ahead for Jesus. The magi brought gifts steeped in symbolism. The gold represented the deity of the Christ child. The frankincense represented Christ’s purity. And the myrrh, typically used in embalming, represented Christ’s death.
God warned the magi in a dream not to return to Jerusalem and to Herod. If the magi had been suspicious of Herod, this would have been a confirmation. In any case, God would not want Herod to get his hands on God’s Messiah. And so the joyful magi left the country without returning to Herod.
Next time, the flight to Egypt...
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7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 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.
9 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.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 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.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
--Matthew 2:7-12 KJV Bible
Herod asked the magi when they first saw the “star” (astronomical event) in order to get an estimate of the age of the child. We do know how old Jesus was by the time the magi arrived, but we can estimate. A journey from ancient Persia to Jerusalem (roughly 1,000 miles apart) would have optimistically taken 2-1/2 to 3 weeks. And the 6-mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem would have taken 1 or 2 hours. Unfortunately, there are several uncertainties in our estimate. First, we do not know how long the magi stayed in Jerusalem while waiting on Herod. Second, we do not know how long the magi waited before beginning their journey from Persia. And third, we do not know how the timing of the “star” (astronomical event) compared to the actual timing of Jesus’ birth. It is probably safe to say that at least a month had passed since Jesus’ birth. We know that the family would still have been in the area at this time because Mary would not have completed her time of purification until forty days after Jesus’ birth, whereupon Jesus would have been presented in the temple as the firstborn of Mary (and seen by Simeon and Anna). Following the birth, Joseph would have worked to move the family out of the stable and into a house as quickly as possible. It would have been easier for the family to wait out the time in Bethlehem rather than making the 65-mile journey back to Nazareth, only to come back in two weeks. And it is always possible that the family could have stayed longer in Bethlehem if Joseph had found carpentry projects in town to support the family and pay for their room and board. It was in these temporary quarters that, not a stable, that the magi would have found the “new king.”
If the magi were suspicious of Herod’s desire to know the location of the child, they did not show it to Herod. They would likely have maintained a pleasant relationship with Herod in order to obtain assurance of safe conduct within Judea while they continued their search.
It is apparent from the gifts of the magi that they knew a bit about what was ahead for Jesus. The magi brought gifts steeped in symbolism. The gold represented the deity of the Christ child. The frankincense represented Christ’s purity. And the myrrh, typically used in embalming, represented Christ’s death.
God warned the magi in a dream not to return to Jerusalem and to Herod. If the magi had been suspicious of Herod, this would have been a confirmation. In any case, God would not want Herod to get his hands on God’s Messiah. And so the joyful magi left the country without returning to Herod.
Next time, the flight to Egypt...
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