Most people assume that there were three wise men because of the three
gifts that were given: gold, frankincense, and myrrh:
“11 And going into
the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts, gold
and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11 English Standard Version (ESV)
However, the Bible does not say
there were only three wise men. There could have been many more.
Tradition says that there were three
and that their names were Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, but since the Bible
does not say, we have no way of knowing whether the tradition is accurate.
It is a common misconception that
the wise men visited Jesus at the stable on the night of His birth.
In fact, the wise men came days,
months, or possibly even years later.
That
is why Matthew 2:11 says the
wise men visited and worshiped Jesus in a house, not at
the stable.
We know that the Magi were wise men
from "the East," most likely Persia, or modern-day
Iran.
This means the wise men traveled 800
to 900 miles to see the Christ child.
Most likely, the magi knew of the
writings of the prophet Daniel, who in time past had been the chief of the
court seers in Persia.
Daniel
9:24-27 includes a prophecy which gives a timeline for the
birth of the Messiah.
Also, the Magi may have been aware
of the prophecy of Balaam (who was from the town of Pethor on the Euphrates
River near Persia) in Numbers 24:17.
The wise men were guided to look for
the King of the Jews by a miraculous stellar event, the “Star of Bethlehem,”
which they called “His star” (Matthew 2:2).
They came to Jerusalem and asked
concerning the birth of Christ, and they were directed to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:4-8).
They followed God’s guidance
joyfully (Matthew 2:10).
When they arrived in Bethlehem, they
gave costly gifts to
Jesus and worshiped Him.
God warned them in a dream against
returning to Herod, so, in defiance of the king, they left Judea by another
route (Matthew 2:12).
So, the Magi were men who
1 read and believed God's Word,
2 sought Jesus,
3 recognized the worth of Christ,
4 humbled themselves to worship
Jesus, and
5 obeyed God rather than man.
They were truly wise men!
RELATED
POSTS:
What Is Epiphany?
https://www.gotquestions.org/three-wise-men.html
No comments:
Post a Comment