The Journey of the Magi

Matthew recorded that after the birth of our Lord, “wise men from the east came to Jerusalem” (Matt 2:1). The Greek term for “wise men” is “magi” and refers to priests in Persia who interpreted dreams. Since these men were known to interpret dreams, it’s no surprise that they follow a star to find the One who had “been born king of the Jews” (Matt 2:2). Because these men interpreted dreams, I’m confident they had a dream which told them to follow the star and find the newborn King (they did have a dream, after all, which warned them not to return to Herod).

From the time I was knee-high to a grasshopper I was told nativity scenes showing the magi before the manger were in error. Matthew, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, recorded that the magi went “into the house” and “saw the child with Mary his mother” (Matt 2:11); they didn’t go to the stable but to “the house,” and they did not see a babe in a manger but a child with his mother. Furthermore, Herod, “when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,” “sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men” (Matt 2:16). Because Herod killed the male children two and under, Jesus had to be two when the magi arrived, so I was told.

It’s certainly possible that the magi arrived in Jerusalem and then traveled to Bethlehem to worship the Christ and present their gifts when the Lord was around two-years-old. That is certainly one faithful reading of Matthew’s account. But that’s not the only way events may have transpired.

• Matthew’s record that the magi “saw the child with Mary his mother” tells us nothing of Jesus’s age at the time; the Greek term for “child” is used of John the Baptizer when he was only eight days old (Lk 1:59)—obviously, “child” can be an infant.
• No, the magi did not go to the stable; they went “into the house.” But how long did Joseph, Mary, and their firstborn Son stay in the stable before moving to more appropriate accommodations? We have absolutely no way of knowing, but they may have stayed in the stable an extremely short time.
• Yet, Herod killed the male children who were two years old or younger. That’s always been given as definitive proof that the magi arrived two years after the birth of our Lord Jesus. Perhaps—that is certainly a logical conclusion to reach from the scriptures. Yet, that is not the only explanation. When did the magi receive any dream and first see the star? Matthew doesn’t say. It’s very possible that the magi saw the star two years or so before Jesus’s birth and arrived in Judea shortly thereafter. We simply do not know.

Did the magi come to Jerusalem seeking the newborn King two years after he was born or shortly after he was born? I don’t know; I simply know they came and worshiped the Christ. I don’t want us to get caught up and become dogmatic about issues which make no eternal difference; instead, I want all of us to come and bow before the Lord of heaven and earth to give him the adoration due his name just as the magi did.

This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.