King, Son, and Saviour – The First Noel and the Visit of the Magi.
Stephen March discusses the role of the magi, their gifts, and the timing of their visit to the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
The First Noel – King, Son, and Savior
The timing of the Magi’s visit to the baby Jesus is often misunderstood, as dramatic retellings of the nativity story want to have them visit the manger. However, as beautiful a picture as that creates,
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
The Magi Came to see the King of the Jews
From what we read in Matthew, some of the confusion may come from the first verse, where it says after Jesus was born, the wise men came. However, there are a few problems with that idea. I’ll go through them in order from least convincing to most. So, in verse 11 when the wise men arrive in Bethlehem, Matthew tells us they went into the “house”, and found the “child”, not the “baby”. Ok, that could be just a language, especially since Matthew never uses the term for infant or manger like Luke did. The next piece of evidence comes from the passage immediately after what we read, and that is that Herod, after realizing that the Magi had fled and weren’t coming back, ordered that all male children in Bethlehem up to the age of 2 were to be killed, based on the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
Incidentally, this does not necessarily mean that it was the full two years after, I did some math and travelling at 20 miles per day, which was an average for a camel trade caravan and a good basis for the magi’s journey, it would take 250 days, or less than one year, to travel from the area of what is now Seoul, South Korea to Jerusalem. That’s about as far to the east as you can get while staying on land, chances are the Magi were actually from the Parthian region, which would be modern day Iraq and Iran. The point is, we are never told when the star actually appeared, or how long the Magi took to travel to Judea, so we really just have this two-year window to work with.
Finally, and for me this is perhaps the most convincing evidence for the timing of the visit. Last time, when we looked at the dedication of Jesus at the temple, which we know by Jewish law would have been 40 days after the birth, we saw that Mary and Joseph offered two turtledoves, rather than a one-year old lamb. This was only allowed if those making the offering could not afford a lamb.
Expensive Gifts From the Magi
Had the wise men visited before this time, they would have had plenty of funds from the expensive gifts they received, and wouldn’t have to downgrade their offering. Therefore, the window for the Magi’s visit falls somewhere between 41 days and two years after Jesus was born. Why is that important? Well, it probably isn’t. If it were important I believe God would have made the timing more clear. That said; applying a bit of humanity to Mary and Joseph, who were human after all, they may have needed a bit more encouragement, or maybe a reminder of how important their role was.
Raising a Baby
I think that after the angelic spectacle of the announcement of his birth. Then the odd, yet miraculous visit and proclamation from the shepherds, followed by the prophetic announcement at the temple, and then, it was business as usual raising a baby. Sometimes, people can be impatient, and even though we know something great is going to happen, we want it to happen now, or at least very soon. I can imagine Mary and Joseph, doing their very best to nurture and raise the Christ-child, yet wondering, “Now what? When is this child going to become who we expect him to be? How will we know what we are supposed to do next?” Add to that, that though God has appointed them to this task, it would appear He has not to this point provided them with any additional resources to raise this child. They’re still poor, and now with an extra mouth to feed.
Now, if in fact it has been almost two years to this point, then it’s potentially up to 22 months without any additional signs or wonders regarding Jesus, at this point, he may seem like any other child. So, indirectly, the visit of the Magi may have provided comfort and assurance to Mary and Joseph, that God had not forgotten them, and that in very big ways He is still reminding everyone that this is indeed His Son.
Then the Magi Arrive
But then the Magi arrive. Mary and Joseph would likely have had no knowledge of their prior visit with Herod, so for them it was more like, surprise! We’re here to worship and adore the king of the Jews. It’s interesting also to note here, that of the announcements to Mary and Joseph concerning Jesus, this was the final confirmation. Joseph had been told that Jesus would be the Savior, and to Mary it was said that he would be the Son of God, and the ruler of all Israel. Through the shepherds it was confirmed that he was the son of God, when they were told he was “Christ the Lord”, the shepherds and Simeon both confirmed that he was the coming salvation, and now the Magi are bowing down before the one that was born “King of the Jews.”
Significant Gifts
The gifts they present, are also significant, not only are they befitting a king, but the gold, frankincense and myrrh, could be both symbolic of Christ’s kingship by the gold, deity, as frankincense in that day was reserved for Holy worship, and the sacrificial death through which he would save mankind, with myrrh being a valuable ointment used in the preparation for burial. There’s another special parallel, in that Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. In the Old Testament, God first dwelt among His people in the tabernacle, which had furnishing overlaid or constructed out of gold, featured incense made of frankincense burning continuously before the Lord, and finally, before God occupied the Holy place, everything had to be anointed with a special oil containing 500 shekels of myrrh.
The gifts, and the timing of the visit, were also important for the next part of the story of Jesus’ birth and early childhood, when a family that could not afford a lamb, would have to hastily travel a distance of about 100 miles to flee an enraged King.
Why do you think the magi were chosen to visit Jesus? Do you think the timing of their visit is important? Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Stephen March
Stephen March is the President of FBH International and HopeStreamRadio. He graduated from the Broadcasting Program at Niagara College in 2001, and has previously worked in television production and post-production. Stephen lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife Corinne and their four children. He serves as an elder at Scottlea Gospel Chapel.
Read and hear more from Stephen March on his contributor’s page.
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Peace Through The Christ of Christmas
Images courtesy of:
The Wise Men – jeffjacobs1990
Camel – judithscharnowski
Frankincense – xbqs42
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