TEXT: Matthew 2:1-8 – “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”
After looking at the Magi’s request and the Monarch’s reaction, we saw also the Religious Leaders reply to Herod. Herod then demands a private meeting with these Magi to learn more about this threat to his kingdom and throne.
Herod’s demanded that they tell him when they first saw the star.
As mentioned in the removal of the “myths” a couple of days ago, we can see that they were very knowledgeable about when this birth would have taken place. We can get our timing of Christ’s birth from the accounts in Matthew and Luke.
Jesus was born about 5 or 6 B.C. Josephus tells us that Herod died in 4 B.C. The census that was ordered took place in 6 B.C. by secular sources. So, how does that line up with our calendar? Glad you asked. We use the Gregorian calendar today put in place by Pope Gregory. Our BC/AD dating system is based on the assumption that Jesus was born in 1 BC, thus lining up the years of the modern era with the age of Jesus since his birth; i.e. 1 AD = Jesus was 1 year old, 2 AD = Jesus was 2 years old, etc. This dating system was invented by Dionysus Exiguus in the early 6th century based on a reference in the gospel of Luke. According to Luke, Jesus was “about 30 years old in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius.” This puts the birth of Jesus in 1 or 2 BC. Also, Josephus tells us that Herod died shortly after an eclipse, and Dionysus presumably knew that just such an eclipse had occurred in 1 AD. Modern scholars, however, now believe that the eclipse mentioned by Josephus probably occurred in 4 BC, pushing the death of Herod, and thus the birth of Jesus, back by a few years.
The Magi were able to determine when this Messiah should be born from Daniel’s Prophecy of His Birth in the book of Daniel. Daniel was in Babylon about 600 B.C. He was the chief over the wise men (magi) in Daniel 2:48. Because of his great importance, they probably had been researching his writings for centuries. They learned of the time from the 70 weeks' prophecy in Daniel 9:24 – 26. Because of the importance of Daniel, they had kept records of this prophecy – 69 weeks or 483 years – from the days of Ezra to the coming of this Messiah.
Thus when they saw the special star and knew the dating of Daniel – they realized the prophecy had come true. That is why at this time, the Magi had traveled so far to worship and pay homage to this Messiah that had been promised.
Herod says, “When you find the child, tell me, so that I can go worship him.” However, as we will see in the coming verses, Herod had no intention of worshipping the newborn King – He intended to end His life.
Tomorrow, let us consider the Magi’s joy over
this world-shaking event.
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