Matthew 2:1-11

The Visit of The Magi (2:1-11).

The visit of the Magi/Eminent Astrologers to Jesus is important for a number of reasons. It emphasises:

1). That whereas the leading Jews in the main ignored His birth, important Gentiles sought Him out and paid Him homage.

2). That the heavens themselves shone out to pay Him homage.

3). That while the ‘wise men' of Israel were too engrossed in their own Scriptures to allow themselves to be stirred to seek out their possible fulfilment, because they did not believe that it would happen yet, (or at least not in the way in which it was happening), ‘the wise' among the Gentiles sought Him out and honoured Him, being finally guided (with their assistance) by those same Scriptures, without which they would not have found what they were looking for. They did not find Jesus through their own wisdom, but through the Scriptures.

4). That the life of Jesus would begin under threat, and would continue under threat, so that His growing up would have to be discreet, and would continue so until His death.

5). That the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was in juxtaposition with the present King of the Jews, Herod, the Prince of Bloodshed. God was bringing peace into a world full of suspicion, trouble and oppression.

6). That the birth of the Messiah, the Son of David, took place in the town of David, in accordance with the Scriptures.

A number of instances are known of when Magi (learned astrologers) did attend at the birthplace of those with prominent connections because of what they considered to be indications from the stars (Augustus Caesar and Nero to name but two). And when this is combined with the fact that in the 1st century AD there was a great expectation of the rise of world rulers in Judaea, it should not surprise us that they felt guided towards Judaea. With regard to this last, Tacitus, the Roman historian tells us that ‘there was a firm persuasion --- that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judaea were to acquire universal empire', while Suetonius, another Roman historian declares in the days of Vespasian, ‘there had been spread over all the Orient an old and established belief that it was fated at that time that men coming from Judaea would rule the world'. So it was very likely that Magi would be interested in Judaea, and rather than suggesting therefore that this is ‘borrowed material' we should see in it an indication that these Magi, guided by God, were carrying out the normal practise of Magi, and, in accordance with the beliefs of the time, were following up their discoveries of signs in the heavens in a way that would be expected. Men like these believed that to those who could ‘see' them the skies were constantly revealing phenomenon which had to be interpreted, and it no doubt led many of them on a considerable number of wild goose chases. But in this case God took the opportunity to speak through it. This was one time when their ‘art' would have good results.

It must, however, be stressed that they did not follow the star about all over the place (‘field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star' as the carol quite wrongly suggests). They saw it when they were in the East (or ‘at its rising') and they then only saw it again on the final stage of their journey on the Bethlehem Road after they had left Jerusalem behind. The remainder of their actions arose from their own interpretation of what they had seen, and from what they were told in Jerusalem. The star was noticeably absent.

In fact this draws attention to the fact that the very consistency of the narrative, without excessive embellishment, confirms its truth. It is ‘borrowed' material that usually becomes absurd, not historical accounts like this. It is quite frankly impossible to think of Matthew embellishing wild legends about Moses (or anyone else) and then as a result producing so sober an account. Nor is it likely that as a Christian he would have introduced the idea of astrology had it not been known to have happened.

The basic idea is clear. While studying the stars in the East, these men (whose number we are not told) saw a particular manifestation in the heavens which indicated to them the birth in Jerusalem of a ‘world ruler'. The manifestation may well have been connected with the planet Jupiter (whose name itself indicates world ruler), and some have seen in this the conjunction of Jupiter (the world ruler) and Saturn (the last days) in the constellation of Pisces (which represents Israel) which occurred at least twice in the decade ending in 1 BC, namely in 7 and 5 BC. Experiments carried out at the London Planetarium have confirmed that this would in fact have appeared as one very bright ‘star', but not so bright as to have significance for everyone.

There are, however, a number of alternative possibilities, for the last decade of the old era was full of interesting astrological phenomena. For example, in the September of 3 BC, Jupiter came into conjunction with Regulus, the star of kingship, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, and Leo was the constellation of kings, and was associated with the Lion of Judah. The royal planet thus approached the royal star in the royal constellation representing Judah. Furthermore just a month earlier, Jupiter and Venus, the Mother planet, had almost seemed to touch each other in another close conjunction, also in Leo. After this the conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus was repeated, not once but twice, in February and May of 2 BC. Finally, in June of 2 BC, Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest objects in the sky apart from the sun and moon, experienced an even closer encounter when their discs appeared to touch. To the naked eye they would have become a single object above the setting sun. And in fact these are only the highlights selected out of an impressive series of planetary motions and conjunctions fraught with a variety of astrological meanings, involving all the other known planets of the period, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn, which occurred around this time. So the astrological significance of impressive events similar to these may well have been seen by the Magi as indicating the impending birth of a great king of Israel, especially when combined with the widespread expectation of a Judaean ruler of great importance.

Having seen ‘the star' (the term signified any light in the Heavens) and interpreted it as indicating the birth of a King of the Jews, possibly in connection with what they had read in ancient Jewish books, for there were many learned Jews in places like Babylon, they naturally went to the religious capital of the Jews, Jerusalem, a city famed in antiquity, by following the recognised trade routes. On arrival there they then began to enquire as to where the king was whom they were confident, on the basis of their studies, had been born. When the ever-suspicious Herod heard this he immediately called them in. If such an event had happened he wanted to know about it, purportedly so that he too could greet the child, but really so that he could deal with the menace once and for all. It is then significant that it is the ‘wise men' of Jerusalem who were able to provide the necessary directions from the Scriptures. If indeed such a king had been born, the Magi needed the guidance of the Scriptures, and it was through the Scriptures that the Jewish ‘wise men' were able to point to Bethlehem (and when we read the verse that these Jewish wise men took into consideration we have no difficulty in seeing why).

Provided with this information the Magi took the road to Bethlehem, a mere five mile journey from Jerusalem, on a road on which they needed no guidance. But as they were on this final stretch they were excited when they saw the star again appear, this time ahead of them. Their excitement arose because this seemed to confirm that their interpretation had been correct, and that their journey was not in vain, and they hurried on to Bethlehem, with the star in front of them and seeming to go before them, as stars do when we are moving. But it should be noted that it does not say that they followed the star. They did not need to. There was only one road. And then when Bethlehem came into sight it was as though the star was shining over Bethlehem and thus indicating the presence of the young prince. This is not the stuff of legend (which would have been made much more exciting). This represents sober descriptions of real life. There is not a single one of us who has not seen the stars going on before us as we travel, and especially so for sailors where the stars were once important as a method of guidance. Once they had arrived in Bethlehem a few discreet enquiries would soon indicate the house of the royal line of Israel, so that entering in they were able to present their gifts to the young lad Whom they found there with His parents. (It is not as picturesque as the carols, which tend to show what Matthew could have done with the story had he been prone to invention or to using so-called ‘pesher' methods of inventing stories to illustrate a passage of Scripture, something which would not happen for another three hundred years. Matthew's account is pure fact).

As we have seen Matthew' purpose in describing this was as confirmation that here was the true son of David, honoured and owned by the wise of the world. It also demonstrated that Gentiles came to Him bearing gifts as the Scriptures had promised (e.g. Isaiah 60:6; Psalms 72:10; Psalms 72:15), for it was well recognised that He was to be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and to be the glory of His people Israel (Luke 2:32; compare Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6). Yet interestingly Matthew cites no Scripture to suggest this. It may even suggest that he did not think of them. His concentration was on what really happened, not on artificially contrived stories.

We will now consider the passage in more detail.

Analysis (2:1-11).

a When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to pay him homage” (Matthew 2:1).

b And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he enquired of them where the Christ should be born (Matthew 2:3).

c And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea, for thus it is written through the prophet, And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no wise least among the princes of Judah, for out of you will come forth a governor, who shall be shepherd of my people Israel” (Matthew 2:5).

b Then Herod privately called the Magi, and learned of them exactly what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search out exactly concerning the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and pay him homage him” (Matthew 2:7).

a And they, having heard the king, went their way. And lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him, and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:9).

Note how in ‘a' the Magi come from their home in the East seeking the new born King of the Jews, they are guided by the star, and they come in order to pay Him homage, and in the parallel they are again guided by the star, they do find the young child whom they are seeking, and they pay Him homage. In ‘b' Herod enquires of his ‘wise men' where the Christ is to be born, and in the parallel he enquires of the Magi at what time the child was signified as due to be born. Centrally in ‘c' is the fact that the Scriptures are being filled to the full by what is happening.