The Wise Men

No, not the idiots in D.C., but since this is the Christmas season, I am talking about the wise men in the Matthew account of Jesus’ birth.  Of the four Gospels, neither Mark nor John mention the birth.  Only Matthew and Luke, with Luke giving the most elaborate and detailed account.  The first chapter of Matthew details the birth line of Jesus, and gives a brief account of the birth, and as is the title of this column, of the so called “Wise Men” who came to visit.

The typical Christmas story, has the wise men visiting the baby Jesus while he was still in swaddling clothes, and laying in the manger.  Sorry, but it simply is not true.  Matthew says that Herod sent the wise men to visit “The young child,” not a baby, as is explained in Matthew 2: 8.  Again in Matthew 2: 11:  “And when they were come into the house (not a manger in a barn, but a house), they saw the young child…”  Most Biblical scholars think that the wise men episode occurred when Jesus was about two years old.  Certainly not when he was born, as is the typical Christmas story.

Now, think about the wise men.  Herod the Great was in power at the time.  (There were at least ten ’Herods’).  Herod had heard about this ’King of the Jews’ being born, and he wasn’t too pleased about that.  The star guided the wise men to Jerusalem, not initially to Bethlehem, which was five miles from Jerusalem.  It led them to Herod first.  Herod wanted Jesus killed, as he considered him a threat to his powerful rule.  Herod was a hideous man!  He murdered or had murdered one of his wives, three of his sons, a mother-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, and many others, not to mention  all the babies in Bethlehem.  He told the wise men to go find this Jesus, ’King of the Jews,” so he could ’worship him.’  Fat chance!  He wanted to know where this Jesus was, so he could kill him.  He sent the wise men to find him.  In other words, the wise men were on an evil mission from Herod.  When they got to the home of Jesus, they changed their mind about their mission, and “fell down and worshipped him.”  After that, they decided not to return to Herod with the information about Jesus’ whereabouts, and went on their way, after bestowing their gifts on him.

Matthew 2:12: “And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” Realizing that Herod was going to kill Jesus, verse 13 says, “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child (not a baby) and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”  Herod was so outraged, that he had all the babies in Bethlehem murdered.

My hypothesis then, is simply this:  Since Herod was evil personified, and since the wise men were doing the bidding of Herod, having been led to him, and then to Jesus’ home, isn’t it reasonable to think that the star might have been the work of Satan?  Jesus, being born in Bethlehem, laying in a manger, of the line of David and fulfilling over 900 Old Testament prophecies, was indeed the Son of God come to earth.  Isn’t it strange, that if God provided the star for the wise men’s evil journey, why wasn’t the star ever mentioned in the Old Testament as being a prophecy to be fulfilled?  Not a single word.  Why would God have a star to lead the wise men on their dastardly journey?  Makes no sense to me.  Rather, wouldn’t God have caused the wise men to have the dream and to not go back to Herod?