Wise Men from the East

Matthew 2:1-5, 9-12

Wise Men Come to Visit Jesus

¹ Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod^a was king. After Jesus was born, some wise men^b from the east came to Jerusalem. ² They asked people, “Where is the child that has been born to be the king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard about this, it upset him as well as everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴ Herod called a meeting of all the leading Jewish priests and teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ^c would be born. ⁵ They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea, just as the prophet^d wrote:

⁹ After the wise men heard the king, they left. They saw the same star they had seen in the east, and they followed it. The star went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ They were very happy and excited to see the star.

¹¹ The wise men came to the house where the child was with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened the boxes of gifts they had brought for him. They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense,^f and myrrh.^g 12 But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their own country a different way.

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a 2:1 Herod Herod I (the Great), king of Judea and all of Palestine (40–4 b.c.).

     b 2:1 wise men Greek magi, probably meaning pagan religious scholars who studied the stars to predict future events.

     c 2:4 Christ Literally, “Anointed,” a title that comes from the Old Testament ceremony in which perfumed oil was poured or rubbed on someone being appointed to a high office, especially that of prophet, priest, or king, to show that this person was chosen by God for that role. The Hebrew word is “Messiah,” a title used for Old Testament kings and for the one God would send as prophet, priest, and king to bring people back to a good relationship with him.

     d 2:5 prophet A person who speaks a message from God. Many of the books in the Old Testament are messages spoken or written by “the prophets,” who were some of those God chose to speak for him. God often used dreams or visions to tell or show his prophets what they should say.

     f 2:11 frankincense Special dried tree sap that was burned to make a sweet-smelling smoke and offered as a gift to God.

     g 2:11 myrrh Sweet-smelling sap from the bark of trees or other plants that was used for perfume and also to prepare bodies for burial. Mixed with wine, it was probably used to relieve pain (Mk. 15:23).