Tag: wise men

Matthew 2:1 – Learn the Truth

And Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

Truth to Learn

We need to believe what the Bible says, not what tradition has taught us, no matter how interesting they might make the story.

 

Behind the Words

“Bethlehem” is a transliteration of the Hebrew Bēth Lechem, which literally means “house of bread.” It previously was called Ephrath, where Jacob’s wife Rachel was buried.

The words “wise men” are translated from the Greek magos, which refers to a priest or wise man among the Medes, Persians and Babylonians. In Daniel 2:48 we find that Daniel was made the leader of the magi (plural form of magos). It is believed by some that these magi were following a prophecy of Daniel that predicted the birth of the King of the Jews.

The word translated “East” is anatolē, which is from the verb anatellō, made up of ana, meaning “up” and tellō, meaning “to set out for a goal.” Anatolē literally refers to “the rising [of the sun.]” Thus, it is a reference to the direction from which the sun rises each day, that is, the East.

 

Meaning Explained

Matthew’s gospel account portrays Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, King of the Jews. In the first chapter of his gospel, Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus back to King David, the greatest of the earthly kings of the Jewish people.

At the time that Jesus was born, Herod the Great was the king over the country of the Jews. Initially, he was made governor (tetrarch) of Galilee and his brother, Phasael, was made governor of Jerusalem. Later, Herod was proclaimed “King of the Jews” by the Roman senate and became the ruler of all of Judea. He was the son of an Idumean man named Antigonus and his mother was Arabian. The Idumeans were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother (God renamed Jacob as Israel). Even though Herod practiced the Jewish religion, he was never accepted by the religious leaders as a Jew. Because of his many massive building projects, including the expansion of the Temple in Jerusalem, he became known as “Herod the Great.”  He had at least nine sons by five wives and five of his sons were named Herod (Herod Phillip I, Herod Antipas, Herod Archelaus, Prince Herod, and Herod Phillip II).

About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me to become the one ruling in Israel, and His goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)

However, Herod was a highly jealous man who maintained his power by killing off anyone who might become a rival of his. Therefore, when the magi came seeking the new born King of the Jews, Herod was determined to eliminate this new king any way he could.

 

Application

Because of traditions started centuries ago, many of the things we think we know about the Christmas story are not necessarily true. For instance, we don’t know if these magi were kings (they probably weren’t). Also, we don’t know how many of them there were. It is assumed that there were three because of the three different gifts that were offered to the Christ child (Matthew 2:11). We don’t know their names, and they didn’t come to the stable. But we do know that they were seeking a prophetically foretold King of the Jews and that they got incredibly excited when they knew they were about to come into His presence. As Christians, we all need to study our Bibles to learn the truth about the birth of our Savior. And, we too should be excited about coming into the presence of the King of King, the Lord of Lords, and our Savior.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Matthew 2:1 – Learn the Truth

And Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

Truth to Learn

We need to believe what the Bible says, not what tradition has taught us, no matter how interesting they might make the story.

 

Behind the Words

“Bethlehem” is a transliteration of the Hebrew Bēth Lechem, which literally means “house of bread.” It previously was called Ephrath, where Jacob’s wife Rachel was buried.

The words “wise men” are translated from the Greek magos, which refers to a priest or wise man among the Medes, Persians and Babylonians. In Daniel 2:48 we find that Daniel was made the leader of the magi (plural form of magos). It is believed by some that these magi were following a prophecy of Daniel that predicted the birth of the King of the Jews.

The word translated “East” is anatolē, which is from the verb anatellō, made up of ana, meaning “up” and tellō, meaning “to set out for a goal.” Anatolē literally refers to “the rising [of the sun.]” Thus, it is a reference to the direction from which the sun rises each day, that is, the East.

 

Meaning Explained

Matthew’s gospel account portrays Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, King of the Jews. In the first chapter of his gospel, Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus back to King David, the greatest of the earthly kings of the Jewish people.

At the time that Jesus was born, Herod the Great was the king over the country of the Jews. Initially, he was made governor (tetrarch) of Galilee and his brother, Phasael, was made governor of Jerusalem. Later, Herod was proclaimed “King of the Jews” by the Roman senate and became the ruler of all of Judea. He was the son of an Idumean man named Antigonus and his mother was Arabian. The Idumeans were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother (God renamed Jacob as Israel). Even though Herod practiced the Jewish religion, he was never accepted by the religious leaders as a Jew. Because of his many massive building projects, including the expansion of the Temple in Jerusalem, he became known as “Herod the Great.”  He had at least nine sons by five wives and five of his sons were named Herod (Herod Phillip I, Herod Antipas, Herod Archelaus, Prince Herod, and Herod Phillip II).

About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me to become the one ruling in Israel, and His goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2)

However, Herod was a highly jealous man who maintained his power by killing off anyone who might become a rival of his. Therefore, when the magi came seeking the new born King of the Jews, Herod was determined to eliminate this new king any way he could.

 

Application

Because of traditions started centuries ago, many of the things we think we know about the Christmas story are not necessarily true. For instance, we don’t know if these magi were kings (they probably weren’t). Also, we don’t know how many of them there were. It is assumed that there were three because of the three different gifts that were offered to the Christ child (Matthew 2:11). We don’t know their names, and they didn’t come to the stable. But we do know that they were seeking a prophetically foretold King of the Jews and that they got incredibly excited when they knew they were about to come into His presence. As Christians, we all need to study our Bibles to learn the truth about the birth of our Savior. And, we too should be excited about coming into the presence of the King of King, the Lord of Lords, and our Savior.

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Matthew 2:1, 2, 9-11 – Kings at the Manger?

Matthew 2:1,2, 9-11 – Kings at the Manger?

1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

9When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Behind the Words

The words “wise men” are translated from the Greek magos, which refers to a priest or wise man among the Medes, Persians and Babylonians. In Daniel 2:48 you will find that Daniel was made the leader of the magi (plural form of magos). It is believed by some that these magi were following a prophesy of Daniel which predicted the birth of the king of the Jews.

The expression “rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” loses its effect in English, because we tend to read it as “they were glad.” However, it is much more than that. It is translated from the Greek echarēsan charan megalēn sphodra. Echarēsan is the verb form of charis, which means “delight or joy.” The verb form means to express that joy, hence, “rejoice.” The next word, charan is also a form of charis. When Greek repeats a word in both verb and noun form it implies intensity. In English we would say, they joyfully rejoiced. The next word, megalēn is a form of megas, meaning “large” or “great.” Here it is describing charis, so it is saying “they joyfully rejoiced greatly.” The word sphodra, means “to a high degree.” Putting this all together we get, “they joyfully rejoiced exceedingly greatly.” It expresses the utmost in joyful exuberance!

Meaning Explained

Most nativity scenes show three kings offering gifts to the Christ child who is lying in a manger surrounded by the stable animals. However, a careful examination of the text along with Luke 2:21, 22 and Leviticus 12:1-8, reveals that Mary and Joseph remained in Bethlehem for at least 40 days after Jesus’ birth in order to fulfill the law. If Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with the Christ child immediately after the Magi departed, there wouldn’t have been time for the purification, if the Magi had come to the stable.

Also, note that verse eleven says “when they (the Magi) had come into the house …” The word translated “house” is oikos, which refers to the family dwelling place and is never used in reference to a stable. Finally, the word translated “young Child” in verse eleven is not the word that means “new born infant,” it simply means “baby.”

Application

Many of the things we think we know about these magi are, in fact, either speculation or downright untrue. We don’t know if they were kings (they probably weren’t). We don’t know how many of them there were. We don’t know their names! And, they didn’t come to the stable! But we do know that they were seeking a prophetically foretold king of the Jews and that they got incredibly excited when they knew they were about to come into His presence.

Is this how you see the baby who came into this world to die for your sins? Is this how you view God? Get excited about Him!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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