Imagine the being told that a King was going to be born in a distant land. How many of us would think that his birth would be important enough to spend the time to travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles on foot, or on a camel to see him? These Wise Men had spent the better part of two years following a star (2:7,16). To follow this star, they had left homes, maybe family and friends, really the left a lot behind. They had left their country and were now pilgrims in a foriegn land. Along the way, they no doubt had to face perils and obstacles, they even found themselves in the presence of a king, a king not intent on giving up his throne.
Common to tradition and many nativity scenes commemorating the birth of Jesus. is the presence of “three wise men.” Tradition also teaches that they are three kings from the Orient, and that their names were – Melchior – Balthasar – and Caspar. That they were later baptized by Thomas. The facts are, the Biblical record say little about who these men were probably because the emphasis is upon what they did – not who they are
“For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” – (2:2,11)
What is important is that Jesus (Immanuel) is worthy of worship
They were greatly interested in astrology thus their attention was arrested by the star that led them to the Christ-child. The number of these wise men is not known ,they were not kings How did these wise men connect the star with the birth of the king of the Jews? Had they been given a revelation from God, that’s possible. Most Bible scholars believe they came from Mesopotamia – from the area around ancient Babylon. If they were from that region these men would have had access to the Jewish Scriptures
The Jews had been taken to Babylon years earlier as slaves. They lived in Babylon for several decades among them were Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel who had charge over them and possibly would have taught them about the coming of the Lord while he was living in Babylon (Daniel 5:11-12). The prophet Ezekiel penned his book while living there. Several of the Psalms were written by the exiles living in Babylon. As a result, these learned men would have known of the prophecy of a King to come (Numbers 24:17).
These men had traveled many miles to find this small child. They had traveled through deserts, crossed mountains – crossed rivers, possibly endured hardships. Coming to Bethlehem, these men probably expected to find the King of the Jews in a palace, this might explain their going to Herod’s first, at least they might have expected a luxurious abode for a king, yet they found the King of Kings – in the home – probably nothing more than a shack.
Even today, wise men still come to Jesus and the foolish don’t. Which are you?