WHILE JOSEPH and Mary with the child Jesus were still staying in
Bethlehem, the city of Jerusalem was stirred by the coming of some men
from a land far away, with a strange question. These men were not Jews,
but were Gentiles, which was the name that the Jews gave to all people
except themselves. All Romans and Greeks and Egyptians and all others
who were not of their own race, the Jews called by the name "Gentiles."
These Gentile strangers who came to Jerusalem were asking of everybody
whom they met this question:
"Can you tell us where is to be found the little child who is born to be
the King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east, and we have
come to do him honor?"
Who were these men, and what was the star that they had seen?
We are not certain as to their land, but it is generally thought to have
been the country now called Persia, then known as Parthia, a land about
a thousand miles to the east of Judea. Although some Jews lived in that
land--for Jews were to be found then as now in all lands, especially in
large cities--the people of Parthia were not Jews, but, as the Jews
called them, Gentiles. Although not of the Jewish race, these people
were like the Jews in one respect--they never bowed down to worship
images which men had made. They worshipped the One God of all the earth;
and they prayed with their faces toward the sun. They said that they did
not worship the sun, but the One God who was like the sun, the light of
the world.
Among these Parthian people were many men who at night studied the stars
in the sky. They did not have telescopes, as those who look at the stars
now have, to bring the heavenly bodies, the moon, the planets, and the
stars nearer to them; they could only use their own eyes, but by long
study they had learned much about the stars, could tell of their
movements and where in the sky to find each one of them. The men who
gave their lives to this study of the stars were called Magi, a word
meaning "Wise Men"; and these strangers who were seeking the child-king
in Jerusalem are sometimes spoken of as "the Wise Men," sometimes as
"the Magi."
[Illustration: The Wise Men on their journey]
The people of that time believed that when great kings were born, or
before they died, strange stars suddenly appeared in the heavens, shone
for a time and then as suddenly passed out of sight. A year or perhaps
two years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, such a star, very bright,
that had never before been seen, began to shine. In some way it came to
the minds of these men that this star pointed to the coming of a great
king who was to rule over all the lands, and who was to be found in the
land of Judea.
These Wise Men at once made up their minds to go to the land of Judea
and see this child-king. It was a long and hard journey of more than a
thousand miles. They must pass from the high plains of Parthia down to
the lowlands of Babylonia, must find some way to cross two great rivers,
the Tigris and the Euphrates. Then they would come to a vast trackless
desert, where nothing grew and there was no water. If they went around
this desert they must follow up the Euphrates River far to the north,
and then traveling southward under the shadow of lofty mountains, they
would come at last to Judea, and to Jerusalem, its largest city. Through
all that long and trying journey, which would last a year, traveling
most of the way on camels, they saw the wonderful star in the sky
seeming to lead the way.
From the story as told in the Gospel by St. Matthew it appears that when
these men came to Jerusalem the star was no longer shining. However, the
loss of the star would not matter so much, now that they were in the
King's own land, for they supposed that everybody in that country, and
especially in the city of Jerusalem, would know that their Prince was
born. But to their surprise, nobody seemed to have heard about the
newly-born King. They did not meet the shepherds of Bethlehem, who had
seen the angel on the night of Jesus' birth, nor did they hear of old
Simeon and Anna who a month or more before had seen the Christ-child.
Very, very few were those who knew that the King had come, and none of
these few people did these strangers chance to meet.
They thought that at one place they could surely learn where to look for
this young Prince. That was the king's palace in Jerusalem. Herod was
still living, although old and very feeble, yet as fierce and cruel as
ever. Perhaps they thought that this Prince for whom they were looking
might be a son or a grandson of the king. Herod did not live in
Jerusalem, for he did not like its people and he knew how greatly its
people hated him; but he had a palace in the city and he came to it
often for short visits. He may have been in Jerusalem when the Wise Men
came; or they may have sought Herod down at Jericho, twenty miles away,
where most of the time he lived.
As soon as the old king heard the question of these strangers, and
learned that they had been led by a star to his land, he was filled with
alarm. A child born to be king of the Jews--if there was such a child,
what would become of Herod's own throne and crown? If he could find
where this child was, he would send his soldiers to the place and soon
kill him, as he had killed many others whom he suspected of seeking to
take away his kingdom. But Herod hid his cruel purpose, and spoke kindly
to these strangers about their errand. He asked them when the star
appeared, how it looked, and how they knew that it showed that a king
had been born.
Then Herod sent for the wisest men in his land, the teachers of the law
who lived in Jerusalem. He knew that all the people were looking for the
coming of their Messiah-king, whom they also called the Christ.
"Can you tell me," asked Herod, "in what place this great King, the
Messiah or Christ, is to be born?"
The scholars were ready with their answer. They said:
"In Bethlehem of Judea, the city of David, this King who springs from
David's line shall be born. This is what the old prophets have said."
And they read to him one of the promises of the prophets that the King
should come out of Bethlehem.
Then Herod sent again for the Wise Men, and asked them to give him the
exact time when they first saw the star. When he had learned the time,
he thought at once that this long-looked-for King must have been born in
Bethlehem less than two years before.
"Go to Bethlehem," said Herod to the Wise Men, "and search through the
town until you find this child; and when you have found him, come and
tell me, for I wish to do honor to this King."
That was what Herod said; but what he meant to do was a very different
thing, as we shall see.
The Wise Men at once started for Bethlehem, which was only six miles
from Jerusalem. They went over one of the mountains, and then one said
to another:
"Look, there is the star once more! See it in the sky just before us!"
The star stood over the road leading to Bethlehem, and again they
followed it rejoicing. It led them straight to the city, and then to a
house, over which it seemed to pause. They knocked at the door, and when
it was opened they went into a room, where they found a baby lying in
its young mother's arms.
These Wise Men knew at once that here was the King for whom they had
sought so long and traveled so far. They bowed before him to the ground
to show the high honor in which they held him. Then they opened the
treasures which they had brought from their own land, and gave to him
rich gifts, such as were presented to kings. They gave him gold, and
frankincense and myrrh, the fragrant gums that were used in offerings
and were very costly. Thus, while in his own land only a few people
showed their gladness at the coming of their king, the strangers from a
distant country came to pay him honor. We would have thought that some
of the learned Jews, who could tell King Herod where the King was born,
might have come with the Wise Men to see him. But these great scholars
really cared very little about Jesus. They stayed at home and soon
forgot the men of the east, their journey, and their question.
[Illustration: The well of the Wise Men, near Bethlehem]
[Illustration: Joseph and Mary taking the child Jesus with them set out
on their journey to the land of Judea]
Safe in Egypt