Carey Green

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem.

Okay, now let's pause for a moment.

Notice what it says, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Now, right here, it doesn't tell us how far along.

But it does tell us that these wise men came to Jerusalem and they came seeking this king of the Jews.

We're going to see that in just a moment in verse 2.

They are saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

Friends, we don't know a whole lot about what star they saw and how this happened and how they even knew to look for a star.

But it's pretty evident that there were people outside of Israel who were searching the scriptures to find out about the Messiah.

And these wise men appear to be among them.

Verse 3, When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.

And I was quoting from the book of Isaiah, And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me words so that I too may come and worship him.

So friends, what we see here is that Herod recognized that by the time these wise men got to Jerusalem, they had already made a long journey, and therefore they had seen the star sometime before.

You see, the wise men appeared in Jerusalem sometime after Jesus was born.

We're going to see in tomorrow's episode that they actually find Jesus and his mother in a house, not in a manger.