November 14, 1999.
We all know about the “Wise Men.” All they had to do to find the baby Jesus was follow the star. Right? Wrong!
Don’t be fooled by those who look into astronomy to try to find a comet or a conjunction of several planets around the time of Jesus’ birth, suggesting what the “star” was. Matthew 2 says clearly, “the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” There is no way to make this a natural phenomenon. Either it was clearly a miracle of God or the story is a fabrication.
But that is only the end of the story. We are not told why the Wise Men went to Jerusalem. But it would be the natural thing to do. They were searching for a newborn prince, the “king of the Jews.” Jerusalem was the capital city of the Jews. It was the logical place to go.
They went to the king himself. Certainly the king would know where his son was born. But King Herod was wiser than you may think. He knew that select men coming from the East asking about the “king of the Jews” could only have one meaning. These men were looking for the long-awaited Messiah of the Jewish people.
Herod consulted with the local clergy. His question was not where the “king of the Jews” was to be born. Rather he asked where “Christ” was to be born. And the clergy knew. No hesitation. It had been a matter of prophecy for at least seven centuries! They quoted Micah 5:2 to Herod and he passed on the information to the Wise Men. Only then are we told that “the star… went before them.”
Thus from Jesus’ birth to His ascension, it is the powerful union of both miracle and prophecy which proves Him to be the long-promised Messiah. Only foolish souls ignore the evidence to their own destruction. Wise men still seek Him. Wise men know that He has been proven to be the One He claimed to be.