|
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him (58:3) When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (58:4) And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born (58:5) And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, (58:6) And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel (58:7) Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared (58:8) And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also (58:9) When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was (58:10) When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy (58:11) And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:1-11 (58:12) To many, these words of Matthew indicate that it was common knowledge where the Christ would be born. At first glance, then, it seems that the Bethlehem prophecy was indeed understood, and that as we can see here, it did lead people to the Christ (58:13) Let's look closely, however, at how the Magi were led to Christ. First of all, they had somehow come to believe that the king of the Jews had been born. We are not told how they had come to this belief, but we do know that they somehow had knowledge of this. Had one of the wise men had a dream? Were they visited by an angel or the holy ghost? We do not know. And how were they inspired to know that the star that appeared in the East had anything to do with His birth? The New Testament does not say (58:14) Furthermore, not only did they believe that He had been born, but they knew of His exalted station. They had come not merely to visit Him; nor to pay their respects: no, they had come to worship Him. They knew that He was divine. They had set out from their homes, traveling for a sacred purpose, and were so certain that they would find Him that they had prepared themselves for their expected meeting to the extent that they were carrying with them precious gifts to lay before Him. They had no doubt that they would find Him
(58:15)
|