Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, behold magi from the east arrived at Jerusalem, saying,
Matthew fixes the birth of Jesus in real history: a town, a king, and travellers from far away. Two questions follow: when did these visitors arrive, and why were strangers seeking a King that Jerusalem was not expecting?
Older versions open with "when Jesus was born," which sounds like the visitors came at once. The ESV reads "after Jesus was born." The Greek settles it.
The fact is, the word "when" in English sounds to the ordinary English reader like a note of time. Nothing in the Greek answers to it. The Greek is simply "Now Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea" — a fact of all importance to His history.
The journey itself accounts for the gap.
It simply means that these easterners came after He was born. Many months, or more than a year, might have passed in between. The wise men had first seen the star in the east, most probably at the time of our Lord's birth. That confirms it. After seeing the star, they had many preparations to make before they could set out. Then they had a long way to travel. Travelling in those days was hard and slow in the eastern parts of the world.
The town has a history with David, and its name fits the child born there.
David was anointed in the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, so it seems this was the place of David's birth. That is why Luke 2:11 calls it the "city of David." It was also the birthplace of Jesus. Though it was "little among the thousands of Judah," it agreed better with His humiliation. Bethlehem means "house of bread." That is a very fitting name for the place the Saviour should come from as a man — He who was the living bread that came down from heaven.
Their home was somewhere else. An emperor's decree settled where the birth happened.
Joseph and Mary are at Nazareth, but Christ must be born at Bethlehem. And the decree goes out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. All the machinery of that vast empire is set in motion to bring God's purpose about. This is very comforting to His own.
Matthew dates the birth by a king who was not of Israel at all.
The Herods came from Idumea. The Roman government made them rulers in name over Judea and Galilee. The name Idumea is the Greek equivalent of Edom, the land of the descendants of Esau. So the position of the Jews in the days of the Gospels was deeply humiliating. They were not only under the rule of the Gentile power at Rome, but a son of Esau ruled over them in the land... And the New Testament opens with an Edomite trying to destroy Him who was born King of the Jews. This ruler held Edom as well as Judea and Galilee.
Who were these travellers, and how did they link a star with a Jewish king?
The Greek word here, translated "wise men," is magi. Magicians and magi are often lumped together, but they are not necessarily the same. Philo describes the magi as men who gave themselves to studying nature and to thinking on the divine perfections — men worthy to be the counsellors of kings. How the magi connected the star with "the King of the Jews" is not known. The Jews had been scattered among the nations, so the magi may have heard of the prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24:17) or of Daniel's prophecy. God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. In the same way He may have led them to connect these prophecies with the appearance of the star.
The scene sets the pattern for everything that follows in this Gospel.
The chapter gives us in a nutshell the story of the entire Gospel. Jerusalem is the City of a great King, yet the true King is not known there. In His own royal residence, His people do not know He has come. Strangers from distant lands seek Him and want to know and worship Him.
Israel had no welcome ready for its Messiah. God found one elsewhere.
God would have a fitting testimony to such a Messiah; and if the Jews were unready, He would gather from the very ends of the earth some hearts to welcome Jesus.
- Born — the Greek reads "Jesus having been born." The magi came months, maybe more than a year, later — not at the manger.
- Bethlehem — "house of bread" and David's town — small, yet chosen. A Roman census brought Joseph and Mary there.
- Herod — a son of Esau ruled Jacob's land. The New Testament opens with an Edomite trying to destroy Him who was born King of the Jews.
- Strangers — men from the east came looking for the King. Balaam's or Daniel's prophecy may have stirred them.
- Pattern — the whole Gospel in miniature. His own people do not know He has come. God gathers hearts from the ends of the earth instead.
Where is the king of the Jews that has been born? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to do him homage.
Strangers from the east arrive in Jerusalem. They ask for a king the city does not know it has. Their question is the first one recorded in the New Testament, and the rest of the book answers it.
One writer sets it beside the Old Testament's first question, which was about fallen man.
What is man's position as a fallen sinner? Where is he, now that he has broken loose from God's control? This is the first question of the Old Testament. The rest of the Old Testament works out the answer in all its ugly detail, until we reach the closing chapter of Malachi, which ends with the significant word "curse." Then we open the New Testament. Not by accident, the first question on record there is "Where is He …?" We read on, and find the glorious answer.
What gives Him the right to Israel's crown?
"I am the root and the descendant of David." The "I" is emphatic. His connection with Israel in royalty is asserted here. As divine He is the Root of David's house. As man He is the descendant of David. He is David's Lord and David's Son. The crown of Israel is His because of who He is, and His too by promise and prophecy. He was born King of the Jews. He died as King of the Jews. He shall reign as King of the Jews.
It is Gentiles who acknowledge Him by that title.
The Gentiles formally acknowledge Him as King of the Jews. The will of God guides them, acting on the hearts of their wise men.
One writer weighs how the Greek tense should come across in English. He quotes the older translation of the verse.
"We saw his star in the east." This is merely a historical fact. There is nothing wrong in the translation, but "we have seen it" has quite a different force to the mind. "We have seen" is a present, lasting effect in their minds. His star had been revealed to them, and under the present influence of that they had come to worship.
Why should a star mean a king? The link goes back to Balaam, a prophet in the east.
Balaam was the last man known in the east as a prophet, before the Gentiles were broken in the presence of Israel. He was certainly a wicked man, but God used him to speak the most remarkable predictions of Israel's coming glory. And that very prophecy had closed with a reference to the Star that should rise out of Jacob. Hundreds of years later, traces of this prophecy still lingered among the people of the east.
Another writer rules out every natural explanation of what they saw.
The star was surely supernatural. Kepler pointed to a conjunction of planets. But no conjunction of planets could be called a star. And none could have produced such a complete conviction in men who knew the heavens well. It was, in fact, a beautiful witness of the God of nature to the men of nature.
They travelled to give, not to get. Their gifts suited a king. What they did before giving suited more than a king.
These princes brought their gifts, gifts such as nobles from far away would bring to a king. But "when they saw the child with Mary His mother," they recognised His divine glory first, and they "fell down and worshipped Him." Then they acknowledged His kingship and brought out their gifts. They worshipped God and gave gifts to the King.
The men who could answer the question from Scripture did answer it. Then they did nothing.
With the greatest readiness these men of the Bible turned up Micah 5:2 and read out to the king the well-known words. Yet not one step did these men take in the direction of Bethlehem to see if the promised King was there. There is nothing more heartless than mere Bible knowledge without faith.
Their loss was not information. It was the voice of God.
God spoke to the wise men, first by a star and then by a dream. To the religious men in Jerusalem He did not speak at all. There had been days when the high priest among them had been in touch with God by means of the Urim and Thummim. Now God was silent to them.
- Question. The New Testament opens with the search God's own city never started: "Where is He?" — asked by outsiders.
- Star. A supernatural light drew men who watched the heavens — a witness of the God of nature to the men of nature.
- Seeking. The scribes had the verse; the strangers took the road. Bible knowledge without faith is heartless.
- Sovereign. The crown is His because of who He is: born King of the Jews, crucified as King, set to reign as King.
- Submission. The search ended in worship. They saw His divine glory first, then gave a king's gifts.
But Herod the king having heard [of it], was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
The birth of a King should have set the city celebrating. Instead it put the city on edge. The verse raises two questions: why would a king fear a baby, and why would the whole capital of God's people share that fear?
The trouble Herod felt was personal. He held the title, and the arrival of the real owner of it left him no room.
Herod was king at Jerusalem, so he was deeply shaken by the announcement that the King of the Jews was born. It touched him very closely, because he knew that if the true Messiah had come, he could no longer be king himself. Besides, the news that God's King had come was enough to alarm the conscience and awaken fear and dread. Others felt the same... There were no thunderclaps or lightning, no threats, no sound of alarm; yet they were troubled... The king's troubled state of mind led him to make inquiry... but with all the unquestionable evidence in front of him, he did not think the Messiah worth seeking.
The city had its own reason to be uneasy. Living under a ruler like Herod, they could guess what his panic would cost them.
Herod, the king, was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. He feared for his throne, which was not his. Jerusalem knew what Herod's fear meant — rebellion, bloodshed, and suffering.
Herod's alarm is easy to explain. The second half of the verse is the shock. These were the people who claimed to be waiting for this very birth.
It is not surprising, we say again, that Herod should be troubled when he heard the news, for here was apparently a rival claimant to his throne. But we read that "he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." So the coming of the Saviour produced not celebration but dismay among the very people who claimed to be waiting for Him! Something was terribly wrong, since so far this was only the recoil of their twisted instincts. They had not seen Him. He had done nothing yet. They only sensed that His coming would mean the spoiling of their pleasures instead of the fulfilment of their hopes.
The word "all" leaves no group standing outside the reaction.
"All Jerusalem" is sweeping enough, surely. The expression would include the learned and the unlearned, old and young, clergy and laity. All Jerusalem was troubled!
The men Herod called in could answer his question instantly from Micah's prophecy. Their accuracy only made their coldness plainer.
Look at the words, "and all Jerusalem with him." Let each of us underline that word "all" in our minds. It clearly means Pharisees and Sadducees included. True, these religious men had a knowledge of their Scriptures, for they could quote Micah 5:2 at once in reply to Herod's demand. Yet the only practical use they made of their knowledge was to give Herod an opportunity to kill the infant Messiah.
Knowing the text is not the same as wanting the One it speaks of.
Yet these men did not take one step toward Bethlehem to see if the promised King was there. There is nothing more heartless than mere Bible knowledge without faith. Strange as it may seem, it is possible to go down to an eternal hell with a mind crammed with Bible truth.
The men who travelled furthest were the ones who came to worship.
When the first breath of this news reaches Jerusalem, the result is dismay in everyone. The king, the priests, the scribes — all are in turmoil. There was no heart for Jesus. But God will always have a testimony. If the Jews will not have Him, the Gentiles come; and it is grace that brings this about... Jerusalem sides with the false king, and does not care to receive Him. Those who were despised as dogs have the honour of truly recognising the claims of the Messiah. The Jews themselves had to teach them the first lessons of prophecy.
Herod's reaction becomes a mirror. News about Christ still troubles people. The question is what that trouble leads to.
But does news of Christ trouble you now? Then you are like Herod. I wish to God that you were troubled, but on the right account. I wish you were anxious about your soul and crying, "What must I do to be saved?"
- Troubled, not glad. There were no thunderclaps and no threats, yet the whole city was shaken. The birth that should have brought celebration brought dismay instead.
- Troubled by a throne. Herod feared for a crown that was not his. If the true Messiah had come, he could no longer be king himself.
- Troubled before He acted. He had done nothing yet, and they had not even seen Him. They sensed His coming meant the spoiling of their pleasures. That instinct alone showed something was terribly wrong.
- Troubled with Scripture open. The scribes quoted the right verse and never walked to Bethlehem. Bible knowledge without desire for Christ served a murderer's plot.
- Troubled, or seeking? Strangers from the east came to worship Him. The city next door sided with the false king. The same news still divides people that way.