Wise Men Find Jesus
The wise men rejoiced to see the star
And followed it again
Right to the place where Jesus stayed,
A house in Bethlehem.
They bowed down and worshiped him
And opened treasure chests
Of gold and frankincense and myrrh –
The first Christmas gifts.
Read this account for yourself in Matthew 2:9-12
When the wise men left Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem they were overjoyed to see the star reappear. This time the star led them to the very house where they found Mary and Jesus who was now a toddler. We are able to estimate Jesus’ age based on King Herod’s actions in Matthew 2:16-18.
The wise men bowed down and worshiped Christ Jesus and gave him expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
In my Bible storybook, The First Christmas, I omitted the following parts of the story. I left them out because young children have such tender hearts. I don’t want to burden them with King Herod’s deeds until they are old enough to grasp the intensity of evil in our world as well as Jesus’ sacrifice of his own life to pay for our sins. Parents should share this information with them when they are able to handle it.
God warned the wise men in a dream not to return to King Herod, so they returned home by a different route. Meanwhile an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to take Mary and Jesus immediately out of Bethlehem and to escape to Egypt until King Herod was dead.
When King Herod realized that the wise men weren’t coming back to him, he ordered the death of all boys in the Bethlehem area who were under two years of age. King Herod acted out of fear that the new king would be a threat to his throne, but behind the scenes is Satan’s attempt to put an end to God’s eternal plan to conquer sin and death through Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. May we be reminded that when things seem all out of control, that God is always in control and able to see the bigger picture.
This devotional message corresponds to the thirteenth mini-story in The First Christmas by Janice D. Green. The First Christmas is available here.
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