The Kingmakers Come Calling (Matthew 2)

Everyone “knows” the Nativity story, until you slow down and read what Matthew 2 and Luke 2 actually say. We challenge two of the biggest Christmas assumptions: that there were three wise men and that they arrived at the stable on the night Jesus was born. Once the text sets the timeline, the story becomes sharper, more dramatic, and more personal than any postcard version.

We walk through the identity of the Magi from the East, their influence, and why their arrival in Jerusalem alarms Herod and unsettles the entire city. Then we take a fresh look at the Star of Bethlehem. Instead of treating it like a normal star, we explore why the language of “brightness” fits the idea of the Shekinah glory, the brilliant light of God’s presence that shows up across Scripture. That lens also explains why the light appears and disappears, pushing the Magi to seek answers and setting the stage for prophecy to collide with politics.

From Micah’s promise of Bethlehem to Hosea’s words about God calling His Son out of Egypt, we trace how fulfilled prophecy and careful providence thread through every detail. We also unpack the meaning behind gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts that point to Jesus as King, Priest, and the One born to die. The closing challenge is simple and steady: if God planned and guarded the details of Christ’s early life, we can trust His care in our own “Egypt and back” seasons. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who loves the Christmas story, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

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Transcript

Christmas Assumptions Challenged

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If I were to ask you how many wise men visited Jesus in Bethlehem, you might say, and most people would probably answer three. Well, if I asked you when they arrived, you might say, well, they came to the stable to worship baby Jesus right after he was born. Well, what if I told you that neither one of those answers is true? Let's look at what the gospel accounts actually tell us about what happened next. The Gospel of Luke tells us that sometime after Jesus' birth and the family's appearance at the temple forty days later, well, following that Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth in Galilee. Luke writes here in chapter two and verse forty. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Now these words actually summarize the childhood of Jesus. But Matthew chapter two fills in some of the details prior to his growing up there in the town of Nazareth. Matthew writes here in verse one,

Luke’s Timeline After The Birth

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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 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. Now these wise men or magi are from Persia. The magi happen to be the university professors of the sciences, languages, even mathematics and engineering. They were also associated with pagan astrology and magic. Magi and magic come from the same word. These men were responsible to tutor the royal family. In fact, no one could ascend the throne without receiving the blessing of the magi. They were called the king makers there in Persia. Well Matthew tells us that they

Who The Magi Really Were

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came looking for the newborn king of the Jews. They've seen his star, and they followed it to Jerusalem. Now they lost sight of it once they arrived. The word by the way for star can be translated brightness. See, this is no ordinary star, and I realize saying that, it's going to ruin a lot of Christmas cards. It happened to be a brilliant light in the sky that was obviously supernatural. This would have been the same light that had guided the people of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness in Exodus thirteen. This was the same light that made the face of Moses glow after he met with God in Exodus thirty four. This was the same brilliant light that knocked Saul to the ground on the Damascus Road in Acts chapter nine. You see, this star would have been none other than the Shekinah glory, the brilliant light of God's glory, which, by the way, explains how it appeared and then disappeared when the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, which forced them to go ask Herod for directions. Now, we're not told here exactly how the wise men connected this brilliant light with the birth of Israel's royal Messiah, but we do know that five hundred years earlier, the leading wise man over there in Babylon and Persia didn't practice magic. That leading magi was a Jewish man named Daniel. The other exiles had the Old Testament scriptures available to them. I imagine Daniel was holding a Bible study for his fellow magi and exiles taking them to Messianic prophecies

The Star As God’s Glory

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like the one in Numbers chapter twenty four verse seventeen written centuries earlier that said a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. In other words, the royal king, the Messiah, will be like a star rising in the land of Israel. Daniel would also have studied the prophecy in Isaiah sixty, where we're told in verse three, nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then in verse six, they shall bring gold and frankincense and the praises of the Lord. So the scriptures tell us the king will be like the brilliance of a rising star. By the way, over in Revelation chapter twenty two and verse sixteen, Jesus Christ is referred to as the bright morning star. Beloved, these particular magi are spiritual descendants of Daniel. They're part of generations of believers who've been looking for the sign of the Messiah. And now they've seen it. The rising of starlight, as it were, a brilliant light over the land of Israel. Now, as you can imagine, Matthew chapter 2 and verse 3 tells us that Herod is troubled by this news. He's troubled by these magi and their announcement of this newborn king of the Jews. He isn't about to share his throne with anybody. In fact, we're told here that all Jerusalem was troubled with him. This is front page news. In fact, Herod calls the Jewish religious leaders and he asks them where the Messiah was supposed to have been born. And guess what? They know. They quote the prophet Micah, who names Bethlehem as the place where Israel's ruler

Herod, Bethlehem, And The Gifts

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and shepherd would be born, Micah chapter 5, verse 2. So Herod sends them on to Bethlehem to find the child, and he tells the Magi report to report back to him. He claims that he wants to go worship the baby as well. Of course that's a lie. Well, as the Magi set out for Bethlehem, just a few miles away, well, guess what reappears at that moment? The star, this shining brilliant light. Matthew writes here in verse nine that the star went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. Now was that place a stable? What was it a manger? No. Matthew clearly writes here in verse eleven, going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother. Now the typical word for baby is brefos, but Matthew now uses the word Pideon, and that's the word for a young child, a toddler. The wise men then present to Jesus, the little toddler, three kinds of gifts. They had been prophesied earlier that I read just a moment ago. Now this doesn't mean that there were only three wise men. We're never given the exact number. I believe there could have been a sizable number of wise men. I think there would have been plenty of Persian soldiers to guard them and these wonderful treasures they were bringing. Gold was one of them. Well, gold was a gift for royalty. Frankincense was used by priests in temple worship. And myrrh was often mixed with water and used in preparing the bodies of the deceased for burial. Beloved, the gifts of gold pointed to the royalty of Jesus as king. Frankincense pointed to the fact that he would become our high priest. And myrrh? Well that pointed to the fact that he had been born to die. Well, we read here in verse twelve that the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod. We're also told here in verse thirteen that an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and instructs him to get his family up and pack them all up immediately and flee to Egypt, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. So Joseph and Mary pack everything up as quickly as they can, and with Jesus they flee to Egypt, and they arrive safely. But get this. Centuries earlier the prophet Hosea had made this messianic declaration out of Egypt I called my son,

Escape To Egypt And Our Trust

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Hosea eleven one. See, God the Father's plan all along was to call his son out of Egypt, alive and well. And let me tell you, no power in the universe can alter God's plans, including a paranoid little king named Herod. What about all that gold and frankincense and myrrh? Well, that's going to cover all of the expenses that Joseph's going to need to pay for to take care of his family while they're hiding out from Herod there in Egypt. Well that we're told here in verse 19. When Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel. Verse twenty three is Joseph's response. He went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. Have you picked up on the fact that every detail here is planned, if not prophesied? Nothing was left unattended by the Lord. Beloved, we have no reason to believe that God cares any less about us. The truth is, He loves you just as much as He loves His Son. In fact the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter two and verse four that God is rich in mercy because of the great love he has for us. So so no matter what your circumstances might be today, difficult, uh dangerous, uh perhaps like Joseph and Mary running for their lives, uh discouraging all the changes involved. Well, you can trust the Lord's care for you and his attention to details, even if it seems like he's taking you to Egypt and back. You're going to be safely kept in the palm of his almighty hand. Well, until our next wisdom journey, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.