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"Who Is Jesus" Part-6
by Joan A Deering

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Who Is Jesus?
Part-6

By Joan A Deering

 

In Part 5 we read that Herod was troubled or disturbed by what the chief priests and scribes spoke regarding that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea.

“Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

Matthew 2:7-8 [1]

Herod was calculating when Jesus was born based on the exact time the star appeared.  He had a plan… as we will see in our next lesson.

“After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:9-11

The star led them to the house where Mary, Joseph and Jesus were. At this point the magi worshiped Jesus who they determined was the Messiah.  At this point we don’t know exactly how old Jesus was, but He was probably less than two as we will see later.

The magi knew the prophecy of His coming was fulfilled for they had heard and read about Him in the Old Testament scriptures in the land where they came from. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Gold: A symbol of kingship. [2]

The Frankincense: “It’s most general use in Scripture is that perfume that was an incense burned upon the Jewish alter.”  “In Persian sculptures we see it burned before the king.” [3]

The Myrrh: A well-known gum resin extracted from the Arabian Balsamodendron Myrrha.  It was used as a perfume, for embalming, and as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil. [4]

The magi understood who He was. They were led by this miraculous star to where He was. They were prepared to worship Him when they arrived there!

“And after being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.”

Matthew 2:12


[1] All Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi

[3] Unger, Merrill, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, @1957 Original work of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, Pg 615

[4] Ibid. Pg 1345

 

2022-02-09 0930