20 Jun 2014
Matthew 2:1-2
Matthew 2:1: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 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.”
A few points. First, the Bible just says there were wise men; it doesn’t say how many. There may have been more or less than three. It’s certainly likely that these three people didn’t travel all the way by themselves; they probably had servants, and supplies, and so forth. So it’s likely that they made up quite a group. These were not three people, riding camels, carrying only the clothes on their back. This was quite an effort.
Also, notice that these wise men – who were not Jews! – knew that the Messiah had been born, but Israel missed it entirely. (The Jews have still missed it, to this day.) It should have been a source of tremendous embarrassment that Gentiles realized the Messiah had been born while they did not, but that’s not how they saw it. Their response was not to worship Jesus but to hunt him down and try to kill him. That attitude has not changed over the years either: the Jews continue to reject Jesus, to this day.
The Bible tells us that one day the Jews will realize their error and will repent and be saved, but that day is still many years away. It will not occur until the end of the Tribulation.