(The Temple around 5 BCE— rendered from historically accurate descriptions which was a pain!)
The Days and Months After
After the birth of Christ, we have some precise information on what happened next. If you take my word (and that of most scholars) that Luke used Mother Mary as a source, we can be pretty confident of the sequence of events. Oh— and it was law at the time.
First, Mary and Joseph, along with Jesus, stayed in Bethlehem after the birth. On the 8th day after the birth Jesus was circumcised likely right there in Bethlehem. By then the word had been spread locally by the shepherds, so the family likely had their choice of digs by now.
It was also Levitical law that a woman was required to remain in a period of “ritual purification” for 40 days after the birth of a son before going to the Temple for the “sacrifice”. In Luke 2:24 this sacrifice was described as giving “a pair of [turtle] doves”. This was the offering given by those who could not afford to sacrifice a lamb which further speaks about the financial reality of Mary and Joseph.
Within the Temple was a very old, devout, Jewish man known as Simeon (Luke 2:25). Upon the family’s arrival he met them at the Temple. Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit that he would live at least until he had seen the Messiah. According to Luke (2:29) Simeon said:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
This basically says, “I’ve seen everything I was supposed to see. I can now go to the Father (die happy) knowing everyone is going to be okay.” By using the terms Gentiles and people of Israel he literally means everyone— including you and me!
Now— consider this— every Jew was waiting for the Messiah at this time. It was settled “science” by the devout that he was to come. It isn’t a stretch that somebody would have had moment of hallelujah that this was the kid. The idea would have been boiling up in their heart for who knows how long. Actually, Luke says a prophet at the Temple named Anna recognized the Messiah in Christ as well.
When evidence presents itself, it becomes fulfilled in an instance of clarity. You don’t have to believe that Simeon existed to believe someone, especially after hearing rumors of the newborn king, would have had the conviction that this was the Messiah.
The Magi
The Magi are brought into the scene in Matthew chapter 2. The Magi were considered almost oracle-like in nature, high priests, astrologers, advisors, scholars. It’s a term used by Matthew to specifically identify that these folks were foreigners, most likely from the east in Persia or Babylon. These folks were not “Kings” as has been suggested. They would not have arrived on just a few camels but small to large caravans just to make the journey. They came as foreign authority (kinda important) and met with local authority before meeting Jesus.
The “when” they came is also important. They came anywhere from weeks after the birth all the way up to two years. They were not at the birth. The scripture says after they visited Jerusalem looking for this “Messiah” they found “a child in a house”. Why that matters? Luke uses a Greek term that is inarguably “baby” or “infant” while Matt uses “child” when he could have said otherwise. Questions? You know where to find me.
Anyway, according to Matthew the Magi come because they received an invitation. An invitation in the form of a star (yet another topic deserving many paragraphs!). This star didn’t need to be revealed weeks or months before Christ’s birth (their journey would have been quite long) because the shepherds were the chosen ones (at least by circumstance) to witness the birth and be the first to spread the news. I think this celestial event was revealed roughly at the time of the birth and I’ll weave that into the topic tomorrow. God sometimes uses ordinary “infrastructure” to start extraordinary movements.
Moving on (hehe), the Magi arrive in Jerusalem (not Bethlehem) and ask a very dangerous question within the authority structures of Jerusalem: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matt. 2:2).
Wow— foreigners proclaiming they want to worship a Jewish king and NOT the current king?
Oopsie daisy! That will prove to be the wrong question to ask. No, not a good question at all considering who was in power at the time— but, as these things go, it may have served a divine purpose (yep, that’s a little tease for tomorrow).
There are about a dozen paths we could take on just the Magi subject alone. I can see I’ll need to break this one up into two parts. So let me put a bow (back) on this one so we can open the Magi present up tomorrow and give them the justice they deserve! It’s important— so important, in fact, that it changes things for 30 more years until Jesus returns to the stage (tease #2).
I’ll leave you with two thoughts:
Heaven sometimes gives direction (the star), but we still have to search, ask, and risk misunderstanding.
and…
Jesus was born and for that to happen the world was rearranged without anyone realizing it. Why?
Because God doesn’t need recognition
to keep his word!
(Simeon)
