Share this. When Did the Magi Visit? Samuel James Andrews. What Can We Give God? Why Was the Star Significant to the Wisemen? Why Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh? Today on Christianity. Is Thanksgiving Truly a Christian Holiday? While church tradition claims that the Wise Men arrived 12 days after the birth of Jesus, Holy Scripture suggests that is not so. In accordance with the Law, Mary and Joseph took their child to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord.
Luke And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;. The time for this dedication was clearly prescribed in Levitical law Lev For seven days, a woman was deemed to be unclean.
On the eighth day, a man child was to be circumcised. Lev And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:. This offering was to be made before the Lord, to make atonement for the woman, and to cleanse her from the issue of blood.
Symbolically, this seems to represent Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the Holy Spirit who appeared as a dove. A provision was also made for those who could not afford to offer a lamb. In such cases, the woman was able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Luke tells that Mary made an offering of birds plural. This is an indication that Mary and Joseph did not have the necessary funds to purchase a lamb for their burnt offering.
Had that been the case, Mary would have been able to provide a blood offering in the form of a lamb for her purification. Some suggest that the Wise Men did not arrive until Jesus was two years of age, and living in a house in Nazareth.
This is based on Matthew But could that be true? T here is no evidence to support it. Remember, the Wise Men were supposed to report back to Herod Matt We know that Jesus was born in a place where animals were kept. They would have stayed there until after they went to the Temple and until she was able to make the return trip to Nazareth this is covered in: Was Jesus Born in a Stable, a Cave or a House?
We are told in Luke that following the dedication of Jesus in the Temple 40 days or more after His birth , Mary and Joseph returned to their home in Nazareth Luke The timing does not fit.
Since Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, had they received the precious gifts of great value from the Wise Men, they could have sold some of the gold, frankincense, or myrrh and purchased a lamb to offer to God. Instead, they offered birds, the offering intended for the poor who had no means to purchase a lamb. We simply do not know. However, there is sufficient reasoning to know that it was not 12 days.
This was the title given to priests in a sect of the ancient Persian religions such as Zoroastrianism. Today we'd called them astrologers. Back then astronomy and astrology were part of the same overall studies and 'science' and went hand in hand with each other. The magi would have followed the patterns of the stars religiously. They would have also probably been very rich and held high esteem in their own society and by people who weren't from their country or religion.
They had seen an unusual new star in the sky, and knew that it told of the birth of a special king in Israel. No one really knows what the new star in the sky was, and there are many theories including comets, supernovas, a conjunctions of planets or something supernatural!
Find out more about the star in the Star of Bethlehem page in the Christmas Customs section. The Magi would have known about the prophecies of a special Jewish Savior also known as the Messiah from when the Jews had been held captive in ancient Babylon several hundred years before. Legends are told about them and they have been given names. This is how they are often described:. Luke NASB. It appears the wise men arrived sometime between one to two years later.
Why one to two years? The answer is given in Matthew Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi.
Here we are told that King Herod murdered all the children who were two years of age or younger. Because he had been told by the wise men that they had been following the star for about two years. This reveals that the wise men never visited Jesus while He was in the manger at the inn. One year is probably a better estimate since the wise men needed time to travel from the east to find Jesus.
But Matthew is clear that Jesus was in a house by the time the wise men arrived.
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