Visit of the Wise Men - Matthew 2:1-23

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues…

Herod, King of Judea, was disturbed.  Seems some wise men from lands far off to the east were in town (Jerusalem) asking questions.  “Where is the new-born king of the Jews?  Have you seen him?  What is he like?
The wise men continued, “We have seen his star and we’ve come to worship him.”

Herod had been given the title King of the Jews by the Romans.  Who was this new king?  Was someone going to replace him and they didn’t tell him?  Do you see why Herod was upset?

So Herod called a meeting of the leading priests and religious teachers and asked them, “Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?”  “In Bethlehem,” they said.

Now Herod had an idea.  He arranged a private meeting with the wise men to learn more about the star and what they had seen.  Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search for the child.  When you find him, come tell me so I can worship him also.”  Do you think Herod really wanted to worship him?

The wise men took off for Bethlehem.  Once again the star appeared and went ahead of them guiding them on their journey.  Then it stopped over the place where Jesus was, and the wise men were filled with joy.

The wise men entered the house where Mary and the baby were and fell to their knees in worship.  Then they opened their treasure chests and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They worshiped for a time then departed for home.  Only now they went home another way since God had warned them not to return to Herod.  Why did God warn them not to return to Herod?

To be continued…

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a full understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to have the following items as additional resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Matthew (optional).

1. What do you know about Herod?  Where can you find more information about him?
2. Why was Herod disturbed?
3. What did Herod ask the leading priests and religious teachers?
4. What was their reply?
5. Why did Herod have a meeting with the wise men?
6. How did the wise men get to Bethlehem?
7. What happened when the star stopped?
8. What did the wise men do after they entered the house where Mary and Jesus were staying?
9. What gifts did the wise men give to baby Jesus
10. How did the wise men return home?
11. What did you learn about God, Jesus, and people from the story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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