When did the Magi Visit Jesus Part 2

Here is part 2 of 3 (it got longer than I originally intended) Please let me know what you think. If you are looking for part 1 it can be found here and part 3 can be found here

“Ok” said his dad to Caleb “where were we?” His son answered “Mary and Joseph were just about to take baby Jesus up to Jerusalem” Caleb said. “That’s right” his dad said. “If we continue to read in Luke we can see that that Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus up to Jerusalem” his dad said. “But why Jerusalem, why did they just not go back home after the census” Caleb asked? “Well let’s read and find out why” his dad answered.

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.” (Luke 2:21-24)

“God gave to the Israelites certain things that need to be done when a child was born and also when those things had to be done” his dad told Caleb. “Where do I find this in the bible” he asked? “Well the law was given through Moses to the people in the book of Leviticus. Let’s go there and see what it has to say.

‘When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean. ‘On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ‘Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. ‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. ‘Then he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood… ‘But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ” (Lev 12:2-8 emphasis mine)

“Shortly after the birth then Jesus was named and circumcised according to their law. Then when the days of purification were over Mary, which was forty days for a women, brought baby Jesus up to the temple and offered a sacrifice to the Lord.” His dad stated.

“So what did Joseph and Mary do after this” Caleb inquired. “Well” his dad replied “with their duty in Jerusalem done and the census completed where do you think they went? Caleb answered “back to Nazareth?” “That’s right” his dad exclaimed.

When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:39-40)

Ok, his dad said “let’s stop for a moment and review where Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus have been so far. We know they left Nazareth and traveled to Bethlehem for the census, then they went up to Jerusalem for to present baby Jesus and offer up a sacrifice and now we see that they left Jerusalem and headed back home to Nazareth.

“Ok, so this is where the wise men meet baby Jesus” Caleb interrupted. “Not yet” his dad replied. “You see they met the wise men in Bethlehem not Nazareth. When they got back to Nazareth they did not stay long and for some reason that we do not know they decided to move back to Bethlehem. So they packed up their belongings, and made there farewells and moved down to Bethlehem. “

“Now” His dad said “this is where we see the wise men enter the picture, but let’s stop for moment and find out just who these wise men are” his dad said. “The first place we need to start is with the bible. If we look at Acts 13:6 and 8 we see the term for wise men, but the first place we see the bible speak of wise men is in Daniel 2:2. Also, king Solemn was said to wiser that all the men of the east.

Then the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. (Daniel 2:2)

Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. (1Kings 4:30)

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus… (Acts 13:6)

…But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. (Acts 13:8)

“Were wise men magicians” Caleb asked. “Well not in the way you and I think of magicians his” dad said. “They did not perform magic tricks like the people on TV do. They were the wise men of the their day and councils to king.” His dad said. “The bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek which were the main languages of that day and the word used for wise men can also be translated into magician.”

Caleb replied “so the wise men were like people the king turned to when he needed an answer?” “Yes” his dad replied “from Daniel we can see that the wise men first appeared around the 7^th century and they were the king’s councilors and helped the king run his kingdom. In Jesus’s day they were the priestly cast who practiced a form of astronomy” “What’s astronomy” Caleb interrupted? “Well” his dad replied “astronomy is a study of the stars and the heavens to find the answers to questions and was used by the wise men to help interpret dreams and questions of the king.” Oh” is son replied. “One of their duties included the election of the king of the Parthian empire which was a major eastern kingdom in the days of Jesus.

“Wow” exclaimed his dad “look at the time, we better call it a night and pick this up next time.” “Aaagh, dad we did not even get to the part of when the wise men visited Jesus.” His son said. “I sorry son, but we will get to it next time, I promise. Now off to bed with you young man, you have school tomorrow.” “Alright” Caleb said “Good night dad, I love you.” “I love you too Caleb” his dad replied.

~ by mjwakema on April 9, 2008.