I’ve been listening to Albert Mohler’s PowerLine Bible study on my Zune. One of the misconceptions he debunks is that of the nativity scene that is so vivid in the minds of most people despite the fact that it is factually incorrect in many ways.
The three wise men… Who said there were three? Matthew 2 only says that wise men from the east, also called Magi in some translations, came to Jerusalem. There’s no indication of how many wise men but it seems likely that they would have traveled in a large caravan for safety.
Three gifts… Who said there were three? Matthew 2 also tells us that they opened their treasures and offered the child gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. There’s no indication of how many gifts but it’s likely that there may have been quite a bit more than three items. We can imagine that God provided richly so that Joseph could take care of his family during their exile to Egypt.
Even more misleading is the assumption that the wise men visited Jesus around the time that the shepherds, mentioned in Luke 2, went and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. Now a manger is a trough or box of some kind used to hold food for animals so presumably the shepherds found them in some sort of shelter for animals. This would probably have been a cave, most certainly not a house. Yet when the wise men arrive they enter a house where they find the child with Mary his mother.
There’s also the issue that the wise men followed his star when it first appeared. Presumably the star rose, or was visible, when Jesus was born. Herod also asks the wise men when the star had appeared. After being tricked and not learning the whereabouts of the child he orders that all male children two years old or under be killed according to the time he ascertained from the wise men. So it is conceivable that the wise men arrived in Jerusalem as much as two years after his birth but before Joseph was instructed by an angel to flee to Egypt.
Fascinating stuff! I’m sure you’ll find his teaching far more enlightening than my brief summary of some of these events. Enjoy!
