Matthew 1:1-12

Foreign dignitaries knew of the birth of the Christ child. The Jewish hierarchy did not. From Scripture they had head knowledge of the Messiah but they did not discern His coming.

Power corrupts. Complete power totally corrupts the hear and soul of a person. The jewish elites are afraid of losing control of the masses. Because of that the truth was hidden from them.

The Magi (wise men) probably came from the Parthia Empire (a kingdom spanning modern Iraq and Iran). They were likely astrologers and royal courtiers. In Matthew’s narrative, they are depicted as foreign dignitaries.

Herod’s actions do not demonstrate a hopeful anticipation concerning the coming of the Messiah; rather, he knows that anyone claiming to be the Messiah will be a threat to his rule. Most likely, he fears that someone will use the child as a figurehead in a military uprising. Faithlife Bible.

Herod the king is Herod the Great, who reigned over Palestine from 37 b.c. until his death in 4 b.c. A crafty ruler and lavish builder, Herod had a reign marked by cruelty and bloodshed. The word translated wise men can refer either to fraudulent sorcerers or, as here, to a more honorable class of astrologers. 

Matthew clearly records how the Jewish religious authorities, who became Christ’s enemies later, unintentionally affirmed that Jesus had fulfilled a messianic prophecy in His birth. God sometimes uses the words of His opponents to speak the truth.

Matthew 2:1–12 (NKJV)

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹ And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹² Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

Genesis 25:6 (NKJV)

⁶ But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.

Isaiah 60:6 (NKJV)

⁶ The multitude of camels shall cover your land,

The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;

All those from Sheba shall come;

They shall bring gold and incense,

And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.

Micah 5:2 (NKJV)

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting.”