The Mystery of The Magi – How The Wise Men Found King Baby Jesus

Have you ever been curious about why the Wise Men or the Magi who came to visit Jesus upon His birth? How did they know exactly when to arrive? And how did they know where to look for the new coming King? How in the world would they find an infant in this far away nation. It would be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. When did these wise men know when to precisely leave for this likely year long journey?

In the first place, the Bible doesn’t mention precisely mention that there were only three of them (Luke 2:1-12). There may have been more than three. They did bring at least three types of gifts, but these were customary gifts to kings in this age. Also, there most certainly could have been more than three offerings. And the question of why would they bring gifts has been asked? It was certainly customary to have dignitaries from several nations be present for a coronation of a new king (Glory to the newborn King). And no one would approach a king without a gift or without bringing an offering.

Incidentally, these gifts would come in handy later to fund a trip to Egypt that Joseph and Mary would have to take to avoid King Herod’s killing of all males age two and under; this would have included the baby Jesus. This murder of male babies and infants was designed to prevent any other king from arising and taking Herod’s place. That’s not precisely why the Magi had brought gifts, but this does explain why these foreign dignitaries, upon seeing Him, fell down and then began to worship the infant Jesus (Mt. 2:11). The wise men were originally a class of priests so their worshiping Him was totally appropriate. And the precise number of nations that were represented is not revealed in the Bible, so there may have been more than three that were represented and more than three wise men or governmental representatives. Common sense would seem to indicate that there were probably more gifts and more wise men than only three. And this was likely no small excursion. The size of the caravan must have been exceedingly large. These must have had accompanying guards for protecting the wise men as well as all the valuable gifts, plus there must have been food, servants and supplies. 

Now comes the exceedingly difficult questions of the who, what, when, where, why and how of finding the soon coming infant King? How did these wise men from the entire known world at the time, know Who to look for, what to look for, when to find Him, and where to find the soon-to-be-born King and Messiah? They apparently already knew the why of finding Him from Daniel‘s written messages recorded for posterity in Babylonia. When Daniel and Israel where being held captive by Babylonia, they imported their religion and history, including their knowledge of God with them. These conquests also included gathering up all wise men of the Medes, Persian, and all nations under his rule for the kings private council and the nations under Babylon‘s domination represented all the known peoples, nations and languages that were known at this time (Dan 6:3, 6:25). Daniel was apparently in this council and not only that, he was the head over it all (Dan. 5:29, 6:1-3). Since Daniel had previously proven to Nebuchadnezzar, and most recently, King Darius, that God does exist and knows not only the whispers in a king’s chamber, but his dreams too, he had placed Daniel as the highest authority (next to the king) in Babylonia. This included the position of Governor, placing Daniel over all authorities in the greatest kingdom of that present world. And subsequently, this included reigning over all wise men (Dan. 2:12, 48). 

Ironically, Daniel’s title was actually rab mag or “chief of the Magi” (Dan. 5:11). But after thousands of years had passed since Daniels pronouncement of a soon coming king, how did they know exactly when and where to arrive? And how was Daniel able to predict the exact date of the Messiah’s arrival (Dan. 2:12-48, 9:24-26)? Daniel was a man of prayer and Gabriel answered his prayer and told Daniel not only when He would come, but when He would be crucified (Dan. 9). The location must have obviously been common knowledge to these Wise Men, otherwise they could only have guessed at it. And only guessing about the when and where of the Messiah’s birth would have been sheer, blind luck for them to ever find Him. If it was too early, they would have missed Him and if they were too late, baby Jesus and His parents would have already fled to Egypt (Matt. 2:13). 

The book of Daniel makes it obvious that he foreknew when the coming Savior would be born and He must have known where but this was also reveal to other prophets as well and so was still common knowledge even in the minor prophet‘s day (Micah 5:2). Since Daniel was the leading Magi of the nation he was being held captive in, it makes sense that this was taught to the nation and was incorporated into their religious prophecies. Eastern religions had long used astrology to try and predict certain events and this star was obvious to them the sign they had almost certainly looked for. Ancient eastern customs and prophecies had long predicted a world ruling king to be born in this same time. This was a residue of Daniels teachings that were recorded for posterity and remained to the day of Christ’s birth.

During this time in history (5 AD-0) nations were expecting a great king coming out of the Jews. These nations may have been influenced by Daniel and his writings, since he knew when and where the Christ would be born (Micah 5:2). The Persian’s and the Hebrews had similar beliefs, more than any other nation at that time. They also believed in one God, did not worship idols and saw light as a symbol of God.

How perfectly fitting that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Savior since the name means “house of bread”. He is known as the Bread of Life and that He was in a manger which is a feeding trough that usually had grain. This fits with Jesus saying “I am the Bread of Life”. But where exactly would they find Baby Jesus and how? They had been following the star, but this only pointed them in the right direction, toward Judea. But how could they know exactly where to find Him in a fairly large country or city? The Old Testament prophet Micah knew the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Daniel must have known this and passed this on to others in Babylonia. He had already recorded the number of days until this prophecy was to be fulfilled (to the minute!).

And “…when they saw the star, they rejoiced, with exceeding great joy (Matt. 2:10)” knowing this must be the place. But it was only when the star came directly over [literally, “stood over” like someone or something stood over] the child did they knew for certain where the infant would be. This explains the “exceeding great joy”, since they had finally found Him. After perhaps a year or more, and having traveled thousands of miles, with no map, no guide, only a star to guide then, they now beheld the star. This star had shown them precisely where the new King was. Herod the king and all the so-called religious experts; the Chief Priests and Scribes could, could not even find Him, lest Herod would have had him killed (Matt. 2:3). But foreigners, from another continent away, knew exactly when, where, and how to find Him. They followed the star and apparently knew when this epic event would happen.

The Christmas tree often has a star on it. The Star of David, Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, is described as a star…He is the Bright and Shinning Star, and also called the Bright and Morning Star and even a Saving Star (Ish. 60:1-4, Rev. 22:16, Num. 24:17). The Great “I Am” is He! Every child who has ever worried about Santa finding their home is dwarfed by the question of how the Wise Men found Baby Jesus. Daniel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, must have been responsible. If we are wise, then we too will find Jesus. We know where to find Him. And Jesus stays with us every day of the year…so Merry Christmas to family and all, and to all, a God blessed night.

About the Author

I am a Christian author of 2 books, “Do Babies Go To Heaven?”, & “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the Bible” and freelance Christian Apologetics writer. Am also a father & grandfather (x3) with a BA in history, with degrees in Education & minor in Theology.

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