Today I read Matthew 2, the story of the wise men and the murder of an entire city of little children by Herod. Ever since I was old enough to read the scriptures and really understand them, so I guess a teenager, I have always found it amusing that the wise men are part of the manager scene since they were not there on the night of Christ's birth and in truth were not there until about 2 years later from what the scriptures tell us.
I've also wondered just who the wise men were for that matter. It says they saw the star in the east, which means they were traveling from Europe somewhere, or even America. I've often wondered if one of them might be Nephi, the one from the book of Helaman who is given the sealing power. Just before the Savior is born he disappears out of the land and is never heard from again. The common thought is that he was translated, but it would not be too big or a stretch that he would have departed out of the land, sailed eastward and landed somewhere in Europe or even Africa, then traveled with 2 companions to see the Savior. I'll say one thing though, if it's not someone from the Nephites, then the Lord has more people living the Gospel in that period of history than we currently know about. They also did not come out of Asia as the popular Christmas songs claim as if they had they would have seen the star in the West, not the East as the scriptures state.
Whoever they were, we know that they understood the scriptures and the prophecies and loved God and were wealthy enough to fund an expedition that lasted almost 2 years just to reach the Savior. I've always wondered why they even bothered to stop at Herod's palace since it clearly states that they continued to follow the star after leaving his palace. And for that matter, how would they even know where Bethlehem is? That would be like one of us going to China and arriving in the city of Beijing for the first time ever and they tell us we need to go over to Shanghai. What does that even mean to someone who has never been there before who has no idea where that city is? So many unanswered questions.
And then there is Herod himself. A man who was so paranoid about losing his supposed power that he slaughtered an entire city of little children. The thought of it turns my stomach and it makes me wonder just what type of people the Romans were that the soldiers would carry out such an order. It is horrifying to even consider and yet it happened. I am glad I did not live in such times when such slaughter, especially during a war, would have been commonplace. I don't think I could have handled it.
Once again, we are given proof in this chapter of Joseph's standing before God. He is warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary, and possibly even another child by this point, into Egypt so that they are not part of the massacre that took place in Bethlehem. We have no record whatsoever of how long they were there but we know it was less than 10 years because we know the story of Jesus at the temple teaching the wise men that we will read about in Luke happened when the Savior was 12 years old. So we know they were not in Egypt overly long.
The JST of this chapter continues the story just a little bit stating that Jesus grew up strong and was patient. As with the story of Him teaching at the temple it lets us know that Jesus was different from other men and did not need to be taught as other men did. It also lets us know that Christ served under His step-father, Joseph, and was a dutiful son. Of course we would expect nothing less from the only man who never sinned in His life. Until tomorrow.
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