Tuesday, 29 December 2009
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How Old Was Jesus When the Wise Men Visited?
Matthew chapter 2 is the only chapter that mentions the wise men visiting Jesus. I think there are more legends about this chapter, with ideas going back and forth about how old Jesus was, and where they visited him, that I thought we ought to look at the chapter, rip it open and see what falls out. As always, unless otherwise noted, all scripture references will be from the English Standard Version, courtesy of BibleGateway. Matthew 2:1,2: "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, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'"
So, when did all this happen? "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem" So far, that is the only indicator of time that we have. So far, all we know is that Jesus is at least one minute old.
Matthew 2:7-11: "Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.' After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh."
The verses before this, verses 3-6, don't really relate to our investigation, as they consist of Herod trying to track down where the King of the Jews was supposed to be born.
But verse 11 is one of the verses that people use to say that this meeting took place awhile after the birth of Jesus, because the Child is at a house, as opposed to the common understanding that the birth took place in a stable. When I was a student at a Bible College, I had a professor who has been to Israel several times. He has studied the culture and the history of Israel. He told us that it was not uncommon, for the "stable" to be under the house, with an entryway going up into the living quarters of the house. So it is possible that Jesus and Mary had simply moved into the house. Everyone was in town for the census (see Luke 2). If it has been a week or so after the census, the town may be slightly less full, and so, there may be room for them now.
The next thing, that most people mention in verse 11 is that the word used to refer to Jesus is "child" and not "babe" or "baby" If you go back to the Greek, the word for child, is used for "infants" "child" or "older children" It is the same word here, as later when Jesus picks up a little child and sets the child among the group and tells his followers to have the faith of a child. So basically, Jesus at this point, is anywhere between the ages of 0-12 before his Bar Mitzvah at 13. The word child, does not give us an indication of age. I am the child of my parents, and a new born baby is the child of his or her parents, so child here in the Greek is a range of ages just like it means for us in English.
One thing I do want to point out is in the birth account of Luke 2:4, Joseph takes Mary up from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, which means Joseph at least was living in Nazareth before they went to Bethlehem. Why are Jesus and Mary still there in Bethlehem if it has been awhile after his birth? Joseph and Mary went to register for the census and stayed 2 years? I doubt it. It is more likely, that it is a short time after the birth of Jesus, then it is to assume they had a kid and stayed two years.
Matthew 2:16 states, "Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men."
Now Herod, finding out that the wise men have not returned, is rather upset. He, among other things, is afraid for his job, his source of income, and possibly his head. He is going to play it safe, and orders the execution for all children 2 years and under. Some people say that this proves that the visit of the wise men was 2 years after the birth of Jesus.
There are issues with this assumption:
1. We do not know if God prearranged the star ahead of time so they could travel from the East and arrive around the birth of Jesus.
2. Herod is afraid; he isn't going to take any chances in the baby making it out alive. So, he is going to add in travel time from Jerusalem to Bethlehem- any time it took for the wise men to come from wherever they came from to Jerusalem. So he plays it safe and executes anyone that fits within the age range.
We also have issues with ages when it comes from people from the Middle East. My parents have managed apartment complexes in L.A. and grew up with a few Jewish friends. There are two methods of accounting that the Jews they know used, depending on how long those Jews lived in America: inclusive and exclusive counting. Allow me to explain.
Say you have a child that is born on January 5th 3 A.D. On January 5th 4 A.D, how old is the child? We would say the child is 1 year old, right? Not true with that culture. They would say the child is 2, because he is starting his second year of life. They do not have an age of 0. So basically, the child is born at age 1.
So when the Bible says that Herod killed all children 2 years of age and under, which method of age counting is being used here? Which method did the wise men use when they told Herod how long ago they saw the star? Did Herod know which method they were using? If Herod understood or assumed that there might be the slightest point of confusion as to the timeline, he, in his fear, is going to hedge his bets and kill them all.
In Matthew 2:19, Joseph is told by an Angel that it is safe to return from Egypt, so Joseph returns to Nazareth with Mary and his mother.
Our journey is now almost complete. It has been a confusing trip and I am not sure that we have learned much, but I am not quite done. There are certain things that have to be done in Jewish law and tradition that may shed some light on how old Jesus is during this event. A male child must be circumcised upon his 8th day of life. Also, the child must be redeemed on his 31st day of life. These are rules set forth by God.
If Jesus was going to redeem us from our sin, He must follow the law. God is not going to allow a situation where Joseph cannot follow the law concerning Jesus. That is why I maintain that the wise men visited Jesus after his parents redeemed him at the temple in Luke 2:22-24. This is what I believe happened.
Joseph and Mary go up to Bethlehem for the census, Jesus is born and the shepherds visit. Day one.
Day eight, Jesus is circumcised at the temple
Day 31, Jesus is redeemed at the temple and Simeon and Anna bless on prophesy regarding the Child (Luke 2:25-35)
Some time shortly after this, the wise men visit, requiring the family to flee to Egypt.
Does this make sense? How old do you think Jesus was at the visit of the wise men? What is your reasoning for it?
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Comments (16)
Good post. While certainly your conclusion could be valid, and you offer some considerations about Jewish traditions and children I had not fully considered, the wild card in all this is when did the star actually appear ... and to me how did the wise men know that when it appeared it would herald the birth of the King of the Jews? Their question, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him' seems to possibly suggest that the appearance of the star heralded the birth of Jesus ... otherwise the wise men would have needed to have had some special insight as to when after the star appeared that Jesus would have been born. I tend to the 15-18 month range with Herod allowing a 6-9 month window of error ... two things for sure from the account: we don't get a count of how many wise men there were despite the assumed and traditional three and it is highly, highly unlikely that the wise men arrived on the night of Jesus birth. It's good to see another believer wrestling with this ... fortunately we have faith. Enjoyed the post!!! Bernie
You have some legitimate points, but there are considerations you haven’t thought about:
1. Census taking is a very time consuming process even with technology. Without the advent of technology, censuses used to take years.
2. This census was going to take longer than usual, because it was a world wide census Luke 2:1. Between points one and two it could have been months before they could register.
3. Babies don’t travel well in the desert.
4. Postnatal women don’t travel well in the desert. Child birth was a much more dangerous process than it is today.
5. The gospels say the magi visited in a house and that Jesus was born in a stable. Why was he born in a stable? Because there was no room for them anywhere else in the city. Do you think Joseph would be able of procure a residence in eight days given that the city was overcrowded? Do you think that he would be able to build a new home in eight days given he had a newborn baby and postnatal wife to care for?
6. The bible doesn’t say that the family left Bethlehem.
Combining all these speculations, I’m assuming they did not travel after Jesus was born that is until they had to go to Egypt. I believe that Joseph began settling in for a long stay. At least until the census was over and/or the child and wife were strong enough to travel which ever came last. I think the visit occurred somewhere between twelve and eighteen months. That is my impression.
Young child
But who cares what is reality when people would rather accept tradition without intelligent thought.
But Jesus said this would happen:
Matthew 15:9
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
So do you actually know why you believe things, or it is because "you were taught that way"?
@BiblicalTruth2@xanga - I laid out my evidence that He was a baby at the time.
Could you tell me why you believe he was a young child?
You made some strong assertions but without referencing anything.
@RobertLeeRE@xanga - What would you like referenced? I may be able to look back over my notes and get you the reference.
These are good considerations. It would have been at least a month (given the law requirements), and also the messiness of the census. I don't think it would have taken years to do the census of a small town like Bethlehem, even with all of the people gathered there. It may have taken a few months, though.
I also agree with the points FilmCritic brings up in that newborns and postnatal women do not travel well in the desert (especially a multi-day journey through the desert). It would have been suicide to travel back to Nazareth immediately after the child was born.
I think Joseph was planning on staying there for the long-term, and not just because of the awkwardness of travel, or the hassles connected to the census or Jewish laws. Also consider that Mary became pregnant out of wedlock, which although may have more acceptability in our culture of North America, it was a stone-able offense in those days. However, we know Joseph as a righteous and merciful man, and he marries her anyway, which would usually draw skepticism and course joking at best, and sneers and social ostracism at worst. Think of it like this - respectable young man marries a woman who sleeps around (like a prostitute)... imagine trying to pull THAT off in a small town/country-side church. Plus, there was likely also better business in Bethlehem than Nazareth (which was a rather poor village, according to archeological evidence).
Considering Herod's order to kill all male children under the age of 2 years, that would be the maximum age of Jesus, so I would say he would be anywhere between 2 months and 2 years old (especially if the star appeared upon Mary's conception, which is a possibility, but not necessity, as it would take considerable time for anyone to travel from the "East", which I would assume being Babylon and Persia.)
Who knows? Maybe they found him the "Christmas" after he was born (which is not his real birthday, by the way...)
@white_watchman@xanga - If he was worried about the comments and gossip, then why did they return to Nazereth after they returned to Egypt?
I never really knew this was such a "controversial" subject. :p
It all happened in the one evening that the star appeared and traveled with Mary and Joseph. Once they were roomed at the Inn, at the stable, the baby was brought to them from an angel who looked a lot like Jesus. So did Mary look a lot like Jesus. What Mary was looking at and pondering very much so on it, was that the baby that she did name Jeshua instead of Emanuel, was a female baby. Remember the NOEL indication...no "L," where there should have been one...being that what she had expected was a baby to be a newborn king. The virgin birth was done by transference in the name of Jesus Christ by the angel, then the angel found the baby outside, and brought it in. Jesus or Jeshua would never reach the status of a king. Prince of Peace was the title. A name for a servant of mankind.
I was the angel, from the future, finding the scene, knowing what was transpiring, having read it many times in the Bible. I know that I was Mary, because I have seen myself in the mirror many, many times. It was I. I also was the baby, in that there I was, the spitting image of me in all my baby pictures. So, Jeshua, the Son of David, a girl, and Mary, the Mother of God, a female, and the angel, me from the future, were all pretty mixed up all in that stable with animals all in the process of a mix-up of their own. All having sex. I was the witness to it. I had traveled from the future many times, as Jesus I am.
My question is not when but how was it that wise men from the east knew something that people in his vicinity didn't know? Jesus supposedly returned to the east in his "disappearing" years and then returned with his prophesy. What's up with that?
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - Good question. I really don't know... but given the nature of the rumours, showing up with the full family - Mary, Jesus, and a few younger siblings for Jesus, may have quelled the rumours somewhat... Again, I am only speculating here. I honestly don't know the reasons why they did what they did.
@TheSutraDude@xanga - That's a good question about why they would know something that locals would not. I'm not entirely sure about the reliability of sources saying he "returned to the east", though. Remember, he grew up as a Jewish commoner in Nazareth (a poor village), in a time when only the rich could afford lengthy travels, and additionally, the Parthians (living between the Eastern countries and the Roman empire, including Galilee and Judea) were not on particularly friendly terms with the people of the Roman Empire (which would have included Jews).
The Bible never says the wise men went to Bethlehem. It only says that Herod and scribes told them that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. Actually, the Bible says that when they began leaving Jerusalem, the star reappeared and led them to where the young child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy because they knew that they were going the right direction. They wouldn't have needed a star to lead them to Bethlehem, if they already knew that was where they were going.
If you look at a map, by the way, Jerusalem would not really be on the way from Bethlehem to Chaldea (where I believe they came from), since Bethlehem is southwest of Jerusalem. However, Nazareth is northwest of Jerusalem. If they traveled from Nazareth, they would most likely come through Jerusalem, because it would literally be on the way of the trade routes back home. A normal journey would head south until they passed the Dead Sea and then strike east. That is why God told them to return east a different way.
Ironically, Herod killed all the male children under 2 in the wrong location! But we can rest assured, he would have hunted Jesus down and killed Him, no matter where Joseph and Mary took Him, if he could have found them. That is why they escaped to Egypt. They wise men's gifts (which were no doubt abundant) financed the young family's journey to Egypt.
Just a few thoughts about the Christmas story.Andrew C. Stringer
I've studied this a lot and was convinced that he was older than 40 days but younger than 2 years, But what has confused me is that the Word says, "And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." (Luke 2:39-40)
So if after 40 days they returned to Nazareth, and then the Magi came, then they would have had to leave and go to Egypt until Herod died (which was 4 AD.) But that's not what Luke says. It states after they moved to Nazareth, "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover." How could they have done that from Egypt?
I don't believe there are any contradictions in the Bible, but this sure looks like one. Maybe someone can help me with solving this problem.
In reference to the Luke 2:36, the Holy family returned to Nazareth
after the purification (40 days) of Mary and Jesus. I assumed that the Holy Family returned sometimes from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Maybe Joseph saw that he can use his skill as a carpenter in Jerusalem which is more populated than Nazareth. That's why the Magi found Jesus in Jerusalem. Also, there in Jerusalem where Joseph dreamed to take his family to Egypt. Jerusalem is located at Southern part of Israel which is much closer to Egypt, while Nazareth is located at the northern part of Israel closer to Lebanon.. After the death of Herod, the Great, Joseph dreamed again that he take his family back to Judah,but when he found out that Archelaus was the Tetrach of Judah, Joseph decided to return to his home in Nazareth,
Joseph and Mary traveled 90 miles of rugged mountain to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Feast of Passover.The first time Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover was when he was 12 years old.
I thought that Jesus was a little older when the magi visited. In Luke, the shepherds visited Jesus and Jesus was an infant in a manger.
Then the magi would start out from the East, on foot. By the time they reached Jesus, Matthew said Jesus was a child in a house.
Mary and Joseph had to flee with Jesus because Herod ordered each boy 2 and under to be killed so Jesus could not have been any older than 2 : so I would guess that by the time the magi reached him, he would be between 1 and 2 in our reckoning :)