Salvation is Created

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by

the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders

to kill...

Matthew 2:16a

King Herod finishes out the Christmas story with the unthinkable.  Haunted by the gossip of singing angels, a standout star, visiting royalty and a newborn King, furious that the Magi had hightailed it home in another direction, and driven almost to madness by his frantic hold on power, Herod turned even more brutal and deadly.  He ordered the death of every male child from age two and under, in Bethlehem and all the surrounding regions.  His soldiers rode out from Jerusalem on their sinister mission, returning with calloused hearts and bloody swords.  And every baby boy, from toddler to infant, was sacrificed on the altar of Herod's crushing ego.

Every baby boy except one.  The child that Herod sought to destroy was safely away in Egypt.  There he would stay until the king was dead, and his heavenly Father called him forth to begin his work of salvation.

And thou shalt call His name, Jesus -

for He shall save His people from their sins.

 

A Command to Flee

And having been warned in a dream not to

go back to Herod, they returned to their

country by another route.

Matthew 2:12

It appears that God's angel messengers were not quite finished with their assignments for the wondrous event of God's Son come to earth.  After the Magi find Joseph and Mary and have the opportunity to see and worship the baby Messiah, they take their rest before venturing back to their homeland.  In a dream, they are warned not to return to Herod, for his overture of peace toward the newborn king was just smoke and mirrors.  When they headed for home the next day, they took a circuitous route that did not lead through Jerusalem.

The angel then appeared to Joseph in his second nightly visitation, this time with a heavenly command:

Get up, take the child and his mother and

escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for

Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.

As the Magi slowly wended their way home, Mary and Joseph escaped under the cover of darkness and made their way to Egypt.  They would live there for an unspecified amount of time until Herod was dead and the danger was over. The wonderful gifts of the Magi would provide for their travel and needs in that strange new home.

 

The Leading of the Star

After they had heard the king, they went on their

way, and the star thety had seen in the east went

ahead of them until it stopped over the place

where the child was.  When they saw the star,

they were overjoyed.

Matthew 2:9-10

As soon as the Magi left Herod's palace, the star blazed forth to light their way.  The Bible states that the star led them to a "house."  Contrary to our modern nativity plays, the kings did not show up at the stable.  The star first appeared on the night of Christ's birth.  It took many months (perhaps as much as two years) for the men to travel to Jerusalem and then on to the town where Jesus lived.  He was no longer an infant, but a young child, and...

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his

mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

At this point, the Magi brought forth gifts for the young king - very expensive gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.  Legend has always presented three wise men with three gifts, but in point of fact, we have no idea how many men made that journey.  The pronoun "they" indicates more than one, but beyond that, we simply do not know.  What we do know is that they recognized this young child as the Savior of the universe, and they bowed before him in humble worship.