“We Have Seen His Star”
41
The priests and elders of Jerusalem were not as ignorant concerning
the birth of Christ as they pretended. The report of the angels’ visit to
the shepherds had been brought to Jerusalem, but the rabbis had treated
it as unworthy of their notice. They themselves might have found
Jesus, and might have been ready to lead the magi to His birthplace;
but instead of this, the wise men came to call their attention to the birth
of the Messiah. “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” they
said; “for we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship
Him.”
Now pride and envy closed the door against the light. If the reports
brought by the shepherds and the wise men were credited, they would
place the priests and rabbis in a most unenviable position, disproving
their claim to be the exponents of the truth of God. These learned
teachers would not stoop to be instructed by those whom they termed
heathen. It could not be, they said, that God had passed them by,
to communicate with ignorant shepherds or uncircumcised Gentiles.
[63]
They determined to show their contempt for the reports that were
exciting King Herod and all Jerusalem. They would not even go to
Bethlehem to see whether these things were so. And they led the
people to regard the interest in Jesus as a fanatical excitement. Here
began the rejection of Christ by the priests and rabbis. From this point
their pride and stubbornness grew into a settled hatred of the Saviour.
While God was opening the door to the Gentiles, the Jewish leaders
were closing the door to themselves.
The wise men departed alone from Jerusalem. The shadows of
night were falling as they left the gates, but to their great joy they
again saw the star, and were directed to Bethlehem. They had received
no such intimation of the lowly estate of Jesus as was given to the
shepherds. After the long journey they had been disappointed by the
indifference of the Jewish leaders, and had left Jerusalem less confident
than when they entered the city. At Bethlehem they found no royal
guard stationed to protect the newborn King. None of the world’s
honored men were in attendance. Jesus was cradled in a manger. His
parents, uneducated peasants, were His only guardians. Could this
be He of whom it was written, that He should “raise up the tribes of
Jacob,” and “restore the preserved of Israel;” that He should be “a light
to the Gentiles,” and for “salvation unto the end of the earth”?
Isaiah
49:6
.