One day,  Jerusalem  had unexpected visitors. These men were called the Wise men, considered to be knowledgeable in the art of astrology. We do not know much about them but their mission is made clear in Matthew 2:2, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him”.

They had obviously travelled a great distance, not just because they saw a unique star, but also because they had read the prophecies and had knowledge of what the star represented.  A king was about to be born, and they were committed to visiting this important royalty making his entrance as a baby.

As soon as the intention of the Magi was made known,  word  got to King Herod who was ruling in Jerusalem at that time.  Before we examine the reaction of the king, let us first examine the kind of man he was. Herod  was a man of cruel disposition.  He had been made Procurator by Julius Caesar and ensured that all opposition including members of his own family were summarily executed.  He had the whole of Jerusalem firmly under his tyrannical grip.

When word got to him that visitors were in town, looking for the one born King of the Jews, only one thing was on his mind; elimination. Craftily, he invited these men to his domain and quizzed them gently so as not to arouse suspicion of his real intentions. The amazing thing was that Herod was not the only one troubled about the news of Jesus’ birth. We are told that the whole of Jerusalem was troubled as well! Talk about the good news making some people sad!

The Magi finally located their destination.  They found the baby Jesus in a manger. How they must have rejoiced knowing that they did not undertake this trip for nothing! After visiting however, they left another way without reporting back to Herod because God had warned them in a dream.

When Herod discovered that the Magi had deceptively left his country without reporting back to him, he predictably ordered the death of all boys 2 years and younger.  By this time, the baby Jesus had been taken to Egypt according to God’ s instructions.  This was where he was till  Herod eventually died amid great agony of body and mind.

God had a plan of salvation for man and nothing or no one, could stand in the way of God’s plan.  There were plots, strategies and efforts to thwart God’s plans for our salvation, but they all failed.

If you are a child of God, then nobody can stop you from achieving your God-given dreams. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  If you do not know what it means to be a child of God, let me lay it simply for you; God sent His sinless Son Jesus to the earth, to die for our sins and through his death and resurrection, we are delivered from our sins. What you need to do is to acknowledge your sins and give your life to Jesus.

As we experience another Christmas,  God is  reminding us that He will go to great lengths to achieve His purposes for us.  Let us remember that He did so on that first Christmas and He will do it again. All we need to do is believe that with God, nothing shall be impossible. (Luke 1:37)

Steve O. Popoola
Biblepraise Fellowship Online

© December, 2010

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org