Introduction
The story of the wise men is interesting, and deserves some commentary. If you think you know all about it, read my conclusions at the end about the star.
The Wise Men
Matthew 2:1-2 begins the story of the wise men. They came from the east to Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews who had been born, because they wanted to worship Him. The phrase saw the star in the east probably means they saw it while they were in the east. Regardless, when they arrive, they go to King Herod the Great, figuring that if anyone should know where this new king was, it would be Herod.
When Herod heard about another king, he was troubled (Matthew 2:3), and when Herod got troubled, everyone worried. He calls everyone who should know anything about the subject, the scribes and chief priests, and asks what the wise men are going on about (Matthew 2:4). Being a king of Jewish lineage from Idumea, you'd think he'd have known without asking. But such was not the case.
In Matthew 2:5-6, the religious leaders reply that the prophet has declared that a governor will come out of Bethlehem to rule Israel.
Herod calls the wise men and tells them to locate the new king in Bethlehem and come back and tell him where the king is so he can come and worship Him as well (Matthew 2:7-8). He also gets from them an idea of when they first saw the star that led them to believe a king had been born.
The wise men follow the star that they had seen in the east and follow it to where the young child was (Matthew 2:9-11). When they see the star again, it was cause of rejoicing. This seems to indicate that the star had appeared when they first started out and then wasn't visible for a time, until they needed to go from Herod's presence to find King Jesus. Anyway, when they reached the house where Jesus was, they fell down and gave gifts to Mary and Jesus of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. After they've done this, the depart another way to their home country, having been warned in a dream to not tell Herod what they had found (Matthew 2:12).
There are a few misconceptions to clear up about the wise men. Tradition says there were three wise men, but the Bible itself doesn't give the number. People always think three due to tradition and the gift types. But each of how ever many wise men there were could have given some combination of the gifts as they were able.
Next, it is clear that they didn't come to the manger. The Bible clearly says they went to the house where Mary and the child was living. So any nativity scene with wise men in it is in error. There is debate as to whether the house is in Bethlehem or Nazareth. Personally, I believe that when they went to pay taxes, they didn't take all of their possessions with them. So I believe that after the trip to Jerusalem to handle the Jewish sacrifices required for Jesus birth, they went back home to Nazareth.
At any rate, immediately after the wise men leave, Joseph is given a dream in Matthew 2:13-15 of an angel warning them to take Jesus and go to Egypt because Herod was going to try to kill Him. Thankfully, he immediately did that, taking Mary and Jesus and heading to Egypt that very night. They stayed there until Herod the Great died, fulfilling another prophecy that Jesus would be called to return from Egypt.
In Matthew 2:16-18, when Herod realizes that the wise men had left without telling him where Jesus was at, he has every child two years of age and under in and around Bethlehem killed. The prophecy noted in Matthew 2:18 indicates Rama was included. For this to be true, there had to be at least a 10 mile radius around Bethlehem which would have included Jerusalem.
That was clearly a horrid thing to do, but Herod was not a very trusting soul and wanted to hang on to his power without any trouble. It's a sad commentary to say that a king of Jewish descent would do such a thing, but it happened.
Finally, in Matthew 2:19-23, we have the relocation of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph back to Nazareth after Herod dies. This was also announced by an angel in a dream to Joseph, with instructions later as to where to go, specifically Nazareth. This helped avoid any trouble with Herod's successor Archelaus.
Joseph and Mary's role in Christ's life is just as important. Joseph saved Jesus life once when he decided to go ahead with the betrothal and not have Mary stoned to death. When he listened to the angel the second time and they departed for Egypt until Herod was dead, he likely saved Jesus a second time.
The wise men provided the funds needed, but Joseph chose to spend those funds in a way that protected Jesus. By this time, they had some confirmation of the importance of Jesus beyond a dream. There was John. There were the people in the temple when Christ was first taken there to complete the required sacrifices. So they knew they had someone special. Still Joseph had to trust in the angel and relocate his family which wasn't easy in those days instead of trying to use the money to protect his family and stay local.
Not every choice we have to make will have such dire consequences if we don't pick the proper path. But if we get a dream from an angel, or a word from the Holy Spirit, we need to pay attention. Some decisions do have dire consequences, and God wants us to choose properly.
By the time the angel said to return to Nazareth, Joseph and Mary had probably established themselves in Egypt. Going back was another decision that Joseph had to make and make correctly. Again, he chose to follow the word of the Lord. I don't think it was an easy decision. To return to a place where the government wanted to kill your child couldn't have been easy. God give us the clarity and strength to choose wisely at any important fork in our road.
The Star
I've noted a couple of things about the star in the text above, but I'd like to talk a bit more of its significance. The first consideration is that it wasn't a normal occurrence. The wise men may have been the same group of people whose ancestors Daniel had interacted with in the neighborhood of 550 to 600 years earlier. Whether they got their knowledge of Jewish prophecy that way or had just heard of Jewish prophecy of a king being born in their general time frame, they had some knowledge of what was happening.
The Bible declares that it was a star, but exactly what it was isn't clear. Whether it was a super-nova that was bright for a short time, and there was a second one later, or just one that pulsed a couple of times, or something else like a comet isn't clear. And it really doesn't matter except to those who try to figure out exactly what year Christ was born. Haley's comet made an appearance in 12 B.C. and moved from east to west for example. But whatever it was, it got the astrologers attention.
To be clear, these wise men weren't necessarily Jewish or inclined to follow the God of the Jews. They were probably astrologers, which is something condemned in the Bible - and I state that as their profession because they were looking for portents in the heavens.
I'm not sure if this star was only visible in their home country being low on the horizon or just something other people didn't notice. I'd think that the Roman astrologers and priests would have also been looking around if it had been visible in Roman territories, but there isn't any indication that is true. They seem to be the only ones interested, or at least interested and able to tie the star's appearance to a significance of the Jewish people.
But I am sure of these things. God needed the wise men to come to find Mary and Joseph. I'm pretty sure that even if the wise men hadn't shown up when they did, eventually Herod would have figured out a king had been born. Clearly, prophecy declared it would happen. The shepherds would have spread the word about the angels from heaven and Jesus in a manger broadly. That couldn't have been suppressed forever. And Herod's reaction to another king being born was predictable. So God needed to get Jesus out of Herod's reach.
To do that, God used people who nobody else might have thought about. He let the wise men know immediately, as it took somewhere between one and two years to arrive from where they were to Jerusalem. I'm not going to nit pick about the exact time as they might have pondered the star for a while before starting or it may have taken a bit to gather up the gifts. But since all children two and under were killed by Herod and he was probably being thorough, two years is an outside limit.
If they hadn't decided to come, God would have had to make other plans, and I'm perfectly sure they would have worked out. Christ wasn't destined to die at a Roman sword under the command of Herod. So God would have done something. Since the wise men obeyed the prompting of God - just as they obeyed the prompting when they left after seeing Jesus - God didn't have to use plan B.
What I want us to consider is this. We are trying to reach people for God. We need to be figuring out what star we need to light up to reach our target audiences. The target audiences aren't coming to church. They aren't listening to Christian radio or television. They aren't browsing Christian websites or social media feeds. We need to figure out where they are looking, and target the equivalent of a bright star right there. What this is will vary with each and every group of people you are thinking to reach. But if you are thinking of something that is beyond one on one ministry, which is probably most effective, then you have to figure out what star will get the attention of each group.
Then you need to wait. It took the wise men maybe two years to respond to the star. They didn't just hop on a jet and appear the same day in Jerusalem. Waiting and trusting is tough. But if you've prayed about what and how to position your star, you have to trust God for His timing in bringing its results. And just figuring out what star to use takes a lot of prayer. We were reminded that God may not do the same thing the same way each time He does something. God can change, and we have to accept that.
But the flip side is also true. When you've been doing something new for years and years, then things that were old would really be new again if you tried them. Make sure that God wants you to keep going in the way you're going. Maybe your thoughts of what were new and appropriate a decade ago aren't really so new any more. Maybe this year God wants you to take a different direction. Is what you are now doing adding people to the Kingdom? Church growth doesn't necessarily mean new disciples or people saved. And if many people give their lives to God each week, but your church isn't growing, you may have a problem.
There are many churches which have turned friendly to sin. Some even have pastors who live lives God condemns in scripture. Many flock to those places because they feel welcomed and judgment free. Yet God's standards haven't changed. We aren't to judge people. But we are also supposed to be trying our best to live lives free of sin. Be sure you're listening to the Holy Spirit and follow His direction. Be His disciples in all you do.