The wise men had begun their journey long before discovering the place where the new King had been born. They had gone to Herod for advice about where to look. Herod's advisers knew where the Messiah was supposed to appear and mentioned Bethlehem. Herod, in a sly move to discover the whereabouts of his rival, asked the wise men to return to him and advise him where he might also go and reverence the new king. The star continued to guide the wise men, but escaped Herod's notice.

The wise men's reaction to the Christ Child should inform our own worship,

     "They fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

God warned the wise men in a dream not to return to Herod with information about the location of young Jesus. The wise men's hearts would have been broken had they known the evil in Herod's heart. 

Joseph, the protector of Jesus and His mother Mary, was warned by an Angel to flee to Egypt, "for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." (Matthew 2:13)

Herod became enraged when the wise men did not return to him with the information he had asked for. He felt "tricked". He had learned enough from the wise men to know about two years had passed since they saw the star in the east. The solution seemed easy enough to Herod. All he had to do was kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem from two years old and under. The cruel order was given to his soldiers. We observe this heartless act after Christmas on Holy Innocents, December 28th.

The things to ponder on these events in the early life of Jesus are many. Men's hearts are still devided two thousand years later. Some fall down and worship the King. Some say there is no King and no authority over them. Some have allowed their hearts to be so hardened that the killing of innocents does not move them.

Where are we 2016 years since the birth of Jesus?