Journaling is one way I am able to document and recognize my personal spiritual growth. By faithfully writing daily entries in my journal, I have the ability to look back through the pages and observe how I am growing in God’s Word one day at a time. Through my journal I can remember and reflect on the lessons I have learned, the different victories I have experienced, and the various life events I am thankful for.
After reading about the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew and in Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed, I wondered what they would have written in a personal journal regarding the spectacular events that culminated in meeting Mary and the young king Jesus. I am thankful for how the events are detailed in Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed and for what God recorded in His Word regarding the group of wise men who sought after and found the promised king of the Judeans (Matthew 2:1-12).
To help solidify what I learned in my studies about the first meeting between the Magi and the young king Jesus, I decided to write a journal entry to express what I envision the experience would have been like. This entry is written from the perspective of one of the Magi, who after seeing a specific star and other significant astronomical events in the eastern sky traveled with a group of other wise men to meet the young king of the Judeans, to pay homage to him, and to present him with gifts.
When we arrived in Jerusalem, both the Scriptures and the heavens directed our steps as we advanced closer to finding him. Previously, while still in our homeland, we had observed and noted the coming of God’s long-promised Messiah as it was revealed in the stars. But we didn’t leave our homeland for Jerusalem until a year after we first saw his star in its rising above the eastern horizon.
Finally in Jerusalem, we inquired about where we could find the young king. The current king, Herod, met with us and asked us about when we had first seen the star. He then directed us to Bethlehem because of scriptural prophecy (Matthew 2:4-8).
Micah 5:2:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
When we left Jerusalem to find the Messiah in Bethlehem, the same star we had seen in our homeland went before us and eventually reached and stood at its highest point, directly over Bethlehem in the southern sky. We rejoiced with exceeding great joy, for this confirmed that Bethlehem was the village in which we would find the Messiah (Matthew 2:9,10).
Though the star did not direct us to a particular house, with the help of some villagers that had been made aware of the child’s birth by the shepherds who’d been privileged to see the child the night he was born, it was not difficult to find it. We had come a great distance to pay homage to him, and now we had finally arrived.
Entering the house, we found the young child inside with his mother (Matthew 2:11). What a sight to behold in front of us! We saw the blessed woman Mary, the one who embraced the responsibility of bringing forth the redeemer. And we saw the young king—not a newborn babe, but at least fifteen months old. This was the savior of mankind and the promised king of the Judeans.
We fell down before him as a sign of our utmost reverence. After our large group rose up from paying homage to him, we opened the valuable presents we brought for him, as is our custom whenever presenting gifts to royalty. We then presented our precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the young king (Matthew 2:11). What an extraordinary event to meet the promised king of the Judeans. Our stay in Bethlehem was brief, but it is a time I will endeavor to never forget!
This approach of writing a journal entry from the viewpoint of one of the Magi helped me to take a moment to “step into their shoes,” to see this experience from the Magi’s perspective. It brought my study of Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed to life as I imagined the excitement of meeting the young king Jesus and as I gained further insight into the wise men from the East, the Magi.
What great joy the Magi must have had after seeing “his star” in the eastern sky and then traveling to meet Mary and the young king of the Judeans in their house in Bethlehem. What an honor it must have been to pay homage to him and present him with precious gifts suited for royalty! This was a great moment in history and in the lives of these wise men.