Why Did the Wise Men Come Two Years After Jesus Was Born?

Bo asked,

“Why did the wise men come two years after Jesus was born?”

Thanks for your question!

Wait, the Wise Men Weren’t at the Manger?

The wise men, also called magi (MA-jai), followed the star to visit Jesus. Many movies and nativity scenes show the wise men visiting Jesus as a newborn still in the manger. But the Bible calls Jesus a “child” (Matthew 2:11) when the wise men arrived, not a “baby” (Luke 2:16). We also see in Luke 2 that Jesus was in a house when they came to visit. He was no longer lying in a manger. While we don’t know exactly how old Jesus was when the wise men visited him, we do know that they did not bring their gifts on the same night he was born.

Why Did It Take So Long to Get There?

The wise men found Jesus by following the star that appeared to them. After seeing the star, they might have taken a while to get royal permission and gather supplies for their trip. The wise men were from the east (Matthew 2:1), possibly from Babylon. They had to travel on foot or on camel to Jerusalem, a really long trip that would have taken over two months if the conditions were perfect and they didn’t make any stops.

The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly when the wise men came to visit Jesus. But we do know that they had a very long journey to make. And they didn’t arrive in Jerusalem until after Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1–2). From there, they traveled to Bethlehem where Jesus was. So unlike the nativity scene you might have in your living room, the wise men were not by the manger the night baby Jesus was born.

Do you have a question about God’s Word or his world that you want us to answer? Is there a topic you want to learn more about? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today. Watch for our answer here on the blog or in Kids Answers magazine. We’d love to hear from you!