Matthew 1 reveals that Jesus, the Messiah, has come. If you had been an Israelite at that time, you would have said, "You tell me Jesus has come, but how can I find Him?" Thank the Lord that the matter of finding Jesus was not initiated by us: it was initiated by God.
Consider the background. At the time of Jesus' birth, there was a religion called Judaism. It was a fundamental, sound, scriptural religion that was formed, organized, and constituted according to the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. Through the record of Matthew 2, we see that Judaism was very much for the Bible. However, hardly anyone in that religion knew that Christ had come. We find no record in the New Testament that some of those religious people went to find Christ. On the contrary, there is a record that some pagan men, magi, came to find Him (2:1-12). Of course, this was initiated by God, not by them.
God gave the magi a shining star to guide them (2:2). This star did not appear in the Holy Land. It appeared to men far away—far away from the Holy Land; far away from the holy city; far away from the holy temple and the holy religion; far away from the holy Bible, the holy people, and the holy priests. Far away from all these holy things, the shining star appeared to some pagan men in a pagan land. The shining of that star stirred up these pagan wise men regarding the King of the Jews. I do not know how these wise men were stirred up regarding the King of the Jews, and I do not want to guess. There have already been too many imaginations concerning these wise men. At any rate, they came from the East, the Orient, and realized that the star indicated the King of the Jews.
The wise men had the living vision, the heavenly star, and the Jewish religionists had the Bible. Which do you prefer to have—the Bible or the star? It is best to have both. I like to have the Bible in my hand, and I like to see the star in the heavens. It is best to be both a pagan and a Jew as well. As to the Bible, I am a Jew; as to the star, I am a pagan wise man.
After the wise men experienced the vision of the heavenly star, they got into trouble. This trouble came from their natural concept. Although we may have the Bible and the star, we must recognize that trouble may come from our natural concept. The wise men saw the vision and, realizing that it indicated the King of the Jews, they assumed that they should go to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation, where the King of the Jews was presumed to be (vv. 1-2). Their decision to go to Jerusalem did not come from the light of the star. They went to Jerusalem because they were distracted from the right track by their natural concept. Jerusalem was the wrong place. It was the capital and the city where the temple was located, but it was not the place where Jesus was born. Because the wise men were misled, they caused a serious problem and nearly caused the young child Jesus to be killed. If it had not been for the sovereignty of God, the young Jesus would have been killed as a result of their mistake. Their error cost the lives of many young ones (vv. 16-18). Be careful: you may have the Bible and the star, but do not follow your natural concept.