JESUS THE TODDLER. Jesus was two years old or younger when the wise men visited him and his family in Bethlehem, at least as far as King Herod knew. That’s why he ordered the execution of Bethlehem’s baby boys ages two and under.
IT SEEMS FUNNY TO ME that King Herod thought he could outsmart wise men—sages from a kingdom somewhere east of Israel, perhaps in what is now Iraq or Iran.
About 1-2 years after the birth of Jesus, wise men show up in Jerusalem looking for a young boy destined to become king of the Jews.
King Herod the Great, king of the Jews at the time, didn’t have any young kids. So he felt threatened. Before he died, Herod had killed his wife, mother-in-law, and two sons who he felt threatened his power. He would kill again, in Bethlehem, as a result of what these wise men tell him.
Here’s a fresh reading of the story, illustrated in video and taken from Matthew, chapter 2.
Wise men who outsmarted King Herod the Great
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