Investigating the Bible: After Christmas

By David Carlson Pastor

Catholic Priest James Keller wrote about an American teacher who traveled to Germany after WW II. He found a colorful and illustrated book of Christmas carols published by the Nazis. Not one song mentioned Jesus’ birth; they cut out the core of Christmas. Bible scholar William Barclay observed three reactions to the birth of Jesus.

Belief and worship. “Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and we have come to worship him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2, English Standard Version used throughout).

Some historical clarifications are needed: These men brought three gifts, however it does not say there were three men. We know only that there were two or more. Also, contrary to Nativity scenes, the wise men came later to a house, not the stable. “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.” (Matthew 2:11). Approximately forty days after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary traveled six miles from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to obey Old Testament laws, making an offering for her cleansing after childbirth and to present the child to God. Then they returned to Bethlehem, where apparently they were able to find lodging.

The three gifts of the wise men were valuable. We can only estimate amounts, but a pound of gold today is valued at approximately $28,500. In those ancient days, frankincense and myrrh, used for embalming, were valued as highly as gold, so the total gift value may have been $85,000 or more. The gifts provided funds needed soon for travel to Egypt.

Indifference. Someone quipped that the wise men were truly wise, because unlike most men, they asked for directions. They went to Herod and the chief priests. “They were told, “…in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written in the prophet: ‘And you O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:5-6). Not one of these ancient Biblical scholars traveled to Bethlehem. They had knowledge, but no action. The birth of Jesus made no difference in their lives.

Hostility. Herod asked the wise men to return and give him the location of the new king, with the intent to murder him. They were warned in a dream to not return. When Herod learned this, he sent soldiers to find the homes of parents in Bethlehem of children two years of age and younger, casting a large net of years to ensure he killed the new king. It’s painful to consider the terror of this action: Roman soldiers breaking into homes and murdering innocents. Some have estimated as many as forty babies and toddlers died. God protected his newborn, so after the wise men “…departed, behold, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’” (Matthew 2:13).

The birth of Jesus still brings hostility. The Kasanga massacre occurred February 2025. Ugandan Islamist militants abducted seventy Christians in the Congo and beheaded them in a church. Many are indifferent, as they celebrated holiday parties with no thought of Jesus’ birth. And there are still many who want to worship Jesus with gifts. When Billy Graham was in England to be honored with knighthood, he remembered reading what Queen Victoria said in 1903 after hearing a sermon about Christ’s return: “Oh how I wish that the Lord might come during my lifetime. I should like to lay my crown at his feet.”

Mr. Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) lives in Oregon and is a graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).