After a long journey the wise men asked King Herod, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2). When the king told the wise men, “As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him,”(Matthew 2:8) they did not know that they had put the child in danger simply by talking to the king. King Herod’s motives were far from innocent, and this innocent mistake on the wise men’s part could resulted in tragedy for the Holy Family.
But God had his son’s back. After visiting the holy family the wise men, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, returned home by another route (Matthew 2:12). This only served to infuriate the king, who gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old (Matthew 2: 16). Still God had his son’s back, sending a message to Joseph to take his family and escape to Egypt (Matthew 2: 13). God continued to protect his son after the death of Herod, steering him to Nazareth instead of Israel, where Herod’s son was now ruling (Matthew 2: 22-23).
One innocent mistake, made by men who were called wise, could have kept prophecies from being fulfilled and the world from being saved. Thankfully we serve an even wiser God, one who sees all and protects his children.
The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore (Psalm 121: 7-8).
