How did the Wise Men know that Jesus was special?

Answer 1

Matthew's gospel talks about seeing a star in the East:

Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Most people seem to interpret this as predicting his birth using Astrology.

There's an interesting story from Kashmir; Buddhist history talks about Yuz Asaf, a Buddhist leader who was born in Judea in the first century. Buddhists believe that their leader is a re-incarnation of an earlier leader. They discover the leader by reading astrological charts and prayer. The Kashmir Buddhists predicted the leader would be born in Judea and went to find him, so at some point in the first century, some Wise Men from the East arrived in Judea to tell a family that their recently born son (Yuz Asaf) was to be a religious leader. The story goes on that Yuz Asaf came to Kashmir as a young man (around 12 years old) for training then returned to Judea at the age of 30. Yuz Asaf came back to Kashmir a few years later with injured feet and hands, his grave is in Kashmir and, intrigingly, there is a carving of feet on the grave that show the marks of crucification.

ANSWERThe wise men knew about Jesus because they were the Magi who had been taught by Daniel the prophet. [see link below]

Answer 2

In Matthew 2 verses 1-12 it tells of the Magi's visit. The Magi were wise men, most probably scholars who had studied the prophesies regarding the coming of the Messiah.

In the Old Testament book of Micah (a prophet), chapter 5 verse 2, Micah says "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. (NIV)

Back in Matthew in chap 1 verse 12 it says, "And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." (NIV)

If they were warned in a dream about Herod there is a good chance that they were told about Jesus before they left to seek him also.

Answer 3

In the Gospel According to St Matthew, three wise men followed a star to see the baby Jesus. One reason to doubt the accuracy of this story is that the author of Luke's Gospel did not mention the story of the wise men visiting Jesus, but had poor shepherds visit him instead. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, leader of the world's Anglicans, has described the story of the three wise men as nothing but a "legend" and says there is little evidence that they existed. Spong (Born of a Woman:A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that among people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that the magi were not actual people. Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash. Nevertheless, he wrote the story for a good reason.

The word used for 'wise men' is magoi or, in Latin, magi (sing: magus). The magoi were priests of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord"). Matthew was portraying the priests of this great religion as regarding the birth of a Jewish Messiah as a momentous event. By having them wish to worship him, Matthew was probably demonstrating that Jesus had dominion over even the Zoroastrians. In later centuries, the Zoroastrian connection became less important and the term "wise men" tends to be used in English translations.

Answer 4

John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) calls Matthew's story of the wise men, Christian midrash and says that among people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that the magi(wise men) were not actual people. If there were no wise men, we can not give a reason they went to see the baby Jesus, but we can say why the author of Matthew wrote about them coming to visit and worship Jesus.

The magi were actually priests of the Persian, Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, and believed that one day the Saoyshant would return, born of a virgin mother. By having the magi want to visit Jesus, the author demonstrated that even the priests of this great religion would want to worship Jesus. In time, the Zoroastrian connection became less important, and the magi began to be referred to as 'wise men' rather than as priests, and this is the translation used in most English Bibles today.

Assuming such wise men or priests did indeed visit the child, there is no valid reason to assume it was three men. The only reference to three in the story is the gifts they brought (gold: symbol of his kingship; frankincense & myrrh: symbols of his death). There may have been many of them.