When God became a man, he did not become at first a full-grown man, but, as Philippians 2:7 says, he emptied himself, that is, he was born a little baby. He had to be made like us in everyway, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, who could make atonement for our sins (Hebrews 2:17)

Now when he emptied himself, it was not just the he was born a baby. He was born a baby in a poor family. The Jewish law said that forty days after a baby boy was born, his mother was suppose to offer a year-old lamb and a pigeon to God. Bit if she was so poor that she could not buy a lamb, she could offer two pigeons instead. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was so poor that she had to offer two pigeons. But as the law said, when Jesus was forty days old, she took him to the temple to present him o the lord and to offer the sacrifices.

Mary and Joseph her husband found a house in Bethlehem and started living there with the baby Jesus. It was sometime after that when wise men came from the east to the city of Jerusalem. They started asking people, "Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Now when King Herod heard this, he was very worried. Almost forty years before that the roman senate had named him "King of the Jews." He was very jealous and would kill anyone who he thought wanted to be king. He even had some of his own sons killed when he thought they might try to kill him and become king in his place. so he called a meeting of the Jewish priests and teachers and asked them where the Christ was supposed to be born. They told him, "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. For the Prophet Micah wrote,

'And, o Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are not unimportant among the leaders of Judah. For a leader will come out of you. He will shepherd my people Israel." Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men who had come from the east. He asked them the exact time they had first seen the star. They told him "Two years ago." Then he told them to go to Bethlehem and look carefully for the young child. And he also said, "When you find him, come tell me, so that I can go worship him too." But he was not planning to worship the Christ child, but to kill him.

The wise men started for Bethlehem. And as they went, they again saw the star which they had seen in the east. It was in the sky above the city of Bethlehem. They were very happy to see the near star again. When the wise men came to the house where the baby was, they saw him with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him and opened their gifts which they had brought him. They had three kinds of gifts: gold, Frankincense, and myrrh. Frankincense and myrrh were expensive perfumes. But in a dream God warned the wise men not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their own country a different way.

After the wise men left, an angel of the lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, "Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to kill him." So that night Joseph got up and left for Egypt with Mary and the baby Jesus.

Herod was very angry when he saw that the wise men had fooled him. So Herod gave an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and the area around it who were two years old and younger. He thought this way he could kill the Christ child, whose star had first been seen two years before. Herod didn't know it, but he was being used by the devil, who wanted to kill Jesus. But God is stronger than the Devil, and so the Devil's plan failed. That day several mothers cried loudly because the king had had their baby boys killed. But Mary was not one of them, because she, her husband, and the baby Jesus were on their way to Egypt. Later they returned after Herod died and lived in the town called Nazareth in the north country of Galilee.

So the Devil's attempt to kill the baby Jesus failed. Jesus left heaven and came to live a perfect life, so that he could be a sacrifice for our sins. But wile he was still a baby, wise men came from far away, looking for him to worship him. People who are wise still look for him to worship him. Are you wise?