The Wise Men Follow the Star Bible story for kids

Do you remember the little town of Bethlehem, and the night Jesus was born there?

Now, some time went by after that night. The Bible doesn't tell us exactly how long. But Jesus wasn't a tiny newborn anymore. Now the Bible calls him a young child.

And this story doesn't begin in Bethlehem at all. It begins far, far away.

Far off in the east, there were some wise men. The Bible doesn't tell us their names, or how many there were.

Imagine them, little one. Night after night, they studied the sky. They knew the stars the way you know the faces in your own family.

Long before, God had shown Abram a sky so full of stars he couldn't count them. Too many to count! But this story is about just one.

Because one night... there was a new star.

And the wise men believed it meant something wonderful. A King had been born. The King of the Jews. And this was his star.

So they got ready to go. Maybe they packed bread, and warm cloaks for the chilly nights. And treasures, too. Maybe the very best things they had. Because you don't go to meet a King with empty hands.

And off they went. Maybe over hills. Maybe across wide, dusty lands. Day after day after day. They had somewhere wonderful to be.

At last they came to Jerusalem. The great big city. Tall stone walls. Busy streets, and people everywhere.

And the wise men went through the streets, asking, "Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."

Worship him. That's why they had come all that way. Not just to look. To kneel.

People looked at each other... and whispered.

A new king? Here? Who? Where? Whisper, whisper, whisper, all over the city, like wind running through the streets.

And the whispering went all the way up to the palace. To King Herod.

Now, King Herod already had a crown. And a throne. And he liked being king very much. So when he heard about a new King, Herod was troubled. He wanted to stay the only king.

So Herod called in the chief priests and the scribes, the people who knew God's old words best. And he asked them where the promised King would be born.

Imagine the rustle of old scrolls unrolling. And then they found it.

"In Bethlehem," they said. Because long, long ago, a prophet had written it down. God's words about Bethlehem: "out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel."

Bethlehem! Little Bethlehem. King David's own town. And now God's promised King would come from there too. A King who would care for God's people, the way a shepherd cares for his sheep.

Then Herod called the wise men to see him. Secretly. Just them. A quiet room. Low voices. And he asked them exactly when the star had first appeared.

Then he sent them on their way. "Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him."

But that wasn't really what was in Herod's heart. He didn't want another king at all.

So the wise men set off down the road to Bethlehem. Maybe the sky was growing dark. And they looked up...

There it was! The star! The very same star they had seen far away in the east!

And this time, it went on ahead of them. Down the road. Like someone carrying a lantern just in front of them, saying, this way... this way...

And then... it stopped. It stood still. Right over one house.

Oh, little one. The Bible says, "they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." Not just joy. Great joy. Exceeding great joy! Maybe they laughed out loud. Maybe they hugged each other right there in the road.

They came to the house. Not a palace. Just a house. And they stepped inside.

And there he was. The young child, with Mary his mother.

The King they had come so far to find.

And those wise men knelt down low, right on the floor. And they worshipped him.

Then they opened their treasures. Imagine the lids of their boxes creaking open, one by one.

"Gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

Gold, heavy and shining, warm in the lamplight. Frankincense, little pale pebbles of tree sap that smell sweet and smoky when you warm them. And myrrh, another precious sap, for the finest perfume.

The very best things they had. For the very best King. Maybe little Jesus reached out a hand toward that shiny gold. The Bible doesn't say. But I like to wonder.

Before the wise men left, God spoke to them in a dream. Don't go back to Herod, He told them. God knew what was really in Herod's heart.

So the wise men did just what God said. "They went back to their own country another way."

A brand-new road home. Maybe they didn't need the star anymore. They had already found what they came for.

Isn't that something? People from a faraway land came all that way to worship Jesus. God called them with a star. And then the star waited, right over the house, so they would know which door was his.

And God kept watching over this little family.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Goodnight, little one. May the same God who stopped a star right over one small house in Bethlehem... shine His love over the house where you are falling asleep tonight.