New Year, New Thoughts

So these last couple months I have been in a funk. Partially because of being sick and partially because of the holiday busy-ness.  But it is a new year now and I plan on starting to take things in a bit of a new direction. I want to start posting basically what I find as I am reading my Bible and praying each day. Some days may have some length but most days will probably be short posts.

So today I was reading Matthew 2, and it struck me that Herod was scared by the wise men showing up in Jerusalem. Why?

Matthew 2:1-10 NLT

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

First off is the obvious reason of "the Messiah was born". But I was wondering if there was more to it. The wise men were magi according to the Greek.  Yes the magi that we get the word magic from. We are talking magicians, sorcerers, and witch doctor types. Coming from far away to worship the newborn king of the Jews. I can see that ruffling some feathers.  Side note here how cool is it that God was attracting the lost even at his birth. They were also astrologers. Following a star... That appeared when Jesus was born, and it moved and led these guys to Israel. What was this star? A real star or planet or comet? Or something of a supernatural origin like an angel? Could Herod see this star? Why didn't he follow it to Jesus? Was it something that only the magi saw? No way to answer that with the info we have from the Bible. But just a thought.