On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:11

            Our traditional nativities put the wise men at the time of the birth of Jesus.  This was not the case.  The wise men saw the star that appeared at the time of Jesus’ birth, then packed, traveled to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem to visit Mary and Joseph.  Time had passed.  Jesus was a child—crawler, toddler—not a baby.  When Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph just arrived and hadn’t planned on staying.  Now, because of circumstances, they were settling in at Bethlehem, in probably a rented house, recovering physically, maybe allowing some time to pass before they arrived at home with a child after Mary’s mysterious pregnancy.  It became evident that the gifts Mary and Joseph received from the wise men helped to finance their next adventure, escaping to Egypt.