How old was the Christ child when the Wise Men finally found him?
It is a common misconception that the wise men came and visited Jesus shortly after His birth. In fact, the wise men came months (or possibly as much as two years) later, when Joseph and Mary had already settled in Nazareth. That is why Matthew 2:11 says the wise men visited and worshipped Jesus in a house. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and the wise men likely witnessed the “Star of Bethlehem” at the time Jesus was born. The wise men did not arrive in Israel for a significant amount of time after Jesus was born. During that time, Joseph and Mary had returned to live in Nazareth (Matthew 2:13-20). That is also why Herod ordered all the boys in Bethlehem under two years of age to be killed (Matthew 2:16). Herod did not know that Jesus was no longer in Bethlehem, and did not know that the star had reappeared to the wise men and redirected them to Nazareth. Recommended Resource: God’s Gift of Christmas by John MacArthur.
He was around 2 years old, or nearly there…that’s why the Scriptures record that Herod fulfilled prophecy when Bethel was crying for her sons…since Herod had murdered all the children in Bethlehem that were 2 years old and under, in an effort to get rid of the Son who was prophesied to be the King of Israel. By that time, Mary and Joseph had moved into their own place in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was Joseph’s birth village and that is why they had returned there–the Cesar of Rome had helped to fulfill that prophecy which said the King had to be from Bethlehem. Before Herod started the massacre, the Angel of the Lord had warned Joseph…that very night, they used the gifts of the Magi to buy supplies and they fled to Egypt where they stayed a few more years. They were not in Nazareth until after that first Herod had died.
