Q: Did the three Wisemen really visit baby Jesus in the stable on Christmas? Some say that they didn’t show up till later.
A: Matthew 2:1-12 contains the answers. First, it is clear from the text the ‘Magi’ were still in the east when they saw the Christmas star the night that Jesus was born. So all of those Christmas nativity scenes that display the three Wisemen are not completely accurate. Nevertheless, the Magi are part of the traditional events associated with the birth of Christ. Notice that the text does not really tell us how many magi there really were. It only mentions three different gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They probably showed up in Jerusalem some months later. Then they found their way to the house (*note- house not stable) where baby Jesus was living, by following some kind of supernatural star or light that reminded them of the star that they originally saw in the east (Matthew 2:9-11). Then the Magi returned to their own country by another route, having been warned in a dream not to go back and inform King Herod where the child was.
The fact that they showed up months later is why King Herod ordered that all the baby boys 2 years and under be killed, rather than newborn, “in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”-Matthew 2:16 NIV