What is the significance of the magi on the Nativity story?

Answer 1:

They were the first to recognize the Kingship of Yeshua, and the they brought gifts, as it is customary to do when you come before a King. And we are not sure how many there were, it is just assumed 3 because of 3 gifts.

Answer 2:

The original Nativity story was played out in the night sky where the Three Kings (stars in Orion's Belt) follow the star in the east (Sirius) to the birth of the (sun) on the horizon. This alignment of the stars and rising sun occurs annually around December 21st-25th in the relative latitude of Egypt. Although there is no reference to 3 kings, wise men, magi, etc. in The Bible or original Egyptian hieroglyphics, the exact mimicry in position and size (to brightness) of the three Kings' pyramids in Giza to the Three Kings in Orion's Belt is the most significant connection to the modern story.

Answer 3:

To reduce the nativity story to a mere astrological phenomenon is to deny the kingship of Jesus Christ. The significance of the wise men - no matter how many there actually were or how long they took to find Jesus - is that, even in a pagan world where men did not know God as Lord, they recognised the signs of supernatural prophecy being played out in real life. Astrologers of the time were not like the fortune-telling astrologers of today; they were scientists who understood that what they were witnessing reflected an event of great significance. They brought gifts to acknowledge that the young child was not an ordinary child, but would literally change the course of history.