Why is it so tragically ironic that the Sanhedrin accurately interprets the Scriptures with regard to where the Messiah would be born?
It is ironic that the Sanhedrin knows the birthplace of the Messiah, but do not believe in him. Their own traditions blind them to the truth of Scripture (see John 7:27). They are seeking an immediately famous Messiah, not the One who humbled himself for the sake of his people (Philippians 2:5–8).
The Sanhedrin provides Herod with a clear answer from Scripture: Bethlehem in Judea. Yet despite this knowledge they do not come to faith in Jesus, because of the influence of their own traditions which they place on par with the authority of Scripture (see John 7:27).1
How is it possible that the Jews can tell Herod with such confidence that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, but then refrain from taking any steps to explore the Magi’s message further? This is because although they read Scripture, they do not understand it. The Jerusalem theologians indeed read the place name Bethlehem in Micah 5:1–15, but they are ignorant of the message that passage contains. They operate on the assumption that the birth of the Messiah will attract considerable attention in Israel itself and that he will not come so quietly and unnoticed that the first announcement thereof in Jerusalem would be by the mouths of Gentiles.2
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: