Since I have been saved, I have been always told that the wise men came two years after Jesus was born.

Because the wise men told Herod that they first saw the star two years earlier, there are two possibilities:

One possibility is that the star must have first shown up when Jesus was born.

The other possibility is that the star first showed up, in the East, two years before Jesus was born.

With the first one, the wise men got there late, by two years.

The second one gave them sufficient space to make it there perfectly on time.

Why do most tend to assume the first?

Anyway, what is said in the scriptures?

Leviticus 12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

 3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

 4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

(a total of 41 days)

Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

 22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

(and while in the temple, they met Simeon and Anna, and then...)

 39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

(Probably less than 50 days later, NOT after two more full years!)

(Or many argue that the wise came later because the Bible uses the word house. However, the Bible does use the word house sometimes when referring to a structure that had animals inside:)

Genesis 24:32 And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him.

(He ungirded the camels in the house)

I Samuel 28:24 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:

(She had a fat calf in the house)

Psalm 50:9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

(The LORD isn’t going to take a bullock out of someone ’s house)

II Kings 10:12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,

(Here is the shearing house. Also, Nabal had his sheep sheared near David ’s men, which was out closer to where the flocks were.)

(Also, some say that in Matthew chapter 2, Jesus is nine times referred to a "young child", and not as a "babe":)

Luke 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

There were probably three wise men. In addition to the star, kings, gifts, and three different nations named for bringing the gifts (Isaiah 60:1-6), there is the requirement of two or three witnesses in relation to them - and if it had only been two men, the scripture uses, “two men ”, 22 times like that. These were true wise men it appears, with the wisdom from above, rather than the earthly/sensual/devilish kind of wise-guys, like in Exodus and Daniel.  It must have been a real guiding star. 10 years ago, Moody Radio said the star was some kind of planetary alignment or super-nova, or some such silliness. No, the star needed to be "not too far" above the earth ’s surface, where they could triangulate to not only follow, but most importantly to take them to the exact specific house where Jesus was. Anything else would not have worked. Go out some night just after it gets dark and mark the location of stars and planets. Then go out again, later, and notice that they've moved! All but the North Star move from east to west across the sky during the night. How in the world could that have led them to an exact house thousands of miles from where they were? No, it had to be a special, one time star, sent by the LORD to guide the wise men to the exact location. There are some interesting stars mentioned in the last book of the Bible, so why couldn’t the LORD have done something very miraculous with a guiding star? After all, the virgin birth was super miraculous, so why can ’t we believe that the LORD had a one time special star for this purpose? The song had it right, “westward leading, still proceeding, guide us …” The star was moving ahead of them. The LORD had moved a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead Israel through the wilderness, and to stand over the tabernacle in one place as long as the LORD wanted them to stay there – so why couldn’t he have done something like that with a special moving star, NOT zillions of miles above the surface of the earth. They didn’t come two years "after" Jesus was born, but the star must have first appeared to them two years before Jesus was born. First they had to have seen it, consulted with their books and calculations, double checked, then consulted with one another, planned and organized the expedition to follow the star – then they would have had to travel by night, and not by day, in order to follow the star – night travel would have taken a lot longer – they also had to go a great distance from the east to Israel, by special caravan routes where there was water, etc. Also when Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be taxed (they obviously both were of the house of David), he had to leave his occupation (carpenter shop) and home that he had in Nazareth, to go get taxed. He probably didn't plan to just abandon all that, or that he would have sold it all, just to go get taxed. He probably didn't plan to be spending two years in Bethlehem. He had to go to Egypt when the angel told him to, but that had not been his plan. So, right when Jesus was born, angels came from heaven to the shepherds, the shepherds came to see the new born Jesus, and most likely so did the wise men. Then the wise men were warned in a dream to go home a different way, and Joseph was warned to flee into Egypt. So, what if Joseph managed to get Mary and Jesus to the Jewish community in Egypt in time to ask the rabbi, there, at that synagogue, to come and circumcise Jesus? Then what if by the time her days of purifying were fulfilled, the LORD let Joseph know that it was safe to go back to Israel? Not to go to Bethlehem, but only to the temple, as they were supposed to, and then to immediately depart back to Nazareth?

The three wise men most likely came right when Jesus was born, just like the shepherds did. After all, where else better to find a new-born Lamb, but in a shearing house? Actually it shows how “in control” the LORD was to move Caesar to cause Joseph to have to go to Bethlehem in fulfillment of Micah 5:2, have angels appear to shepherds by night to announce the birth and location, and to bring the three wise men from their kingdoms – all at the same time and at the same place? Not a convergence of planets, but a convergence of shepherds (those visited by the angels coming to the good shepherd that was lying in a manger), and a convergence of kings (three wise kings of the East coming to him that was born King).