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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 2:1-23 REVIEW: Chapter one had two major sections: the genealogy and the birth narrative of Jesus. A genealogical record may seem to be a rather strange way to begin a gospel, but to Matthew’s original Jewish Christian readers this would have been absolutely normal. The genealogy shows that Jesus is truly a descendant of Abraham and also a direct descendant of king David. Unlike standard Jewish genealogies, however, Matthew includes four women. Each woman shows how God has used even sinners and Gentiles as a part of his plan of salvation as fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The birth narrative is the only specific reference in the Bible to Jesus’ virgin conception. The purpose of this is to stress that the Holy Spirit is the “father” of Jesus in a very unique way. All that the Spirit does (creation, re-creation, giving life, conveying God’s love, etc.) is uniquely manifested in person of Jesus Christ. Matthew’s birth narrative of Jesus also shows what kind of a person JOSEPH was. He was righteous (unwilling to tolerate sin) but yet also merciful. He trusted in God and was obedient to his commands. He loved Mary. He was a wonderful father and “role model” for Jesus. The child was to be named “Jesus” because he would save his people from their sins. The very name – literally meaning “God is salvation” – describes what he will be! INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER 2 This chapter has four basic segments: the visit of the Magi (wise men), the flight into Egypt, the slaughter of the innocent children in Bethlehem, and the return from Egypt. In looking at these segments as a whole, we need to remember that Matthew is written for a Jewish Christian audience. They would understand a number of details of these segments as fulfilling or “re-enacting” various aspects of the Moses/Exodus story:
In all these instances, Jesus is shown as a new MOSES – his life in many ways paralleling the life of the first Moses. Because of this, Matthew’s original Jewish Christian readers could understand Jesus as being the founder of the NEW ISRAEL (that they belonged to) in the same way as Moses was the founder of the Old Israel. CHAPTER 2:1-12 “The Visit of the Magi” “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” In Matthew’s gospel, there is no explanation as to why Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. It is simply mentioned as a fact, because Bethlehem is the ancestral city of King David. It was expected that the Messiah – great David’s greater Son – would also be born there. Matthew, in contrast to Luke’s account of the humble circumstances of Jesus’ birth, emphasizes his royal lineage. Herod was king only because of ROMAN power and authority. He was not a pure-bred Jew (he was half Jewish and half Edomite) but he had made himself useful to the Romans during wars and civil wars that had afflicted Palestine during the mid first century B.C. As a reward for his service and loyalty, the Roman Senate officially bestowed on him the title “King of the Jews” in 40 B.C. He often was referred to as “Herod the Great” because he succeeded in bringing peace to a region known for its chaos and disorder. He also was known for his many building projects – including the great Temple in Jerusalem. Herod reigned until his death in 4 B.C. (obviously, this shows that the dating of our calendar is slightly off.). More on Herod in the next section… The “wise men” were actually known as the MAGI. The Magi were originally a tribe of Media (in Persia) – and in general served the same role as the tribe of the Levites did in Israel. They were not “kings” (contrary to the title of the well-known Christmas/ Epiphany hymn “We Three Kings”), but served as teachers and instructors to Persian kings. They were known for their holiness and wisdom. The Magi were skilled in philosophy, medicine, and natural science. They were interpreters of dreams. Perhaps most important for this passage, the Magi were known for their proficiency in ASTROLOGY – being able to interpret the future from the stars. They watched the heavens, and looked for signs indicating great and portentous events. Obviously, some “star” caught their attention. We do not know exactly what that star was – whether it was a comet, a brilliant conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter (this happened in 7 B.C.), a supernova, etc. – that especially shone at the time near sunrise (“at its rising”). Some have speculated that this “star” was in a constellation especially associated with the Jewish people. Matthew, with his focus on the Old Testament, may have especially been thinking of Numbers 24:17 – “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…” Finally, we note that these “wise men” – these MAGI – were Gentiles. Jesus may have been born “king of the Jews”, but already Gentiles from far distances are also coming to pay him homage and worship. “When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him…” Herod was an insanely suspicious and bloodthirsty tyrant. If he suspected anyone as a rival to his power, that person was promptly eliminated. As William Barclay tells us in his Daily Study Bible Commentary: “He murdered his wife Maraimne and her mother Alexandra. His eldest son, Antipater, and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, were all assassinated by him. Augustus, the Roman Emperor, had said, bitterly, that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son!” (DSB, page 29) It is impossible to overstate the FEAR that Herod’s paranoia engendered in his family, his courtiers, and in the kingdom as a whole. It was similar to the fear and paranoia that gripped many people in America after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Everyone was always “on edge”. Needless to say, Herod was NOT happy to hear the Magi’s report that the “King of the Jews” had been born – a potential threat to his position as “King of the Jews”! The people of Jerusalem knew what Herod was like, and of course were extremely anxious as they waited for his inevitable reaction. QUESTION: What frightens us? Are we bothered by threats to our prestige or reputations? Are we afraid of the reactions of other people? “…and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.” This is the first mention of “the chief priests and scribes” – a grouping that will be referred to a number of times in Matthew’s gospel – especially during the passion story. The “chief priests” were members of the high priestly family; the “scribes” were the experts in the interpretation of the scriptures. The prophecy is a combination of Micah 5:1 and 2 Samuel 5:2. Actually, it has been changed slightly: from “one of the little clans of Judah” (Micah 5:1) to “by no means least among the rulers of Judah” in order to emphasize Bethlehem’s importance. Whatever, this shows that Jesus’ place of birth is in fulfillment of the scriptures. “Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” The exact time that the star had appeared would be important for astrology, and would also enable Herod to determine the age of the child. As is implied later in verse 16, the star had appeared during the past two years. Herod pretends to want to pay homage to the child and asks the wise men to tell him where he is when they find him. One commentator, however, speculates that the actual Herod would not have trusted the wise men to send him back information as to where the child was – but would rather have sent murderers along with them to kill him as soon as they found him! “When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.” We do not know exactly how the star went ahead of the wise men and stopped at the place where the child was. One theory was that if the “star” actually was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn first seen on the eastern horizon as a “morning star”, it disappeared for a while and then later reappeared as an “evening star” in the west – leading the wise men in the direction of Bethlehem. Be that as it may, however, we can well imagine that the magi were indeed “overwhelmed with joy” when they finally arrived at their destination after so many weeks and miles of traveling! Jesus is shown as residing in a HOUSE rather than in a stable as portrayed in Luke’s gospel. Probably this is because some time has passed since his birth, but this also illustrates Matthew’s stress toward Jesus’ royalty rather than his humble beginnings. We do not know how many wise men there were. The tradition that there were three comes from the fact that three types of gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh – were offered to Jesus. This seems to be a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah 60:6 – “…all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.” This may also be an allusion to Psalm 72:10 – “…may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.” Many have also seen significance in what the gifts signified as to who Jesus is and what his ministry would be about:
Unlike in Joseph’s dreams, Matthew does not specifically mention that an angel appeared to the wise men. In fact, the Greek word for “warned” literally means “instructed by an oracle.” Apparently God did not directly speak to the wise men, but they nevertheless were open to God’s direction as they were able to perceive it. This theme of righteous Gentiles responding to God even though they do not fully know or understand God will come up again later in Matthew – especially in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:31-40 where the righteous nations (literally the Gentiles) are welcomed into the kingdom even though they did not know who they were serving. In the same way, the wise men seem to be commended by Matthew for obeying God, even though they may not have understood that it actually WAS God who was directing them! CHAPTER 2:13-15 “The Flight Into Egypt” “Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” The ancient world believed that God often sent messages to people through dreams. This is the second time that Joseph received a message from an angel in a dream – the first time was in the previous chapter when he was instructed to take Mary as his wife and name her child Jesus. Jews who were under persecution often fled to Egypt for refuge. The result was that nearly every city had a colony of Jews, and in the city of Alexandria there were actually over a million Jews. It was in Alexandria that the Jewish scriptures were translated from Hebrew into Greek (the Septuagint (LXX). The point is that the Holy Family probably found refuge with other Jews in one of the Egyptian cities. Many of Christianity’s early opponents later used the story of Jesus’ stay in Egypt as an attempt to slander him. Egypt was proverbially a land of sorcery, witchcraft and magic, and supposedly that was where Jesus learned how to work miracles and deceive people. On the other hand, a number of beautiful legends are connected with this flight into Egypt. One legend is that the penitent thief on the cross first saw Jesus when he and his robber band came upon the holy family, and something about the child touched his heart and he refused to allow harm to come to them. Another legend is that a spider – wanting to do something for Jesus as the family hid in a cave to escape Herod’s soldiers – spun a web over the cave entrance. This web convinced the searching soldiers that no one could be there. Both the facts and the legends connected with this episode show God intervened to protect Jesus and his parents. As Martin Luther writes in his Small Catechism in explaining the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “God also protects me in time of danger, and guards me from every evil.” Of course, God did not seem to help other parents in Bethlehem whose sons would soon be killed by Herod. Nor did he later protect Jesus at the time of his passion. But the point for us to remember is that God always protects us in this life until it is our time to die – when we have completed all that is our purpose for being – and then he will also certainly protect us even in death until we rise again. Matthew typically sees this entire episode as being a fulfillment of prophecy – “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” The actual scripture passage is Hosea 11:1. The passage is actually about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, while Matthew uses it to explain why Jesus went into Egypt. The point, however, is that his original readers would have connected the words “Egypt” and “son”. CHAPTER 2:16-19 “The Slaughter of the Children” “When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” The RSV specifies that Herod killed all the MALE children, which would remind Matthew’s readers of Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the Hebrew male children in Exodus 1:15-22. There are no secular records of this terrible event, but that may be because this was very localized and involved at most about twenty or so children. Be that as it may, this dramatically illustrates Herod’s paranoia and determination to eliminate any potential rivals to his rule. Once again, Matthew sees this as fulfilling a “prophecy” from the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:15) that actually has nothing to do with Jesus or the flight into Egypt. Rachel was a wife of Jacob, and she died near Bethlehem and was buried at Ramah, a city about halfway between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The actual passage is about the grief of Rachel as the Israelites are being led away into exile by the Babylonians. Perhaps Matthew used this passage to make a connection of Jesus’ life to Jeremiah, who was a “suffering prophet”. Matthew specifically quotes him two additional times as well in Matthew 16:14 and 27:9. CHAPTER 2:20-23 “The Return to Nazareth” “When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.” Herod died in 4 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Archelaus (although the Romans only granted him the title of “ethnarch” rather than king). Archelaus was a terrible tyrant who in many ways tried to “out-Herod Herod”! He had begun his rule by slaughtering three thousand of the most influential people in Judea – those whom he thought might be rivals to his throne. His rule was characterized by cruelty and political chaos until the Romans finally stepped in 6 A.D. and began appointing their own governors (the most famous of which is Pontius Pilate.) God continues to guide Joseph by giving him directions via dreams. He is assured that those who were seeking the child’s life are dead – much as Moses was told that in Exodus 4:19. (One commentator also speculates that the use of the plural “those” refer to the chief priests and scribes (Mt. 2:4) as well as Herod – foreshadowing their desire to kill Jesus which eventually resulted in his passion and crucifixion as an adult.) First, Joseph is directed to take his family to Israel (presumably to Bethlehem, which, unlike in Luke’s gospel, seems to be understood to be his home city). Then, being warned in a second dream, he leaves Israel and settles in Galilee. Herod Antipas, another son of Herod the Great, had been made the ruler of Galilee. He certainly was no saint (it was he who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist), but nevertheless he was a much better ruler than Archelaus. The political climate of Galilee in general was much more peaceful and secure than that of Judea – and that, according to Matthew, is why Joseph decided to take his family there. Besides the obvious reasons, Matthew’s original readers may have also had additional insights about this new location. Galilee was mainly populated by Jews, but it was also in frequent contact with Gentile regions. In a way, Jesus’ residence in this area foreshadowed the mission of the Church – especially the church of Matthew’s community – as a “bridge” between the Jewish people and the Gentiles. Indeed, although it is not specifically mentioned, Matthew may have been thinking of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-7 – “…in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations…” Nazareth was a small town, but it was by no means isolated. It was only four miles from Sephoris, a major cosmopolitan city of its day. Jesus would have come into contact with many different cultures as he was growing up. Finally, Matthew once again sees the place of Jesus’ residence as being a fulfillment of prophecy – “He will be called a Nazorean”. This most likely is a word play upon Isaiah 11:1, which was understood by most Jews of the time to refer to the Messiah: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a BRANCH shall grow out of his roots.” The word translated as “branch” is literally “NEZER”. In other words, this is yet another reference to Jesus’ royal roots and the fact that he is indeed the Messiah the Israelites were looking for! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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