Matthew 2:1-23: “The Magi Visit Baby Jesus / Herod Tries To
Kill Baby Jesus / The Angel Protects Baby Jesus”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1. INTRO: In this chapter there emerges the three
responses to Jesus Christ which men will have:
1.1.
Outright hostility (symbolized by Herod)
1.2.
Apathy (symbolized by the chief priests and scribes,
the religious uthorities)
1.3.
Seek after Him to worship and follow Him (symbolized
by the wise men)
2.
In this chapter
as we see numerous times where God intervenes in events according to His will,
we will also begin to get a clear picture of the fact that it is God is really
in control of all that happens in this world, and that He is actually working
out His will
2.1.
At the same time,
this also leads to some complications for us because we can’t understand why it
is that the Lord does allow some things to happen on earth
2.2.
However, it is
clear from this chapter that the prophesies which Jesus fulfilled in his life
upon the earth weren’t previously recorded just because of God’s foreknowledge,
rather the Lord is really intervening and working out His will
3.
We will also see
in this chapter what real worship to Jesus consists of when we look at the
story of the visitation of the wise men to baby Jesus
4.
VS 2:1-2 - “2:1 Now after Jesus was
born in
4.1.
Just exactly who these Magi were has been a question
that has been debated all down through the centuries
4.1.1. We don’t
know exactly from what country in the east that they came from, however the
strongest candidates for this have been
4.1.1.1. There
were people from all of these areas that might resemble these men
4.1.2. In
Christmas pageants, these men are often portrayed as kings, however though
their gifts are extravent, there is no evidence to support their being kings
4.1.3. In
Christmas pageants, it is also the case that it is portrayed that there are
always three of these men, however the Bible does not say how many of them
there are, and it has been speculated by many that their numbers could have
been much greater than three (some have
speculated it could have been hundreds)
4.1.3.1. Tradition
has even passed down to us that the names of these men were
4.1.4. It
appears evident that since the wise men had discerned that a particular star
was pointing to where this child should be born, that they were astrologers,
and we know from history that there were many in that day who were astrologers
4.1.4.1. It is
also to be noted, that all across the world there was a certain expectation
that the Messiah was to come to the earth, it just seemed to be in the air
4.1.5. Many have
speculated that these men were magicians and into the various aspects of the
occult, and this seems to be a good possibility
4.1.5.1. We see
people of this type in the book of Daniel, for instance, and even in Egypt
copying through satanic means the miracles of Moses, and then in the New
Testament with Simon the Magician in the book of Acts
4.2.
We ought also to ask the question as to how it came
about that these men should have the knowledge that the ‘King of the Jews’, or
Messiah, was to be born at this time?
4.2.1. Some have
speculated that they were from Chaldea and had learned through passed down
traditions from the people of
4.2.2. Had they
the writings of Daniel or from oral tradition learned of his prophesy of the 70
weeks till the Messiah would come, this would explain it
4.2.3. Some have
speculated that they might have learned about the coming Messiah through the
prophesies of Balaam
4.3.
Questions we should ask
4.3.1. ‘Why did
these men come to
4.3.2. Was it
because they had heard and believed that
4.3.3. Did the
star lead them to
4.4.
We also do not know the time frame of when this
event occurred, and this has been a subject of much debate. Scholars have said that the time frame was
somewhere between 4 weeks after His birth to 2 years afterwards
4.5.
The motive of these Magi, realizing that this son
that has been born is to be the Messiah, King of the Jews and over all of the
earth, is that they wanted to come and behold His glory and as obedient
subjects show the reverence that is due to Him
4.6.
This word for worship used here, ‘proskoneuo’, was
used by the Persians and Chaldeans to describe when they would kneel down on
their knees and touch their foreheads to the ground as an expression of
profound reverence to kings
4.7.
The word in the Greek (proskaneuo) literally means
to kiss the hand or the face of the one being worshipped, and is the word most
used in the NT for referring to the worship of God
5.
VS 2:3 - “3 And when Herod the king heard it, he
was troubled, and all
5.1.
This Herod is called ‘Herod the king’ to denote that
he was “Herod the Great”, for only “Herod the Great” had been appointed king
over the Jews
5.2.
John MacAuthor writes about this Herod, “Julius
Caesar had appointed his father, Antipater, to be procurator, or governor, of
5.3.
This Herod was an Idumean (Edomite), not Jewish, and
being a clever polition he had tried doing many things in order to win the
allegiance of the Jews, including marrying a Jewish woman of a prominent Jewish
family, and building many nice civic buildings, and even doing many things that
could be considered humanitarian for the people, however he never really held
their allegiance or respect, and he knew it, and he resented this greatly
5.4.
Herod was also incredibly treacherous however,
jealous of his power, suspicious of others who might take his power, and
merciless. Fearing a threat to his
throne, he had the high priest Aristobulus, who was his wife Marianne’s
brother, drowned, he then had Marianne herself killed, and then her mother, and
then two of his own sons. Five days
before he died (perhaps about a year or two after Jesus was born), he had a
third son executed. In fact, knowing of
his own impending death, and outraged because he knew that no one in Jerusalem
would mourn his death, a few days before his death he had many of the prominent
Jewish citizens arrested and imprisoned, with orders that on notice of his
death they would be executed. If
5.5.
Even though Herod was above 70 years old, in failing
health, and surely not long for this world, he still felt his power base
threatened by news of the possible birth of this baby who was born to be the
King of the Jews, and he wanted immediately to kill him.
5.6.
Herod began to plot as to how he would thwart the
rule of this baby, however he forgot to take into consideration the fact that
God who brings down the plans of the wicked, was really in control of the
situation
5.7.
If we were honest, I think that we should all be
able to relate in some degree to this man Herod, for all of us have for periods
of our lives fought the lordship of Christ over our lives, and it has been
difficult for all of us to finally begin to release control of our life to God
and let Him have His way in our life
5.7.1. As we go
through this chapter, we will note the fact that God knows the thoughts and
intents of people’s hearts, and He supernaturally provides the circumstances so
that His plans will be worked out and not overthrown by the will and evil
intent of men
5.8.
Why was it that all of
5.8.1. Herod was
troubled by the news of the birth of this baby, and the people of
5.8.2. It could
be that the people were troubled because they were somewhat comfortable and
didn’t even want the Messiah coming in and disrupting their lives
5.8.2.1. The
people of Jerusalem were not ready for their Messiah for they were building
bigger barns, eating, drinking, getting married, etc., and going on with their
own lives (doing their own thing not God’s)
6.
VS 2:4-5 - “4 And gathering together
all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them
where the Christ was to be born. 5 And they said to him, “In
6.1.
The Jews in this day were divided into two camps,
Pharisees and Saduccees. The Pharisees
were much more prevalent and they believed the scriptures to be literal and they
were very zealous in their attempt to legalistically keep all the requirements
of the law, and in fact they studied and studied and wrote huge volumes of
interpretations of the law so that they could be sure to keep all of it. The Saduccees were comprised of the more
affluent Jews and they took more of a liberal stance on the interpretation of
the scriptures, and in fact they did not believe in a resurrection nor an after
life in heaven with the Lord.
6.2.
The ‘chief priests’ mentioned here were not the Sanhedrin,
which was the central ruling committee in
6.3.
The ‘scribes’ mentioned here were Pharisees whose
job it was to define and interpret the scripture as well as to preserve them
through copying by hand
6.4.
It is interesting that when it came right down to it
that those who were the religious authorities on the scripture knew exactly
where the Messiah would be born, and they accumulated this information from the
prophet Micah, in Micah 5:2 (quoted in the next verse)
6.5.
The sad thing about these “religious authorities” is
that even though they had some good reason to believe that the Messiah may have
been born, and they knew where it was that the scriptures said that the Christ
was to be born, they were not in the least bit interested in seeking Him out
for themselves and determining if in fact He was their Messiah. They were “apathetic” towards Christ.
6.5.1. It is
such a sad thing in churches today that many leaders are more concerned about
following their traditions and being religious professionals than they are of
truly seeking the Lord, knowing His Word from their hearts, and desiring to
follow Him with all of their lives
6.5.2. It is
often the case that leaders, and Christians in general, know there is more to their
walk than they presently experience, but they have learned to be content with
far less than the Lord has for them
7.
VS 2:6 - “ 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem,
land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler, Who
will shepherd My people Israel.’”” - The prophesy of the Messiah’s birth, Micah
5:2
7.1.
Bethlehem lay just 7 miles outside of Jerusalem, and
it at one time had been called, “Ephratha”, and thus in the prophesy in Micah,
the city is called “Bethlehem Ephratha” to differentiate it from another
Bethlehem in Israel in the teritory of the tribe of Zebuulun. Here the author takes the liberty to
interpret this verse in Micah, ‘
7.2.
The Greek word, “poimeeno”, used here for ‘shepherd’
means to shepherd and tend a flock, but it is also used in the sense of “to
rule” or “govern”
8.
VS 2:7-8 - “7 Then Herod secretly
called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. 8 And he
sent them to
8.1.
Herod is scheming here, and he calls the Magi
secretly, so that no one will become any more curious about this child and also
so that he can carry out a murderous plot to kill the baby
8.2.
Herod wanted to calculate when the child might have
been born, so he asks the Magi when it was that the star appeared
8.3.
Not realizing that God is in the process of
fulfilling His plans in bringing the Messiah into the world, and that there is
no way that he could ever be able to thwart God’s plans, Herod sends off the
Magi to do his dirty work and ascertain if this child exists and then come and
tell him where He is
8.4.
Herod lies to the Magi, for he has no plans to
‘worship’ Jesus, he wants only to kill the child before He could ever be
considered a ruler in
8.4.1. We should
all realize that it is a very futile scheme to try and thwart any of God’s
plans. God is infinitely strong, wise,
and all-knowing, and every time that we ever attempt to thwart God’s plans, He
just shows us what a fool we really are
9.
VS 2:9-10 - “9 And having heard the
king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east,
went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. 10 And
when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” - The star the
Magi had been following reappears to guide them to
9.1.
There has been much speculation about this, and we
should ask the question here as to what kind of a star this must be which they
are following?
9.1.1. There are
those who have tried to come with a suitable scientific explanation to this
phenomena, and they have tried to say that it must have been the alignment of
two or more planets, or a low-flying meteor, asteroid, etc.
9.1.2. However,
since this star reappears and guides them from
9.1.2.1. This same
glory led the Israelites by night and day, and would go and inhabit the tabernacle,
and then the temple, and when it first inhabited the tabernacle, neither Moses
nor anyone else was even able to enter into the tabernacle because of the
radiance of God’s glory
9.2.
The Magi ‘rejoiced’ when the star appeared again,
confirming the fact that the Lord was in fact guiding them to the place where
the Messiah had been born
9.2.1. It is
important for us to realize that these Magi were “by faith” in the revelation
of God which they had received, being led by the Lord to the place where the
child lay, and this reoccurrence of this star bolstered and confirmed their
faith and thus brought their rejoicing
9.2.1.1. This is
confirmed in verse 11, for there are none of the trappings in the house of Mary
and Joseph that would suggest that Jesus was born Messiah, the King of the
Jews, and had they not been led by their faith, they would have stumbled at the
humble dwelling of this One who was to rule
9.3.
We don’t know what happened to these Magi after they
left the Lord, but it must be clear that they continued on following Him and
that God began some work through them in their own country after they left
Jesus
10.
VS 2:11 - “11 And they came into the
house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him;
and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and
frankincense and myrrh” - The Magi come and worship Jesus
10.1.
It must have been disappointing to the Magi to come
and to see this child who was to be appointed to be the Messiah, the King of
the Jews and of the whole earth, God Incarnate, and yet see him living in a
very modest and humble household
10.2.
The Magi did not let Christ’s humble surroundings
cause their faith in Him to be shaken, for it was by faith that they had
believed in Him and been led to Him
10.3.
The Magi fell to their knees and bowed their faces
to the ground in worship and adoration before this king, much in the same way
that people of the east in that day did to the kings
10.4.
Notice who the Magi did not worship in this chapter:
10.4.1.
They did not worship Herod the king
10.4.2.
They did not worship Mary the mother of Jesus, for
the tradition of worshipping Mary did not arise at this time but came centuries
later when the church had gotten very corrupt and apostate and incorporated
pagan practices into the church
10.5.
Some have tried to make the gold, frankincense and
myrrh represent certain aspects of Christ to the Magi, however the story does
not bear this out, for it came only from tradition
10.5.1.
These extravagent gifts were representative of goods
produced and valued in the region from which the Magi came
10.6.
Joseph and Mary would be able to use especially the
gold to finance their trip to and stay in
10.7.
What I would like us to concentrate on considering
these Magi is that they are examples to us of true worshippers of Jesus
10.7.1.
These Magi gave very expensive gifts as their
offering to the baby Jesus, gifts fit for kings of that day
10.7.2.
Some people are willing to give to the Lord of
themselves, but not of their substance, others visa versa, however these Magi
are our examples for they were willing to give both
10.7.3.
Think of the effort that they gave to leave their
homes and families and travel such a long distance across the hot desert, and
perhaps even at the peril of their own lives, for they are those who truly seek
the Lord with their whole hearts
10.7.4.
Then, when these ones came before Jesus they
worshipped Him, that is “kissed the face” of Him, as they bowed down in
reverence to the ground before Him
10.7.5.
Spurgeon writes in his devotional for the morning of
January 8th concerning Exodus 28:38, “The iniquity of the holy
things”, and says, “What a veil is
lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to
pause awhile and see this sad sight. The
iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness,
irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what a full measure
have we there! Our work for the Lord,
its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, what a mass of
defilement is there! Our private
devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a
mountain of dead earth is there! If we
looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than
appears at first sight. Dr. Payson,
writing to his brother, says, “My parish, as well as my heart, very much
resembles the garden of the sluggard;
and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the
melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my
garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why?
What prompts the wish? It may be
that I may walk out and say to myself, ‘How finely your garden flourishes!’
This is pride. Or, it may be that
my neighbours may look over the wall and say, ‘How finely your garden
flourishes!’ This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the
weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up.
This is indolence”. So
that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide
themselves; we need not look long to
discover them. How cheering is the
thought, that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore
upon His brow the words, “HOLINESS TO THE LORD:” and even so while Jesus bears our sin, He
presents before His Father’s face not our unholiness, but His own
holiness. O for grace to view our great
High Priest by the eye of faith!”
11.
VS 2:12 - “12 And having been warned
by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country
by another way” - The Magi are warned not to return to Herod
11.1.
Herod had used religion in order to deceive these Magi
into bringing back to him news of where the baby Jesus was, saying that he
wanted to come and worship Him, and the Magi were probably deceived initially,
however we see here that what I said earlier in this chapter is true, the Lord
is the One who is in control of the situation, and he warns the Magi here not
to return to Herod
11.1.1.
The greatest wickedness is that which is done in the
name of religion
11.2.
Not only was the baby Jesus spared by this warning
that God gave, but probably the very lives of the Magi themselves, for Herod
was extremely ruthless
12.
VS 2:13-15 - “13 Now when they had
departed, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,
“Arise and take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there
until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed for
Egypt; 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that what was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Out of Egypt did I call
My Son.”” - An angel of the Lord is sent to Joseph to
tell him to take the child and his mother and flee to
12.1.
The lack of possessions which Joseph and Mary have
works to their advantage here for they are warned to immediately flee to
12.2.
Since
12.3.
This quote in verse 15 concerning Jesus is found in
Hos. 11:1 where it is a reference to Israel whom God called out of slavery in
Egypt through Moses, and then again in Num. 24:8 where the reference seems
clearly to refer only to the Messiah
12.3.1.
Both in the case of
12.4.
The obedient disposition of Joseph is seen throughout
this story of the birth of Jesus, and in this section of verses we see how
Joseph does not even hesitate to follow through in obedience to the Lord
12.5.
Joseph is commanded here to go to
12.6.
Each of us as Christians ought to go when the Lord
calls us to go anywhere, and then to stay there in that place until the Lord
tells us to move on to the next place.
However, so often it is the case that Christians make decisions
affecting their life without going to the Lord and waiting on Him in prayer
until they know that it is the Lord that has spoken to them.
13.
VS 2:16 - “16 Then when Herod saw that
he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all
the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years
old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi”
-
Herod murders the babies of Bethlehem
13.1.
Here we see that Herod does the unthinkable. How could these babies cause any threat to
Herod’s rule at their age, for Herod was at least 70 years of age and in
failing health (he dies not very long after this very point). However, he was obsessed to destroy any
threat to his kingdom, whether it come even from his very own family, or even
from God Himself
13.2.
From this verse, since Herod slew all the male
children two years old and under, many have said that this shows that Jesus
must have been up to two years in age when the Magi came to worship Him
13.2.1.
It could be however that Herod was just being
obsessive in making sure that every single child that could have qualified to
have been born in the time frame when the baby Jesus was born was murdered
13.3.
Herod should have realized that the Magi were not
tricking or mocking Him (as some translations put it), but rather it was God
working, the One who traps the wicked in their own deceptions
13.3.1.
Psalm 2:4 says, “4 He who sits in the heavens
laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”
13.3.2.
Job 5:12-13 says, “12 “He frustrates the plotting of
the shrewd, So that their hands cannot attain success. 13 “He captures the wise
by their own shrewdness And the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted”
14.
VS 2:17-18 - “17 Then that which was
spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she refused to be comforted, Because they
were no more”” - Matthew quotes from Jeremiah 31:15 the
prophesy that was fulfilled when Herod slew these children
14.1.
Rachel was the wife of Jacob who bore to him Joseph
and Benjamin, and she was buried there near to Bethlehem, and the sense of what
this prophesy of Rachel is bringing out is that it is as if Rachel, the
matriarchal mother of the environs of Bethlehem, was from her very grave
weeping over the sorrow and devastation of the women who lost their babies by
murder to Herod
14.2.
This verse quoted from Jeremiah had an initial
fulfillment in Jeremiah’s time when the Israelites were taken into captivity to
14.3.
Since
14.4.
It is only natural to ask the question as to why
would the Lord who is overseeing the protection and providence for the raising
of His Son not also protect these innocent little children from this murderous
and completely undeserving attack by Herod?
14.4.1.
There occur some things in life in which we should
honestly take the position that we really do not know why the Lord allows them
to happen, however we must also keep in mind that He is in control and that all
of His actions are taken for the noblest and most benevolent of reasons
14.4.2.
It is also the case that many evil things that
happen in this life are simply the result of the sin of man and that when God
created man as free moral agents that He considered the risk of doing so worth
while, knowing of the great good that would later come as a result of the
outpouring of His grace upon undeserving men’s lives
14.4.3.
It has also been suggested that these babies were
the first martyrs for Christ, and that since most believe that Christ’s death
atones for the sins of those who do not know any better and have not reached an
age of accountability, that these babies will be given the crowns of martyrs in
heaven. Perhaps the later part of
Jeremiah’s prophesy in chapter 31 reveals this:
Jer. 31:16-17, “16 Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from
weeping, And your eyes from tears; For
your work shall be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they shall return from
the land of the enemy. 17 “And there is
hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “And your children shall return to
their own territory”
14.5.
It is a sad note here that this verse in Jeremiah
reveals that these women ‘refused to be comforted’, for we Christians should
never refuse to be comforted, for the Lord will always give us His comfort in
all of our affliction if we will but let Him do so
14.6.
Ramah was on the outskirts of
15.
VS 2:19-23 - “19 But when Herod was dead,
behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
20 “Arise and take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel;
for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 And he arose and took the
Child and His mother, and came into the
15.1.
Again we see the obedience of Joseph in taking
mother and child and doing as the Lord commands, and thus going back to
15.2.
Archelaus was one of Herod’s sons, and he took over
for his father, however he was not made king but rather a tetrarch until such time
as he could prove himself to be worthy of such a title, however he was every
bit as evil and murderous as his father, so Joseph knowing this decided that he
should take his son back to his own home town of Nazareth
15.2.1.
15.3.
15.4.
15.5.
When Nathaniel was called to follow Jesus many years
later, he asked the question concerning Jesus, “Can anything good come out of
15.5.1.
15.5.2.
For some reason this name of “
15.6.
There is not a scripture in our Old Testament which
states that the Messiah shall be called a Nazarene, so we should ask ourselves
what is meant by this reference to an Old Testament prophesy in Jesus being
called a Nazarene?
15.6.1.
Some have suggested that the people of Matthew’s day
were aware of some writing from an Old Testament prophet that is no longer in
existence, and that Matthew is referring to this writing
15.6.2. Jesus is
called ‘the branch’ in a prophesy in Is. 11:1, and the name of