Matthew 2

CHAPTER 2THEME: The visit of the wise men after the birth of the Lord Jesus; the flight into Egypt; the return to Nazareth

Matthew 2:1

THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECYAll of this is a historical record of what took place, but back of it there is a tremendous truth being presented, and we don’t want to miss that. We have said before that each Gospel was directed to meet the needs of a particular group of people and that Matthew was written to the nation of Israel. It is for religious people. Recorded here is the fulfillment of four prophecies. To show how these Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled at the birth of Jesus is the purpose, I believe, of this chapter. I am sure there were many sincere students of the Scriptures living in Christ’s day who wondered how all of these prophecies could be fulfilled.

It seemed difficult, if not impossible. Let me list several here, then we will see how they were fulfilled at the time of Christ’s birth: (1) He was to be born in Bethlehem (see Mic_5:2); (2) He was to be called out of Egypt (see Hos_11:1); (3) There was to be weeping in Ramah (see Jer_31:15); and (4) He was a root from the stem of Jesse and therefore to be called a Nazarene (see Isa_11:1). Since Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, why should there be weeping in Ramah, which is about as far north of Jerusalem as Bethlehem is south of Jerusalem? And He was to be called a Nazarene although He would be born in Bethlehem and called out of Egypt. The question is: How could all of these prophecies be fulfilled in a little baby? Well, Matthew shows how literally, accurately, and easily all were fulfilled without any strain on prophecy or on history. It just came about as God said it would come about. In our day when there are certain prophecies that relate to the second coming of Christ, we may find it difficult to correlate them and to see the way in which they can all be fulfilled. I’m of the opinion we are coming to the time of their fulfillment, and we are going to find out that it all will take place in a normal, natural way. It looks like a jigsaw puzzle to us down here, but, when we get into His presence and it is all fulfilled, it will have been just as natural as the prophecies about His first coming. Every little piece in the jigsaw puzzle will fit into place, and we’re going to wonder why in the world we didn’t see it at the time. THE VISIT OF THE WISE MENThis is the historical record of the coming of the wise men. Notice that they came in the days of Herod the king. One thing that Herod did not want was competition. In fact, the one thing that Herod would not tolerate was competition. So the wise men coming to Jerusalem really alerted him. “Behold there came three wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” Is that what your Bible says? You say, “No, you’ve inserted the number three.” Well, isn’t that what you’ve been taught by your Christmas cards? I think a great many people know more about the Christmas story from Christmas cards than from the Bible, and therefore they have many inaccurate impressions. I’ll attempt to correct several of them in this chapter. First, you will notice that the record doesn’t tell us there were three wise men. I don’t know how many there were, but I doubt whether three wise men would have disturbed Herod or have excited Jerusalem. I do believe that three hundred men would have done so. These wise men who came from the East evidently came from different areas. They had been studying the stars, and when this new star appeared, they joined forces and came to Jerusalem. I don’t know how many there were, but I’m almost sure it wasn’t three, and I believe three hundred would be more nearly true. But, please, don’t say that I said there were three hundred! But the wise men came

Matthew 2:2

They were looking for a king, and that was the thing which disturbed Herod, the king. “We have seen his star in the east.” In poetry that is called the eastern star, and, actually, there is an organization by that name. The worthy matron of that group was a member of my church in Nashville, and she was greatly upset when she heard me say that it was not an eastern star. If they had seen His star in the east and it had been an eastern star, the wise men would have ended up in India or China. The star was in the west! The wise men were in the east. The star was in the west, and they followed it.

They came west, not east. My question is this: How in the world did they associate a star with a king, and how did they identify it with Israel? All I know is that in that section of the East, the people had a prophecy given by Balaam, which is recorded in Num_24:17. (Remember that old Balaam gave this prophecy concerning the nation Israel.) “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” Notice that the prophecy says a Star shall come out of Jacobthat is, the nation Israel. And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. The star and the sceptre go together. That is the only place I know where they are put together in prophecy in the Old Testament. The wise men in the East had that prophecy, and so they came out of the mysterious East seeking a king. This did disturb the city of Jerusalem and old King Herod.

Matthew 2:3

When there converged on the city of Jerusalem a very impressive delegation of wise men, asking a question like this, the whole city was disturbed. Herod wanted to know about this. This man was Herod the Great, a very superstitious man. I hope that you have a good Bible dictionary and that you will take time to read about the Herod family. They were a bunch of rascals, much like the house of de’Medici. This family was a real first century Mafia. Herod the Great was the biggest rascal of them all. He was an Idumean who had bought his position from the Roman government; he was not of Israel at all. And he was really anxious to locate this One who appeared to be a rival for his throne.

Matthew 2:4

He didn’t ask; he demanded. He said, “I know that you have the Scriptures and in them you have a record of a Messiah that is coming. I want to know where He is to be born.” One of the amazing things is that they were able to tell him.

Matthew 2:5

When Herod asked the scribes this question, they didn’t have to search the Scriptures for it; they knew where it wasMic_5:2. As a matter of fact, they didn’t need even to turn to it, because they had it in their minds. They could quote it. They knew all about the coming of the Messiah. The problem was that their knowledge was academic rather than vital. It was not personally meaningful to them. They are examples of folk who know the history contained in the Bible and they know certain factual truths, but these things carry no personal meaning for them. Since the scribes knew the Old Testament Scriptures so well, you would have thought that they would have gone to the wise men and said, “How about letting us ride down with you? We are looking for the Messiah too!” I wonder today how many people are really looking for the coming of the Lord. We talk about it, and we study a great deal about prophecy. Would you really like to see Him right now? Suppose He broke in right today where you are and into what you are doing. Would He interrupt anything? Would you like to say to Him, “I wish that You would postpone your visit to some other time”? Herod got his information from the scribes

Matthew 2:7

I am going to make a statement now and will try to prove it later: The star had appeared in the night sky sometime before the wise men appeared in Jerusalem. Remember that they made the trip by camelnot by jet plane. It is a long, hard trip by camel! I am of the opinion that they didn’t arrive in Jerusalem until at least a year after the appearance of the star. This wasn’t just a little Christmas celebration for them. As they traveled the long, weary miles, they had been hanging on to the hope of seeing Him and presenting their gifts to Him. Notice that Herod “inquired diligently” the time of the star’s appearance in the sky. Keep that in mind. It will be an important fact later in the story. So Herod sends the wise men on to Bethlehem

Matthew 2:8

He’s being as subtle as an old serpent, and that’s exactly what Herod was. Suppose he had said, “If there’s a king born around here, I’m going to get rid of him,” and then had sent soldiers down to Bethlehem. I can assure you that he would never have found the Child because He would have been hidden. He knew that the clever way and the best way was to let the wise men go down and find the child and then come back and tell him. He said he wanted to go down and worship Him, but of course what he really wanted to do was to kill Him.

Matthew 2:9

Now the star appears again. I think they must have traveled a long time without seeing the star. That ought to answer the nonsense one hears today about there being a confluence of certain stars that happened at one particular time. Matthew makes it clear that this star was a very unusual star; in fact, it was a supernatural star. It was miraculous, and we needn’t try to find an explanation for it. Now, it may be, as many astronomers think, that there was quite a movement in the heavens at that time. When He came, heaven and earth both responded to His coming into this world. I think such things did take place, but the wise men saw a supernatural star.

Matthew 2:11

When they arrived, Jesus was not in the stable behind an inn. The great movement of people in the city of Bethlehem had now all ceased. They had gone back to their homes because the enrollment was over. But this little Baby was newly born, and they couldn’t move Him for a while. Probably such a trip for the Little One would have jeopardized His life. So they had stayed in Bethlehem and had moved into a house. The wise men found them in a house. Again, the Christmas cards show the wise men coming into the stable. Well, unless Joseph pointed out that stable to them, they never even knew where it was. They came to the house. Please note that when they saw the young child with Mary His mother, they fell down and worshiped Him. If ever there was a time when Mary should have been worshiped, this was it. But they didn’t worship herthey were wise men! They worshiped Him and presented to Him their treasures: gold and frankincense and myrrh. It is very interesting to study the facts concerning His second coming as they are related to us in Isa_60:6: “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.” What gift is left out at His second coming? Myrrh! They do not bring myrrh because that speaks of His death. When He comes the second time, nothing will speak of His death. Gold speaks of His birth. He is born a King.

Frankincense speaks of the fragrance of His life. Myrrh speaks of His death. All of this is indicated in the gifts that were brought to Him at His first coming. But at His next coming, myrrh will not be brought to Him. The next time He comes, He won’t come to die upon a cross for the sins of the world. He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Matthew 2:12

The wise men had assumed that Herod was sincere and wanted to come down and worship Him. However, he would have killed the Child had not an angel of the Lord warned the wise men to go back to their own country by a different route. They may have continued south down to Hebron, then crossed over south of the Dead Sea, and thus they would be out of the range of Herod altogether.

Matthew 2:13

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPTThe angel of the Lord appeared also to Joseph and told him that it was time to get the Child out of Bethlehem because Herod would attempt to murder Him.

Matthew 2:14

Notice Joseph’s instant obedience.

Matthew 2:15

This is a quotation from Hos_11:1. This is a marvelous prophecy because it has a historical basis. Out of Egypt the son was called, which was the nation; and out of Egypt the Son was called, who was a Person, this Child. So Joseph took the young Child and the mother to Egypt and stayed there until God called Him out.

Matthew 2:16

Part of what I’m going to say now is supposition, and part is based on solid fact. As I mentioned before, the wise men did not arrive at the time the shepherds arrived at the stable. The wise men came later, and, according to verse Mat_2:11, the family had moved into a house by then. When Herod had had his private session with the wise men, he “inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” I suppose that the wise men said, “Well, it was about a year ago.” If we are accurate in thinking that these wise men came from all quarters of the East and had met in a certain place from which they began their trek to Jerusalem, that would consume a great deal of time in a day when travel was by camel instead of by jet. It may have been a year, it may have been longer, but Herod was so infuriated that the wise men did not come back and report concerning the Child, that he probably said, “Well, if they said it was a year ago when they saw the star, I’ll just double it and make it two years and kill all the children two years old and younger!” Herod was actually a madman.

Matthew 2:17

This is an unusual prophecy also. Jeremiah didn’t say that the weeping would be heard in Bethlehem. I’m sure there was great mourning in Bethlehem too. But Jeremiah mentions Rama (spelled Ramah in the Old Testament), and Rama was about as far north of Jerusalem as Bethlehem was south of Jerusalem. And Rama was Jeremiah’s country, by the way. I imagine that when the soldiers had been given their orders to slay the children, the captain said to Herod, “Where do you want me to begin?” And I think that old Herod said, “Well, just draw a circle around Jerusalem with the radius as far south as Bethlehem and as far north as Rama"yet Rama was not in any way involved in it.

So, you see, Herod slew a great many children. You can imagine the weeping all the way from Bethlehem to Rama, a radius of about ten to twelve miles, or twenty to twenty-five miles across the area. It must have been a heartbreaking time in the lives of these people when they lost their little ones. The prophecy given through Jeremiah was literally fulfilled.

Matthew 2:19

THE RETURN TO NAZARETHI must call attention to this. We are told that the angel of the Lord appeared to Jacob at Peniel (see Gen. 32). Here it is an angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ. Now Christ incarnate is down in Egypt.

Matthew 2:20

It’s essential to get Jesus out of the land of Egypt and back up into Israel. The most important reason is that He has been born under the Law, and He is to live under the Mosaic Law. He is the only One who really ever kept it. He must get out from under the influence of Egypt. He is not to be raised down there as Moses had been and as the children of Israel had been when they were becoming a nation down in Egypt.

Matthew 2:21

By the way, Archelaus was another Herod and very brutal.

Matthew 2:23

“He shall be called a Nazarene.” The Hebrew word for Nazareth was Netzer, meaning a branch or shoot. The city of Nazareth was so called because of its insignificance. The prophecies of Isa_11:1; Isa_53:2-3; and Psa_22:6 are involved in the term Nazarene. But the Lord Jesus was given that term not only because He was a root out of the stem of Jesse, but because He grew up in the city of Nazareth, and He was called a Nazarene, which fulfilled the prophecies. Now we have seen all four of the prophecies dealing with locations in the birth of Christ: born in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, weeping in Rama, and called a Nazarene were fulfilled in a very normal way. He touched base in all of these places, and what seemed rather strange prophecies became very sane realities.