Matthew Chapter 2

¹ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

• Herod was appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate. The Herodian Kingdom included Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, and Galilee and several regions east of the Jordan River such as Perea, Batanaeam, Auraniti, and Trachonitis. When Herod died this Kingdom was divided among his sons into the Herodian Tetrarchy.
• The wise men that came from the East of Jerusalem are often portrayed as being just 3 wise men…. perhaps because the wise men presented 3 gifts to Jesus. In truth, it isn’t known how many wise men there were.
• The wise men, called magi, came from the East of Jerusalem. This could be Egypt or Persia (modern day Iran).
• They were seeking the true king of the Jews, Jesus. They knew the prophecy of his birth, they understood the significance of Jesus’s birth, and they came with gifts to worship him.

² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

• When they arrived there in Jerusalem, they started asking for the location of the newly born King of the Jews.
• The star in the east was a sign of his birth, and they were following it.

³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

• The wise men knew about the birth of the new King of the Jews, but the people in Jerusalem seemed to be clueless.
• Herod was worried about losing his throne. This makes me wonder if the people who were troubled by the idea weren’t troubled because they feared an uprising.

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

• Herod consulted with the chief priest and scribes because he knew they knew the scriptures and the prophecies. This tells me that Herod had to know the truth, that the word of God the chief priest and scribes taught was true and decided anyway to attempt to kill the rightful king who was sent by God… the Lord Jesus. So, right from the moment of birth, there were attempts made to kill Jesus.

⁵ And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

⁶ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

• Micah 5:2 ² But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

⁷ Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

• Herod was trying to find out the exact birthdate of Jesus to narrow down his search.

⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

• Silly Herod thought he was going to fool these wise men with the lie of wanting to come to worship the newborn king.

⁹ When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

• These wise men were filled with joy over getting to worship the new King in person.

¹¹ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

• The story goes that the gold is for kingship, the frankincense is for priesthood and the myrrh is for his death. These were standard gifts for honoring a king.

¹² And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

¹³ And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

• Herod was about to start killing all the children under 2 years old. The Lord God sent an Angel to tell Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt because Herod was going to try and kill him. Egypt was out of Herod’s governance because Herod was only a client king over Judea and had no control out of the territory. A client king is one that has power over a region that comes under control of a greater ruler over all of it.

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

• They left right away.

¹⁵ And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

• Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
• Herod must have spent his life paranoid and watching for people born at the time that the star appeared…so Jesus wasn’t safe there until he died…and God protected him by keeping him safe in Egypt.
• It occurs to me that Jesus was called out of Egypt…and the 12 tribes of Israel were delivered from Egypt when Moses led them out.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

• Herod knew the prophecy was true, still he was so sold out to wickedness he murdered all the babies under 2 years old. I can’t imagine the horror for the parents.

¹⁷ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁸ In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

• Jeremiah 31:15 ¹⁵ Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

¹⁹ But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

²⁰ Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

²¹ And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

• Archelaus took over for his father and likely kept the same standing order to kill anyone born at the time of the appearance of the star that signified the birth of the King.

²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

• In this verse, we see the word PROPHETS plural of prophet… meaning more than one prophet spoke of this. While there is no one verse that says clearly that Jesus would be called a Nazarene, it’s because of how this is used here. The people of Galilee were considered lowly among others… what people would call low class today. You can see this when you look at Nicodemus, who was defending Jesus before the other Pharisees, and they asked him if he was also a Galilean. Nicodemus was the same Pharisee who came to Jesus by night in John 3 (which I think means he was sneaking over to talk to Jesus, so the other Pharisees didn’t know). Another instance of the lowly opinion of people from that region was in John 1:46 “ And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”
  It’s also stated in Old Testament prophecies Isaiah 11:1 & 53:3 and Psalms 22.