Matthew 2:1-23

1. Matthew 2 Outline

1. His birth in Bethlehem ( Luke. 2:1-7 )

a.) Bethlehem means “House of Bread” Christ is “The Bread of Life”

b.) Bethlehem is about 5 miles from Jerusalem

c.) More songs sung, more poetry written, more photographs taken, and more trips have been made to the little town of Bethlehem then any other town in the history of the world, because our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ was born there.

d.)He was pre-ordained (prophesied) to be born in Bethlehem by in Micah 5:2 which was written 650 years     before He was born

The Coming Messiah

(Micah 5:2)
2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."

2. The adoration by the shepherds ( Luke 2:8-20 )

Martin Luther wrote in his commentary of the message to the shepherds

"He (the angel) does not say simply, Christ is born, but to you He is born; neither does he say, I bring glad tidings, but to you I bring glad tidings of great joy. Furthermore, this joy was not to remain in them, but it was to be to all the people.

1. Shepherds caring for sheep owned by the priests used for sacrifice in the Temple ministry kept at Bethlehem

2. Shepherds and women could not testify in court as witnesses, no rights in society

3. Shepherds were Religious outcasts, considered too unclean to enter the Temple for cleansing of their sins

1. In Chapter 11 of the Jewish Mishnah, Rabbi Meir writes of  

“The Jewish Views on Trade, Tradesmen, and Trades Guilds”
Abba Gurjan of Zadjan said, “In name of Abba Gurja.  Let not a man bring up his son to be a donkey-driver, nor a camel-driver, nor a barber, nor a sailor nor a shepherd, nor a peddler; for their occupations are those of thieves.”

2. Usually transients looking for any kind of work

3. Uneducated social misfits

4. Odd hours prevented them from obeying religious feasts that made up the Jewish religious calendar

5. Spent all their time watching the sheep even sleeping with them ( John 10:2-4 )

6. When anything came up missing the shepherds were usually accused of stealing it

7. Modern day equivalent would be carnival workers or migrant farm workers, no family near

8. People you would expect to get a notice of the birth of Christ. 

1. Kings

2. Governors

3. Magistrates

4. Caesar

5. Priests

6. Rabbi’s

7. Synagogue Officials

8. Head of the Jewish Ruling Council

9. Military Leaders

10. Wealthy Merchants

11. Men and Women of distinction

9. In fact, many passages of Scripture indicate that God loves to lift up the lowly and humble, while at the same time bringing down the proud and self-satisfied Various scripture that states point;

(2 Samuel 22:28)

"You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low." 

(Psalm 149:4)

"For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation." 

(Isaiah 66:1-2)

"This is what the LORD says: . . . "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." 

(Matthew 23:12)

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

(1 Peter 5:5-6)

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

10. God does not discriminate by class or status or knowledge as Paul so eloquently states in his first letter to the Corinthians: 

(1 Corinthians 1:26-31) 

(26) For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; (27) but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, (28) and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, (29) so that no man may boast before God. (30) But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (31) so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."  

3. The worship by the wise men ( Matthew 2:1-12 )

1. Greek word used here is “magoi“ which translates astrologers as in (Dan 1:20 and Dan 2:2)”

2. Other places in the NT it is more loosely a translation of “kashaph” which means “sorcerer” (Acts 13:6)

3. Babylonians and Persians used them as priests and advisors for the King to interpreting dreams

4. High respect for Daniel and so they followed stars waiting for the Jewish Messiah

5. About two years to make trip

6. Could have been hundreds of people that accompanied them

7. Gifts were meant for a highly respected individual

1. Gold indicates they acknowledged Jesus as a King

2. Frankincense was an ointment used by priests in religious ceremonies, they saw Jesus as a Priest

3. Myrrh was a spice used in burials, these men acknowledged that they Jesus would be martyred

8. Warned in dream to go home a different and not let Herod know of His location8.)

4. Flight to Egypt ( Matthew 2:13-23 )

a.) Joseph did not delay, but arose immediately and left for Egypt

Egypt being a type of the world, Jesus journeyed into Egypt that He might free us from Egypt

b.) With large Jewish population Egypt would be a good place for the messiah to be amongst friends

5. Slaughter of the innocents, ( Matthew 2:16-18 ) ( Jeremiah 31:15 ) ) Last time this happened Moses was raised up by God to deliver His people from Egypt

1. Herod’s legacy of death 

1. At 4’4” Herod saw conspiracies everywhere and did all he could to squelch them

2. In 40 BC had all but two of the Sanhedrim put to death upon taking control of Judea

3. Herod had whole masses slaughtered for rebelling in 37 BC, people in the alleys, people crowded in their houses, and even people who took refuge in the temple. There was no mercy for either young or old, not even the weakest women were spared.

4. In 29 BC Herod had favorite 25 year old wife, Mariamne, put to death for trumped up adultery charges

5. Later he had Mariame’s mother, who testified against her daughter in the adultery trial, put to death

6. In 28 BC he had his sister Salome’s first husband Kostobar put to death for conspiracy

7. In 7 BC Herod puts on trial and convicts two sons Alexandros and Aristobulos for conspiracy and executes them.  This act prompts Augustus Caesar to say of Herod

“It is safer to be Herod’s pig then his son.”

8. Herod orders the death of all male children from the age of two an under

9. Just a few months before his death Herod ordered Judah ben Sariphai and Matthias ben Margaloth (two Scholars of the Torah) and their followers burnt at the stake for insurrection in 4 BC

10. Five days before his death he ordered his eldest son Antipater and his heir to be executed

11. Just before his death Herod ordered thousands of Noblemen and religious leaders to be confined in the hippodrome in Jericho.  Upon his death he wanted his sister Salome and her husband Alexas to execute theme so that there would be great mourning upon his death in Judea.  He knew no one would weep upon his death otherwise. 

2. Jeremiah 40:1 tells us that when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea, Ramah was the deportation headquarters.  A town about five miles north of Bethlehem was the location where all the captives were taken to before they were deported to Babylon in 586 BC.  Once again the mothers of Israel would weep for her children.

12. A blessing for those prodigal children in Jeremiah

(Jeremiah 31:16-17)

(16) Thus says the LORD, "Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD, "And they will return from the land of the enemy. (17)  "There is hope for your future," declares the LORD, "And your children will return to their own territory.

6. Return to Israel and ultimately Nazareth ( Matthew 2:19-23 )

1. Nazareth means “Bean Town” or “Sprout Town”  today “Hick Town” 

2. Is 11:1  “A rod out of the stem of Jesse” ie.. “A sprout out of the stem of Jesse from “Sprout Town”

1. The Reign of Jesse's Offspring

(Isaiah 11:1)
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

1. The reign of the Herod’s and how they relate to the Scriptures 

Herod’s sons and grandsons who ruled after his death

1. Herod Archelaus (4 BC-6 AD) (Son) Matthew 2:22

2. Herod Philip the Tetrarch (4 BC–39 AD) (Son) Luke 3:1

3. Herod Antipas (4 BC–39 AD) (Son) Married his sister-in-law, John the Baptist condemned him for it Matt 14:4; Mark 6:17-18; Luke 3:19.  Had John beheaded Mark 6:19; Matt 14:6-12; Mark 6:21-29.  He wanted to kill Jesus, Jesus called him a fox, Luke 13:31-32.  He finds no reason charge Jesus with crime deserving death though he and his guards treat him with scorn and dress him in a purple robe and sends him back to Pilot, Luke 23:6-12.

4. Herod Agrippa I (37 AD–44 AD) (Grandson by Aristobulus) As punishment for not giving glory to God for a great speech, he was consumed by worms.  Acts 12:20-23

5. Herod Agrippa II (50 AD-100 AD) (Great grandson by Herod Agrippa) He Listened to Paul but once Paul appealed to Rome He had no power to set him free

2. King Herod Profile Herod was an Edomite, not Jew, a descendent of EsauDeu 17:14-15

14 "When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess

it and live in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations who are

around me,'15  you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God

chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves;

you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

47 BC Julius Caesar made Antipater, a “wiley Idumaean,” Procurator of Judea.

Upon his death Antipater had Judaea divided into 2 territories with his sons as the governors, Galilee falling to Herod. Upon his fathers death he shrewdly aligned himself with Mark Anthony who appointed him tetrarch of Judaea, while the Roman Senate made him king of all Judea in (40 BC).  Herod thus ruled as a puppet king under Rome.  Herod was last king to have complete control over Judaea, upon his death Rome had Judaea split into 3 districts with Herod’s sons appointed tetrarchs over theses areas, but with significantly less authority then their father had.  

Star of David

• The word aster may mean a comet; the star of the Magi was a comet. But we have no record of any such comet. 

• The star may have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (7 B.C.), or of Jupiter and Venus (6 B.C.). 

• The Magi may have seen a stella nova, a star which suddenly increases in magnitude and brilliancy and then fades away.

• Ancient historians Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, and Suetonius bear witness that, at the time of the birth of Christ, there was throughout the Roman Empire a general unrest and expectation of a Golden Age and a great deliverer about to be born.

• The Magi would have been curious enough to keep an eye out for any sign that would lead to their discovering where and when this event would take place, it is what they lived for. 

•  Finally, I believe that the star was similar to the fire that hovered over the tabernacle at night throughout the Israelites wondering in the desert in Exodus 40:38.  Created by God then for the Israelites direction and safety, and now so the Magi could be directed to the Messiah.