Scriptures: Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1-23; Luke 2:1-20
Summary: Matthew’s Gospel records the account of the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, including the attempt on His life by the hands of Herod and the horrendous events that followed.
Joseph and Mary were betrothed to one another. It involved a marriage arranged by both sets of parents, and the details were negotiated by the signing of marriage contracts. This time of betrothal was as binding and serious as the marriage itself, which would not take place until a year later. The couple stayed with their parents for the time. The groom would be busy building a home for himself and his soon-to-be bride while she underwent a time of testing and personal preparation to see if she would remain faithful to him. Infidelity was grounds for divorce or worse.
After the year had passed, the groom would go to the bride’s home, accompanied by a group of friends and family. The marriage ceremony would take place. He would then bring the bride to their new home, followed by the same procession. There would be a time of celebration, then a time of privacy where the marriage would be consummated. It was during this period of betrothal when Mary became pregnant by the work of the Holy Spirit. The news of her pregnancy gave Joseph cause to consider divorcing her and putting her away somewhere safe.
One of the foundations of the Christian faith is the affirmation that the Lord Jesus was born of a virgin, as the Scriptures foretold (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:34-35). Isaiah had made this prophecy seven hundred years before this time, and it was now fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. While He had a human mother, His true Father was God. He was both Divine and human, and if He had been born like anyone else, He would have inherited the same sin nature as we have, and would not have been able to carry out His mission of redeeming us and bearing our sins upon the cross and rising from the dead as proof that His work had been sufficient to reconcile us to God and secure the promise of salvation and eternal life (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53:1-12; John 3:16, 19:30; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6-11, 6:23, 8:31-39, 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15: 1-18, 12-19; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 1:17-18).
Joseph’s mission (vv.20-28) was to marry Mary and not be afraid of what occurred. He was told by the angelic messenger that the baby was of Divine origin, along with the purpose and mission of the Child. The Child would be named JESUS (Yashua – Aramaic), given the mission of redeeming His people Israel (Luke 19:10; John 3:16-17; Acts 13:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3). All these things were done in order that the prophecy given by Isaiah would be fulfilled. Without hesitation, Joseph arose and did as he was told. While he does not speak in the Scriptures, we see that from Joseph’s actions and nature, he was an example of devotion, love, grace, mercy, and obedience to God. He is to be commended for what he did in spite of the circumstances.
Chapter 2 gives the account of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (“house of bread”), the city where a thousand years before, David the king had been born. Joseph had also been born there and had returned with Mary to be registered for the census ordered by the Emperor Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-2). One of Caesar’s vassal “kings” was Herod the Great, who had been put in charge of the region of Judea forty years earlier by Marc Antony, a contemporary of Julius Caesar. Augustus had faced Antony and his paramour, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, in the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. Augustus, whose real name was Octavian, had been adopted by Julius Caesar, ended up being the first emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 B.C. and would rule until his death in 14 AD.
Herod had made his peace with Augustus and was allowed to remain on the “throne” of Judea. Herod was not a pure-blooded Jew but was instead from the region of Idumea. He was seen as a usurper to David’s throne by his Jewish subjects. He was never accepted or liked by them despite his attempts to win them over by rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem along with other public works projects that strengthened the region economically and culturally.
As Herod grew older, he became more paranoid and suspected everyone around him of conspiring to overthrow him. This turned him into a cruel and bloodthirsty tyrant. He had his own sons and favorite wife put to death due to his suspicions, something he deeply regretted later. When the Magi (‘Wise men”) arrived in Jerusalem, they began asking where the new king had been born (Numbers 24:17, 19). Their question had been based upon the study of the stars and searching through the prophecies of respective nations, concluding that the star in the east was unmistakable in its signification that a royal birth had occurred.
News of these visitors and their inquiry reached Herod’s palace and caused a major disturbance both there and in the streets of Jerusalem. The old, paranoid monarch saw this as yet another threat to his rule. The people’s fears arose because they knew that Herod’s madness would inevitably lead to bloodshed and terror.
Herod summoned his scribes, desiring to know more about this announcement of royalty. They told him that the promised King of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He then summoned the Magi, asking them when the star first appeared. The sighting and following of the star took about two years. Herod then concluded that this Child was still in the area. Now, he showed his devious nature by piously asking them to search for the Child and bring word to him so that he might also worship Him. This was a lie straight from the pit of hell. Satan and the demons had been dreading this time ever since Eden (Genesis 3:15).
Satan would use every means to see that the Promised Messiah would never live to fulfill His purpose and thus, in his deluded mind, thwart the plans of God for redeeming His fallen creation and people. The enemy would use Herod to try and carry out this wicked scheme.
In the meantime, the Magi followed the star until it settled over the house where Jesus and His parents lived. Entering the house, the Magi fell before the Child in an act of worship and presented three gifts. The first gift was gold, the precious metal of royalty and a visible sign of His right to rule over His people. The second gift was an incense known as frankincense, used in the worship of God. It was mixed with olive oil and was used to anoint the priests of Israel. The third gift was a spice called myrrh, which was used to prepare a body for burial. It was, in a sense, a gift grounded in faith, representing the impending death of the king but also a sign of trust in God that the king would rise from death.
These gifts show Jesus’ role as King, High Priest, and Redeemer. After giving the gifts to Jesus, Matthew records that they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, lest they be unwilling participants in a plot to eliminate the One whom Herod saw as a rival for his throne. The source for this account may have come from one of the Magi, from Mary, or from the LORD Himself as Matthew wrote down years later what had been revealed to him.
Verses 13-15 of Chapter 2 tell us that once again, God used a dream to warn Joseph to leave Judea and go to Egypt in order that Herod’s plot would not happen. He immediately responded by getting the family ready and then headed off to Egypt to hide among the Jewish population who were living in Alexandria and other areas of the nation. Undoubtedly, Joseph found work as a carpenter there and was able to provide for his growing family. Mary and Joseph had other children after Jesus was born (Matthew 12:46, 13:55; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:20; John 2:12, 7:5; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:7). Eventually Herod died with no one to mourn for him. Upon hearing that Herod was dead, Joseph decided it was safe to return to Judea, and in doing so, fulfilled a prophecy (Hosea 11:1).
Chapter 2 concludes with verses 16-23 describing the account of Herod’s horrendous order for his soldiers to slaughter all infants two years old and under whose only crime was to have been born at the same time as Jesus. This act of demonic madness fulfilled another prophecy that described the heartbreak of mothers and their inconsolable grief over losing a child (Jeremiah 31:15). The devil and his goons, both supernatural and human, have been declaring war on children and families since the start of civilization. While we shudder at the crime Herod committed, remember that this same evil presence is in the world more so today in the form of abortion, abuse, pedophilia, and other heinous acts that will be avenged by the LORD at the Great White Throne Judgment (Proverbs 6:16; Romans 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15).
No one who has harmed the innocent will be spared, and they will have to answer for their crimes against God (Matthew 18:6). Upon returning from Egypt, Joseph learned that Herod’s son Archelaus had taken over in Judea. This descendant of a madman was the major reason for Joseph to head to Nazareth and set up shop there. The Bible tells us that Jesus “grew in stature, and in favor with God and people” (Luke 2:52). God the Father kept His Son in anonymity until the right time. It came thirty years later with the preaching of His cousin, John the Baptist. The king would then make His appearance.