the Return to Nazareth Matthew 2:20 | 1507
Mt 2:11 ❖ What does it look like to give our best to Jesus?
find him, re port to me, so that I too may go and wor ship him.”
9 Af ter they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them un til it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were over joyed. 11 On com ing to the house, they saw the child with his moth er Mary, and they bowed down and wor shiped him. a Then they opened their trea sures and pre sent ed him with gifts b of gold, frank in cense and myrrh. 12 And hav ing been warned c in a dream d not to go back to Her od, they re turned to their coun try by an oth er route.
2:11 a Isa 60:3 b Ps 72:10
2:12 c Heb 11:7 d ver 13, 19, 22;
Mt 27:19
2:13 e Ac 5:19 f ver 12, 19, 22
14 So he got up, took the child and his moth er dur ing the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed un til the death of Her od. And so was ful filled what the Lord had said through the proph et:“ Out of Egypt I called my son.” a g
16 When Her od re al ized that he had been out wit ted by the Magi, he was fu ri ous, and he gave or ders to kill all the boys in Beth le hem and its vi cin i ty who were two years old and un der, in ac cor dance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the proph et Jer e mi ah was fulfilled:
18“ A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” b h
The Escape to Egypt The Return to Nazareth
13 When they had gone, an an gel e of 19 Af ter Her od died, an an gel of the the Lord ap peared to Jo seph in a dream. f Lord ap peared in a dream i to Jo seph in
“ Get up,” he said,“ take the child and his 2:15 g Ex 4:22, 23; Hos 11:1 Egypt 20 and said,“ Get up, take the child moth er and es cape to Egypt. Stay there
2:18 and his moth er and go to the land of un til I tell you, for Her od is go ing to h Jer 31:15 2:19 search for the child to kill him.” i ver 12, 13, 22 a
15 Hosea 11:1 b
18 Jer. 31:15
2:9 – 12 The purpose of the magi’ s pilgrimage to see the child is accomplished as they“ bowed down and worshiped him”( v. 11). It is doubtful that at this time these quasi- pagan religious figures understand Jesus’ divine nature. Yet their worship is far more than even they understand.
“ Gold” is the most- often mentioned valued metal in Scripture.“ Incense” was used in Israel ceremonially as part of a recipe for the only incense permitted on the altar( Ex 30:9, 34 – 38). A dead body was prepared for burial by washing, dressing it in special garments, and packing it with fragrant“ myrrh” and other spices to stifle the smell of a body as it decayed.
Joseph was visited in a dream by an angel. It seems plausible that the same angel appears in the magi’ s warning dream( v. 12). If so, the warning in a dream is consistent with the view that the star guiding them was an angel.
2:1 – 12 The very act of sacrificial giving defines what it means to love each other. The magi did not know the full identity of Jesus as we are privileged to know, yet they demonstrated worship and gift- giving at the arrival of the king of the Jews. Our sacrificial worship and love of Jesus will produce true, sacrificial love for one another.
At this most fundamental level, Matthew teaches us that Jesus’ arrival in history to initiate the salvation of his people from their sins surely requires that we give ourselves to him. When we do so, his life becomes the pattern for our own lives.
UNCORRECTED PROOF
2:13 – 15 Once the magi escape safely, the angel of the Lord again appears in a dream to warn Joseph about Herod’ s scheme to murder the child. Joseph is again immediately obedient, escaping to Egypt by night.
Matthew points to the flight and later return from Egypt as a“ fulfillment of Scripture.” Matthew has a multifaceted perspective on the way that Jesus“ fulfills” the OT Scriptures.( 1) In some cases,“ fulfill” can indicate the way in which the events of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry enact what the prophets predicted.( 2) In other cases,“ fulfill” can indicate the way in which Jesus brings to its intended full meaning the entire OT Scripture.( 3) In still other cases, Matthew’ s use of“ fulfill” can indicate the way in which Jesus’ earthly life and ministry mirror certain aspects of the national history of Israel. 2:16 – 18 No other historical records exist of this incident, which is not surprising since Bethlehem was a somewhat small, rural town at this time. The events of Jesus’ earthly life repeat the pattern of earlier attempts by a foreign power to wipe out God’ s chosen people. 2:19a Herod died at the age of sixty- nine in March, 4 BC. Herod divided his kingdom between his sons, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip. Herod Antipas ruled the region of Jesus’ primary ministry. 2:19b – 23 The family probably stayed in Egypt no more than a year. When they discover that Archelaus is ruling over Judea, Joseph detours to Nazareth in the region of Galilee, a region governed by Herod Antipas.
Nazareth was originally settled by people from