Wise men from the east come to honor Jesus

Their coming to Jerusalem: Misconceptions and legends abound about these wise men; they were not kings, but wise men (astronomers); there were not only three, but probably a great company; they seem to have not come on the birth night, but many days later. You can even find their names (supposedly Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar) and see their skulls in a cathedral in Cologne! But these ancient scientists from Persia were on an important mission; they probably had been alerted to the prophetic significance of their times by the prophesies of Daniel and other Old Testament prophets. Jewish legends say that Daniel himself, as an official of the Persian government, founded this order of Magi (wise men), and instructed them to watch for the Messiah through the generations - Messianic expectation was not limited to Israel.

There has been considerable speculation on what the star was that they saw in the East; some say a curious conjunction of planets, others a comet, and these are possible, but it is also possible that God provided a completely unique phenomenon for them. Whatever it was, it is significant that God was meeting them in their own medium: He guides the astronomers by a star.

The wise men come first to Jerusalem, assuming that the leaders of the Jews would be aware of (and excited about) the birth of their Messiah; they are about to find that this isn't the case at all.

³⁾ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod is troubled at the news brought by the wise men. Herod the Great (one of several Herods mentioned in the Bible, and the ancestor of the others) was famous for both his magnificent public works, and his ruthless, cruel paranoia.  

Herod was not a Jew at all, but an Edomite; yet he was recognized by Rome as a vassal king over Judea; the Jews tempered their great hatred of him with admiration for his building projects, such as the improvements made to the second temple. Motivated by his great paranoia and cruelty, he had murdered the Sanhedrien, his wife, his mother in-law, and his three sons. When Herod knew that his death was approaching, he had the most distinguished leaders of Jerusalem arrested on false charges. He ordered that as soon as he died, they should all be killed - he knew well that no one would mourn his own death, so he was determined that some tears be shed when he died. 

The fact that all Jerusalem was troubled with Herod is significant; this was due either to the fact that the people of Jerusalem (rightly) feared what sort of paranoid outburst might come from Herod upon hearing of a rival king being born, or because of the size and dignity of this caravan from the East.

 ⁴⁾ When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵⁾ "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
 ⁶⁾ " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

Herod is instructed regarding the Messiah's coming by the chief priests and scribes. Sadly, these experts have the right information (quoting from Micah 5:2), but seem personally uninterested in meeting the Messiah for themselves, just like many "Bible experts" today.

Micah 5:2: Ruler of Israel - the throne of David did not exist in the times of Christ.

“from everlasting”: One born in Bethlehem is going to be preexistent!

⁷⁾ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸⁾ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

Herod inquires as to how long the star appeared, and later decides to pick two-year-olds and under to be slain!

⁹⁾After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰⁾When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹⁾On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ¹²⁾And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The wise men present gifts to Jesus and leave without informing Herod. The star continued to guide them, apparently re-appearing; surely this was a supernatural phenomenon.

The idea that there were three wise men comes from the fact that there were three gifts; gold representing royalty, frankincense representing priesthood, and myrrh representing death.

More important than their gifts is the fact that they worshipped Jesus; a curious sight to see these impressive dignitaries bowing before a young child.

Their worship is also manifested in obedience; they are obedient to the heavenly dream and leave without serving as Herod's informants.

We see here three different responses to Jesus, and all men respond in one of these three ways:   

Herod: he displayed an open hatred and hostility towards Jesus.

The chief priests and the scribes committed the sin of indifference towards Jesus, all the while retaining their religious respectability (this is our great danger).

 The wise men sought out Jesus, and worshipped Him - even at great cost.

We see here Jesus coming to the Jew first, then the Gentile; to the humble and ignorant first, then the honorable and learned; to the poor first, then the rich; to the West first, then the East.

Not following Herod’s instructions, but led by the star. On the 8th day the baby is circumcised in the Temple, then plus 33 days he is presented on the 40th day in the Temple (according to Lev12) and we find this in Luke 2, v. 21. Returned to Nazareth, not Bethlehem. There is a view that the wise men, who came maybe a year or two later, that they saw the child in Nazareth. (See note for verse

23.) “young child”: not “baby” or “infant.” “Gifts”: Ones mentioned are gold, frankincense and myrrh, not necessarily all mentioned. Maybe others but these mentioned because they are prophetic:

gold – deity

frankincense - priesthood (mixed into the showbread by the priests)

myrrh - is crushed, an ointment or spice for burial Prophet, Priest, and King 

In the millennium, we find from Isaiah, that he is given gifts: gold and frankincense (but no myrrh because His death is behind Him). Herod starts in Bethlehem, destroying children.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³⁾ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." ¹⁴⁾ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵⁾  where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus find refuge in Egypt. There was a large Jewish community in Egypt; we should not think it unusual that they should be guided there. But we are impressed by Joseph's rapid (leaving the very night of the dream) and complete obedience; this was not a particularly easy thing to do. In the process, another prophecy (though one that might not normally be applied to the Messiah) is fulfilled (namely, Hosea 11:1); even as Israel as a nation came out from Egypt, so does the Son of God.  

Hosea 11:1: 700 years before!  Exodus 4:22 (Israel nationally is spoken of as God’s son); There are times when the text has double meanings, here in

Hosea means both Israel nationally and Jesus when God calls His son out of Egypt.

Isaiah 41:8: Abraham as the friend of God, and Israel spoken of as if the nation was an individual, here Israel my servant.

Isaiah 42:1-4: “spirit upon him,” subject changed, no longer referring to nation, but now the Messiah. All through Isaiah, the thought shifts between the nation and the Messiah. The classic example is Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53, the Jews interpret this chapter nationally, not individually. Yet, Matthew here points out that some of these passages that discuss the nation Israel, also have a valid Messianic interpretation.

Hosea:

1) pollution of Israel’s attitudes and how it came about;

2) pollution and it’s punishment;

3) love song of Yahweh with His adulterous bride (taking her back).

Matthew showing context of verse has a double meaning, and even further the book of Hosea has a double meaning: Herod is an alien power and he is on the throne, he drives the Son into Egypt, and God calls the Son out of Egypt. The Son is called ‘the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world’ by John the Baptist. Very Jewish title, the Passover Lamb! Where was Passover instituted? Out of Egypt! Matthew is implying that there is a symbolic validity to the history of Christ in terms of the history of Israel. As Israel was driven into Egypt and then called out, and that concept is tied up with the Passover Lamb, likewise, Jesus Christ, as a babe, was sent to Egypt for a while is called out and then goes into the wilderness (like Israel). Jesus fasted 40 days in the wilderness; Israel was in the wilderness 40 years.

¹⁶⁾ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷⁾ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah 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."

Herod was angry that the wise men did not honor his request to tell him where the child was, but instead they left secretly. The last that he had heard, they were headed for Bethlehem (due to Micah 5:2). 

This verse hints that the wise men might not have been there the very day Jesus was born, could have been as much as two years later, due Herod’s act of slaying those two and under.

Satan’s Plot 

Other incidents where babies have been slaughtered:

Pharaoh - where Moses survived.

Revelation 12: From Genesis 3:15 on, Satan’s ambition is to undo the plan of God. He starts with Abel, and as God reveals the line through which the Messiah would come, Satan focuses his attack. As it is noted that He will come through the line of Judah, it is singled out for Satan’s harassment. His slaughtering of the babes in Egypt is no different than the slaughtering of the babes in Bethlehem. As one goes through the royal line, again and again there is a plot where someone is conspiring kill all the babes, yet again and again, one of the children is hidden and escapes.

Prejudice against minority groups is something God hates. Jeremiah 31:15: Doom of dying nation, uttered in tears (Luke 19:44, Isaiah 63).

Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.

Rachel is being used by Jeremiah, idiomatically, as mother Israel. But Rachel is specifically linked to Bethlehem.

Gen 35:18: Death of Rachel. As she died in labor, she called his name Ben-O-ni - son of my sorrow, or travail. Jacob renamed to Benjamin, Son of my right hand. Isaiah 53 notes “a man of sorrow.” Ps 2, the Son of my right hand.

Luke 19:44 - Jesus’ sorrow, perhaps over Jerusalem due to its blindness and forthcoming destruction.

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹⁾ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰⁾ and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
²¹⁾ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.  

²²⁾ But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³⁾ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Fearing the evil son of Herod (Archelaus), they are guided to go north to Nazareth. The phrase He shall be called a Nazarene is not a Biblically recorded prophecy, but probably just a well known rabbinic prophecy or interpretation.

Since to be a Nazarene was a special mark of holiness, it seemed natural that the Messiah would be a Nazarene; but Matthew shows how this was true in a different way - He was from the city of Nazareth, though not a Nazarene through a vow .

Remember that Nazareth was a city that did not have a particularly good reputation (John 1:46); yet the Father did not feel it necessary to have Jesus come from a "good" city.  

What about the "Hidden Years" of Jesus? It is vain to speculate here on what God chose to keep silent; many people who want to distort the Biblical Jesus insert whatever they want during those "silent years" to make Jesus conform to their weird notions. If those years were important, God would have told us!!