THE GOSPELS: LESSON 6:

THE VISIT OF THE MAGI AND FLIGHT TO EGYPT

TEXT: LUKE 2: 22 - 39 and MATTHEW 2: 1 - 8

Figure 1 The temple in Jerusalem (artist’s rendition).

LUKE 2: 22 - 39: THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.

Verses 22 - 24: The Law of Moses (Lev. 12: 1 - 8) said that a woman was unclean for 40 days following the birth of a male child. She was “unclean” for seven days, then she was given a “time out” on the eighth day so the child could be circumcised. Then for 33 more days (total of 40 days) she was unclean. This meant she had to withdraw from all social contacts, could not go to the temple, and could not (obviously) have relations with her husband. Then after the forty days were completed, she was to take the baby to the temple and offer a sacrifice. If the woman was poor, and could not afford a lamb for the offering, she was allowed to offer two turtledoves or two pigeons, which could be secured for a few pennies. Since that is what Mary offered, we must assume that she was poor.

Verses 25 - 38: Simeon and Anna testify that Jesus is the promised Messiah. A very beautiful story. Simeon’s prophecy of verses 34 and 35 gives us a glimpse of Mary’s agonies: “a sword will pierce your own soul.”

Verse 39: Everything that is recorded in Matthew 2, the visit of the Magi, the slaughter of the innocents, and the flight to Egypt are skipped over by Luke. That is why we have 4 gospels: Matthew supplies what Luke skips, and later Luke provides many details left out by Matthew, Mark, and John. The only way to get the WHOLE story of Jesus is to consider all four gospels.

MATTHEW 2: 1 - 8. THE INTRIGUES OF HEROD.

Verse 1: Wise men: from the Greek word magos (pl. magi), meaning a magician or astrologer. These were the “scientists” or Wise Men of eastern cultures. They studied the stars, among other things.

“. . . from the east . . .” This phrase generally means “from beyond the Euphrates River.” The Euphrates was the easternmost border of “civilization.” So, these Magi were most likely from Babylonia or Persia. Since the Jews had been held in captivity there, they would have been familiar with Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks (Dan. 9: 24 - 27) and would have anticipated the coming of the Messiah. Babylon (where modern-day Baghdad stands) was about 700 miles east of Jerusalem.

Verse 2: Obviously the Magi knew that the Messiah HAD been born, not WAS to be born. They arrived AFTER Jesus had been born.

“. . . we have seen his star in the east . . .” This was not a normal star they followed, it was a bright light in the sky which guided them from Assyria to Judea (see verse 9). A star does not move and behave as it does here.

Verse 3: These Magi were big news! ALL Jerusalem was troubled about their message. The word “troubled” does not necessarily mean upset, the word means “stirred up,” as mud is stirred up from the bottom of a disturbed pond. In other words, all Jerusalem was talking about these men and their reason for coming.

Verses 4 - 6: Herod wants to know where the Christ (Messiah) is to be born, and his own “Wise Men” tell him Bethlehem. The prophecy is from Micah 5: 2.

Verse 7: Herod called the Magi to a secret meeting and asked them when the star appeared. We know why he wanted that information, and it wasn’t so he could worship the child! How long had the Magi journeyed to get to Jerusalem? It depends where they started from, but if they started from Babylon or Ur, they would have traveled at least two months, and if they had come from much farther their journey could have taken a year. (Traditions say they came from Ethiopia, India and China! India and China are possible, but unlikely. Ethiopia is west of Judea, so that is clearly out.)

Verse 8: Herod sends them to Bethlehem with a lie and instructions to report back. He had no intention of worshiping this new king!

VERSES 9 - 12: THE MAGI WORSHIP THE CHRIST CHILD.

Verse 9: This star does not act like a normal star. Bethlehem is only seven miles from Jerusalem, yet it led them to the very house where Jesus was living.

Verse 10: Again we must realize this “star” was a miraculous guide from God, not a real star. Real stars do not go off and on as needed.

Verse 11: Notice that the family is not in the stable, they now are renting a house (or possibly a room in someone’s house).

          There are three gifts mentioned, which has led many to claim there were only three Magi. Don’t you suppose more than one could have given the same present?

NOTE: Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, is probably the one who started the story of three wise men. She even gave them names: Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar! She had quite an imagination.

THE GIFTS:

Gold: Legal tender in all parts of the civilized world.

Frankincense: An aromatic resin of a Middle Eastern shrub, highly prized as an incense and perfume. It was one of the “spices” used to prepared bodies for burial. This very same gift may later have been used to prepare Christ’s body before it was placed in the tomb.

Myrrh: A resin from a Middle Eastern shrub. It had many aromatic and medicinal uses, especially to treat sores of the mouth. It was sometimes mixed with wine and used as a general anaesthetic. Jesus was offered this mixture as he hung on the cross. (Mark 15: 23) Myrrh is of the same plant family as our modern-day camphor.

Verse 12: The Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went back home another way (probably via the southern highway which would have taken them around the southern end of the Dead Sea and then eastward).

VERSES 13 - 15: THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT.

AGAIN, we have an angel speaking to someone in a dream! This is what Joel prophesied in Joel 2: 28. “. . . your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”

The prophecy “Out of Egypt have I called my son” is from Hosea 11: 1.

Verses 16 - 18: The slaughter of the innocents.

          Herod killed all the children 2 and under because he wasn’t sure when the Magi had first seen the star. This is not the greatest atrocity of this mad and evil king, but it is so bad that Rachel, the mother of all the Jews, (buried near Bethlehem) is shown figuratively rising from her tomb and weeping over the fate of these murdered children.

          Just before his death, Herod invited guests from all the major families of Judea to his palace and then instructed his guards to kill all of them at the moment of his death so that there would be tears and wailing all through the land after his demise. He was surely one of the most wicked kings who ever lived.

VERSES 19 - 23: RECALLED TO JUDEA, JOSEPH TAKES HIS FAMILY BACK HOME TO NAZARETH.

Verse 19: Herod died shortly after Passover, 4 B.C., which would make it at the end of April.

Verse 20: Again we have another dream where Joseph is told to come back home.

Verses 21 - 23: Joseph comes back and finds Archelaus, the son of Herod, on the throne, so he leaves Judea and goes up to his old home in Galilee: Nazareth. The prophecy mentioned is very obscure, and probably not from the scriptures. (Though some say it is from Isaiah 11: 1, I doubt it.) We know from Acts 11: 28 that there were prophecies not recorded in the scriptures, but referred to by the scriptures.

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