Day 2: Magi Visit, Flight to Egypt, Return to Nazareth

Reading: Matthew 2

Listen to: Matthew chapter 2

“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” – Matthew 2:11 (ESV)

Historical Context

Matthew’s Gospel was written primarily for a Jewish-Christian audience, likely in Antioch of Syria, between AD 50 and 70. Matthew’s overriding concern is to demonstrate that Jesus fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures. This chapter alone contains four explicit “fulfillment quotations” – passages introduced with “this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet” – more than any other single chapter in Matthew. Every major event of Jesus’ early life was anticipated by the prophets, and therefore Jesus is the true Messiah of Israel.

The chapter opens with the Magi (Greek: magoi) from the East. The term originally referred to a priestly caste among the Medes and Persians skilled in astronomy and dream interpretation; by the first century it had broadened to include wise men from various Eastern cultures. Matthew does not specify their number – the tradition of three comes from the three gifts. Their origin “from the East” (apo anatolon) most likely points to Persia or Babylon. The significance is profound: Gentile scholars from a pagan land are among the first to worship the Jewish Messiah, while Herod and Jerusalem’s religious leaders are troubled and hostile. This irony anticipates the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).

The guiding star (aster) has been the subject of astronomical speculation – a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 7 BC, a comet, or a supernova. Yet Matthew’s description of the star “going before them” and “coming to rest” suggests divine guidance beyond natural phenomena. The Old Testament background is Numbers 24:17, where Balaam – himself a pagan seer from the East – prophesied, “A star shall come out of Jacob.” Matthew’s Jewish readers would not have missed this connection.

Herod the Great ruled Judea as a Roman client-king from 37 to 4 BC and was notorious for paranoid cruelty, executing three of his own sons and his wife Mariamne. Augustus reportedly quipped it was safer to be Herod’s pig (hus) than his son (huios). His reaction to a rival “king of the Jews” is entirely in character. The scribes he consults correctly cite Micah 5:2, identifying Bethlehem as the Messiah’s birthplace, yet none of them goes to see for themselves. This passive indifference is as damning as Herod’s active hostility.

The three gifts carry symbolic significance recognized by early church fathers. Gold signifies kingship. Frankincense, burned in temple worship, signifies deity. Myrrh, used in embalming, signifies suffering and death. The Greek proskyneo (“worshiped”) is the same word used throughout Matthew for the worship of God – the Magi are worshiping the divine King, not merely honoring a human ruler.

The flight to Egypt fulfills Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” In its original context Hosea referred to the Exodus. Matthew reads this typologically: Jesus recapitulates Israel’s experience. He is the true Israel, the faithful Son who succeeds where the nation failed.

The massacre of the innocents is connected to Jeremiah 31:15, Rachel weeping for her children as her descendants are taken into exile. Matthew sees a recurrence of this grief: children of Bethlehem are again destroyed by a tyrant. Given Bethlehem’s small size, the number killed was perhaps fifteen to twenty boys – localized atrocities tragically common under Herod, which explains the absence of other historical records.

After Herod’s death in 4 BC, fear of his son Archelaus (eventually deposed by Rome in AD 6 for cruelty) redirects the family to Nazareth. Matthew’s final fulfillment quotation – “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Nazoraios) – is his most debated, since no Old Testament verse contains the exact phrase. The most likely explanation is a wordplay on netser (“branch” or “shoot”) from Isaiah 11:1. The obscure town of Nazareth becomes the hometown of the Messianic Branch. Throughout this chapter, divine sovereignty operates through and despite human wickedness: Herod’s fury, political instability, and geographical displacement all serve to place Jesus exactly where prophecy said he would be.

Study Questions

1. The Magi were pagan astrologers from the East, yet they were the first to seek and worship the newborn King. What does this tell us about how God reveals himself to people outside the expected channels?

2. The chief priests and scribes knew exactly where the Messiah would be born, yet none of them went to Bethlehem. How can knowledge of Scripture coexist with a failure to act on it?

3. Matthew sees Jesus reliving Israel’s story – going down to Egypt and being called back. What does this “Jesus as the true Israel” pattern mean for understanding his mission?

4. Herod’s political power could not ultimately stop God’s purposes. How does this chapter encourage us when we see evil and injustice seemingly prevailing in the world?

5. The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh point to Jesus as King, God, and sacrificial victim. Which of these aspects of Jesus’ identity is most challenging or surprising to you?

Cross-References

• Numbers 24:17 – Balaam’s prophecy of a star rising out of Jacob.
• Micah 5:2 – The Messiah will come from Bethlehem Ephrathah.
• Hosea 11:1 – “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
• Jeremiah 31:15 – Rachel weeping for her children.
• Isaiah 11:1 – The “Branch” (netser) from Jesse’s stump, likely behind the Nazarene fulfillment.
• Exodus 1:15-22 – Pharaoh’s order to kill Hebrew male infants, a typological parallel to Herod’s massacre.