Frameworks:
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 2
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Matthew, chapter 2
v.1-12
The Magi Visit the Messiah
v.13-18
The Escape to Egypt
v.19-23
The Return to Nazareth
v.1-12
The Magi Visit the Messiah
v.1,2
(heralds of the child
from a strange background arrive at Jerusalem) After
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King
Herod, Magi [Traditionally wise
men] from
the east came to Jerusalem and
asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We
saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
v.3
(Herod didn't like the
thought of a competing king) When
King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with
him.
v.4
(he checks it out with
his religious leaders) When
he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers
of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
v.5
(nearby Bethlehem is
identified as the birth place) “In
Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet
has written:
v.6
(Micah the prophet
had mentioned it) “‘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 shepherd my people Israel.' [Micah
5:2,4]”
v.7
(Herod talks with the
men) Then
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact
time the star had appeared.
v.8
(he asks to be told what
they find) He
sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for
the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too
may go and worship him.”
v.9
(it seems the star stops
above the home where the baby is) After
they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star
they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped
over the place where the child was.
v.10
(they rejoice that their
journey is at an end) When
they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
v.11
(they present expensive
gifts to the family) 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, frankincense and
myrrh.
v.12
(they are warned to void
going back via deceptive Herod) And
having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned
to their country by another route.
v.13-18
The Escape to Egypt
v.13
(Joseph is warned in
another dream to flee to Egypt) 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.”
v.14,15
(this they do – according
to prophecy) So
he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and
left for Egypt, 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.” [Hosea
11:1]
v.16
(Herod tries to kill
the ‘usurper' by having all young ones killed) 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.
v.17
(Jeremiah had prophesied
this anguish) Then
what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
v.18
(this area would
know great weeping) “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.” [Jer 31:15]
v.19-23
The Return to Nazareth
v.19,20
(yet another dream tells
Joseph it is safe to return) After
Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph
in Egypt 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.”
v.21
(he obeys and takes them
back) So
he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land
of Israel.
v.22,23
(with yet another dream
warning he returns to Galilee to Nazareth from where they originally
came) 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, and he went
and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was
said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
[Notes:
i)
The arrival of the baby is heralded in a number of ways. Matthew
chooses to tell of the rich travellers paying tribute to a king.
ii)
God uses dreams again and again with Joseph, to guide them and
keep them safe. He knows that Joseph is a simple-faith person
who will respond to what he sees in the dreams. Not much else
is told of Joseph but he plays a key role in protecting the baby
Jesus from enemy intentions.
iii)
We may wonder why Gid didn't step in to stop Herod killing infants.
There may be two reasons. First, there may have been only very
few if any children born in Bethlehem apart from Jesus at that
time, Second, throughout Scripture God seems reticent to intervene
in mankind's affairs overruling free will, and simply allows this
‘fallen world' to operate as it will, good people doing good and
bad people doing bad. Yet He clearly does speak to Joseph and
protect this family.]