The Gospel According to
Matthew 2
23 verses≈ 4 min3 peopleBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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In this chapter
The Pilgrimage of the Magi
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
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asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel
Matthew 2:6
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
King Herod
And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”
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 stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight.
they fell down and worshiped Him
Matthew 2:11
Question
Quick question
The Magi did not come empty-handed. They opened their treasures in front of the Child.
Which gifts did the Magi present to the Child?
The Flight to Egypt
When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.
This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Matthew 2:15
Reflect
He got up
The angel said, “Get up!” and Joseph “got up, took the Child and His mother by night.” He did not wait for morning or for every answer. Is there something God has already made clear to you that you are still waiting to act on? What would getting up look like this week?
Weeping and Great Mourning
Stylised map · locations approximate
Where it happened
Bethlehem and Ramah
Bethlehem sits a few miles south of Jerusalem, and Ramah a few miles north. Matthew hears in Bethlehem’s grief the old cry of Ramah: “Rachel weeping for her children.”
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“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.”
0:15
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
The Return to Nazareth
He will be called a Nazarene.
Matthew 2:23
Stylised map · locations approximate
Where it happened
Home to Galilee
Joseph brings the family back to the land of Israel. With Archelaus ruling in Judea, he is warned in a dream and goes north to Galilee, to “a town called Nazareth.”
Pray
God with us, step by step
Four times in this chapter God speaks in a dream, and each time the Child is kept safe. Herod rages, Archelaus reigns, and still the Child comes home. Thank God that no ruler can undo His plan, and ask Him to guide your next step as clearly as He guided Joseph’s.
You’ve experienced
Matthew 2
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A verse to carry with you
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him.
Matthew 2:11
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