Read previous material: Matthew 1:18-25.
Some points to consider in order to understand the narration in Mat. 2:1-23.
Firstly, in those days there were two towns called Bethlehem. “Bethlehem in the land of Judea” was 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the South of the city of Jerusalem. Judea was in southern Israel. And there was an other town of Bethlehem (Josh. 19:15) in the territory of the tribe of Zebulun, which was in the region of Galilee and approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the Northwest city of Nazareth. The region of Galilee was in northern Israel where the sea of Galilee was located.
”Bethlehem in the land of Judea” is also known as the ”city of David” because this was the place where David was born and raised (1 Sam. 16:1, 18-19). In the Old Testament (OT), the phrase ”city of David” used 45 times to refer to the city of Jerusalem. However, in the New Testament (NT), the phrase ”city of David” used 2 times to refers to ”Bethlehem in the land of Judea” (Luke 2:4, 11).
Matthew felt the need to emphasize that the Bethlehem he mentioned was located in the land of Judea, not the one in Galilee. This is important information because:
(1) As the Son of David, Jesus would have been born in the ”city of David”; this is the fulfillment of the prophecy prophesied by the prophet Micah (Mic. 5:2; John 7:42).
(2) The region in northern Israel, where the other Bethlehem islocated, better known as ”Galilee of the Gentiles” (Isa. 9:1; Matt. 4:15). This term was actually a form of scorn and humiliation to the people in the land of Galilee who interacted and got along with non-Jewish people. The Jews felt that associating with non-Jewish nations would defile them (Acts 10:28).
Secondly, the name ”Herod”, which appears several times in the NT, does not refer to one particular person just because there were some Herods in the history of NT. Herod, whom the wise men met, was Herod the Great. Herod who beheaded John the Baptist (Matt. 14:1-12) and became a judge of Jesus (Luke 23:7-12) was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. Herod who ruled Judea when Joseph and Mary returned from exile in Egypt was Herod Archelaus (Matt. 2:22), son of Herod the Great whose brother was Herod Antipas.
Herod who beheaded James the apostle, brother of John the apostle, was Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-24). Meanwhile, Herod who judged Paul was Herod Agrippa II (Acts 25:13-26:32).
Thirdly, the wise men did not consist of three people. They also did not visit baby Jesus together with the shepherds in the night of his birth. The event which occurred on the Matt. 2:1-12 was much later than the events in Luke 2:8-20 though they were not more than two years apart. Herod’s order to ”kill all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men” (Matt. 2:16) showed that Jesus was not older than two years when the wise men visited but was older than forty days (Luke 2:22).
According to the Law, purification time for a mother who gave birth was forty days; afterwards she could offer sacrifice in the Temple of God (Lev. 12:2-8). Through the narrative in Luke 2:21-38, we can understand that Joseph and Mary had not fled to Egypt when Jesus was forty days old. They had fled to Egypt in the evening after the wise men returned to their original place (Matt. 2:13-15).
The verses of Luke 2:38 and 39, though written closely together, has in fact a long pause in between that was not told by Luke but was included in Matt. 2:1-23. Thus, the wise men arrived when Jesus was between forty days and two years.
We need to understand that the wise men does not consist of three people like what is usually performed in most of Christmas dramas. They most likely came in large groups consisting of thousands of people, including soldiers and cooks.
In the European tradition, the wise men are often called the “three kings”, which named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar. The number and the names of the three people are just a fictional story as well as Santa Claus. The Bible never indicates this matter. If you believe Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar were there, then you have to believe that Santa Claus exists. They are equally fictional characters.
The wise men were likely to be a group of religious leaders who were very powerful and influential in the Kingdom of Parthia (Persia). They were very likely to be familiar with the prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and the King, from news coverage by the Jews who were exiled to Babylon in the past such as Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), Azariah (Abednego), and Daniel (Belteshazzar) (Dan. 1:6-7).
As described in the book of Daniel, there were people among those Jews who later became prominent people sitting in high places of exaltation. Many of those who conduct marriages between nations, were fruitful in that region and never returned to the land of Israel. That is why the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old Testament are highly anticipated by a group of religious leaders who were very powerful and influential in the Parthian Empire.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1. What are the facts that are exciting and memorable for you?
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