THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST.
v. 1. NOW WHEN JESUS WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM OF JUDEA, IN THE DAYS OF
HEROD THE KING.
The transition which the evangelist employs fitly connects the
narrative of the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Savior
with the story of the adoration of the Magi. It is an... [ Continua a leggere ]
SAYING, WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING OF THE JEWS? FOR WE HAVE SEEN
HIS STAR IN THE EAST, AND ARE COME TO WORSHIP HIM.
There was an assertion contained in their question. Their knowledge
was definite as to His having been born. It was a fact beyond question
or discussion. A Child has been born t... [ Continua a leggere ]
The message of the Magi was brief:... [ Continua a leggere ]
WHEN HEROD THE KING HAD HEARD THESE THINGS, HE WAS TROUBLED, AND ALL
JERUSALEM WITH HIM.
The consternation of Herod may be explained in two ways. As king,
because of his position as king, Herod was troubled. Having himself
reached his position of ruling sovereign by methods which were not at
all... [ Continua a leggere ]
AND WHEN HE HAD GATHERED ALL THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES OF THE
PEOPLE TOGETHER, HE DEMANDED OF THEM WHERE CHRIST SHOULD BE BORN.
Not the entire Sanhedrin, or Great Council of the Jewish people, for
that included also the elders, many of whom Herod had put to death,
but the chief priests, the... [ Continua a leggere ]
Herod's measures to meet the emergency:... [ Continua a leggere ]
AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, IN BETHLEHEM OF JUDEA; FOR THUS IT IS WRITTEN
BY THE PROPHET,... [ Continua a leggere ]
a. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among
the princes of Judah.
Their opinion was given without hesitation; it reflected the current
opinion and agreed with Talmudic tradition. In their Scriptural proof
they do not quote the Old Testament passage literally, but combine... [ Continua a leggere ]
THEN HEROD, WHEN HE HAD PRIVILY CALLED THE WISE MEN, ENQUIRED OF THEM
DILIGENTLY WHAT TIME THE STAR APPEARED.
It was a secret conference, just fitting in with his political
trickery. Had he made his inquiries in a public reception, his own
courtiers might have become suspicious, but the unsuspec... [ Continua a leggere ]
Herod carried out his scheme: AND HE SENT THEM TO BETHLEHEM AND SAID.
GO AND SEARCH DILIGENTLY FOR THE YOUNG CHILD; AND WHEN YE HAVE FOUND
HIM, BRING ME WORD AGAIN.
Eager for the success of his plans, he nevertheless manages to make
his guileless visitors feel that he has nothing but the favorab... [ Continua a leggere ]
In simple trustfulness, the Magi proceed to act according to the
king's words: WHEN. THEY HAD HEARD THE KING, THEY DEPARTED; AND, LO,
THE STAR WHICH THEY SAW IN THE EAST WENT BEFORE THEM, TILL IT CAME AND
STOOD, OVER WHERE THE YOUNG CHILD WAS.
They left Jerusalem, apparently all alone and with o... [ Continua a leggere ]
WHEN THEY SAW THE STAR, THEY REJOICED WITH EXCEEDING GREAT JOY.
They were overjoyed. Their long journey was successful. their arduous
quest was ended. The most intense gladness, a fairly ecstatic delight,
took possession of them, as the evangelist expresses it. At once they
carried out the purpo... [ Continua a leggere ]
The effect of its appearance upon the Magi;... [ Continua a leggere ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME INTO THE HOUSE, THEY SAW THE YOUNG CHILD WITH
MARY, HIS MOTHER, AND. FELL DOWN, AND WORSHIPED HIM.
So vivid is Matthew's description that the words fairly gush forth in
a joyful stream. The Magi saw with their own eyes Him whom they had
longed to behold, the Child, the Me... [ Continua a leggere ]
Matthew concludes the narrative of the adoration: AND BEING WARNED OF
GOD IN A DREAM THAT THEY SHOULD NOT RETURN TO HEROD, THEY DEPARTED
INTO THEIR OWN COUNTRY ANOTHER WAY.
Here is another instance of divine intervention to frustrate the
bloodthirsty designs of Herod toward the Savior. It does n... [ Continua a leggere ]
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT AND THE RETURN TO NAZARETH.
One part of Herod's plan had not worked out: the Magi did not return
to reveal the exact whereabouts of the Child. Now the Lord also foiled
the design against the Child's life. AND WHEN THEY WERE DEPARTED,
BEHOLD, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARETH... [ Continua a leggere ]
WHEN HE AROSE, HE TOOK THE YOUNG CHILD AND HIS MOTHER BY NIGHT, AND
DEPARTED INTO EGYPT:... [ Continua a leggere ]
Joseph again was obedient to the angel's word:... [ Continua a leggere ]
and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have
I called My Son.
Matthew relates the carrying out of the command in the very words in
which the angel had spoken them in order to show the obedient spirit
of... [ Continua a leggere ]
THEN HEROD, WHEN HE SAW THAT HE WAS MOCKED OF THE WISE MEN, WAS
EXCEEDING WROTH, AND SENT FORTH, AND SLEW ALL THE CHILDREN THAT WERE
IN BETHLEHEM, AND IN ALL THE COASTS THEREOF, FROM TWO YEARS OLD AND
UNDER, ACCORDING TO THE TIME WHICH HE HAD DILIGENTLY ENQUIRED OF THE
WISE MEN.
The evangelist,... [ Continua a leggere ]
THEN WAS FULFILLED THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY JEREMY THE PROPHET,
SAYING,... [ Continua a leggere ]
Here again there is the fulfillment, not of a literal, but of a
typical prophecy:... [ Continua a leggere ]
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted,
because they are not.
The passage as penned by the prophet, Jeremiah 31:15, is the narration
of a vision with reference to the deportation of Israel into
ca... [ Continua a leggere ]
BUT WHEN HEROD WAS DEAD, BEHOLD, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARETH IN A
DREAM TO JOSEPH IN EGYPT,... [ Continua a leggere ]
The evangelist now returns to the story of the Savior:... [ Continua a leggere ]
saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into
the land of Israel; for they are dead which sought the young Child's
life.
Herod died at Jericho in the year 750 after the founding of Rome. And
his son Antipater, heir apparent to the throne, who had inherited his
father's crue... [ Continua a leggere ]
AND HE AROSE, AND TOOK THE YOUNG CHILD AND HIS MOTHER, AND CAME INTO
THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
But when he reached Judea, a new danger confronted him, causing his
fears to be renewed:... [ Continua a leggere ]
Joseph lost no time in obeying the command:... [ Continua a leggere ]
BUT WHEN HE HEARD THAT ARCHELAUS DID REIGN IN JUDEA IN THE ROOM OF HIS
FATHER HEROD, HE WAS AFRAID TO GO THITHER.
Herod, indeed, was dead, but Augustus had divided his kingdom among
his three sons. Archelaus obtained Judea, Idumea, and Samaria, with
the designation of ethnarch; Herod Antipas, Ga... [ Continua a leggere ]
B. NOTWITHSTANDING, BEING WARNED OF GOD IN A DREAM, HE TURNED ASIDE
INTO THE PARTS OF GALILEE: and he came and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene.
So Joseph returned to his former city, which had also been M... [ Continua a leggere ]