Commentary Matthew 2
Gary Eugene Howell uses the Berean Standard Bible. The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. The Text of the Berean Standard Bible was dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023.
Verses 1-3
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 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.
Commentary:
The king James, the ESV and the NLT versions of the Bible describe these as Wise Men, However, it seems, at least from our position of hindsight, that they may have been displaying a bit of naivete in the fact that when they arrived in Jerusalem they were asking about the “New King”.
When King Herod heard about this, is it any wonder that he was upset? Did the magi not consider that their inquiries about the New King, might perhaps make the current king jealous? Did they not consider that he might be unwilling to give up his power, and might be inclined to do harm to a political rival?
Verses 4-8
And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
‘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 be the shepherd of My people Israel.’
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared. 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.”
Commentary:
“For out of Bethlehem will come a ruler”… King Herod didn’t like the sound of that at all. Herod didn’t want to give up even one inch of his power to a new ruler. So we’re going to see that Herod is lying to the Magi about wanting to go and worship the Christ.
I believe King Herod, was acting as Satan’s puppet to carry out Lucifer’s plan. From the day Satan was kicked out of heaven, until he is cast into the Lake of Fire in the book of Revelation, we see Satan continuously trying to foil God’s plans. Satan knows these prophecies better than the Chief Priests and Scribes. He knows very well that the Christ will come from Bethlehem. So if Satan can kill the Messiah as an infant, God’s plans will be ruined. But Satan is a perpetual failure and God, on the other hand, is Omnipresent, already knowing the end from the beginning.
Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ (Isaiah 46:9-10)
In a game of chess, if you knew ahead of time every move your opponent was going to make and you knew every possible chess move to counter your opponent, there is no possible way you could lose. That is how God is with Satan. Satan is not omniscient nor omnipresent. Satan is in one place at one time roaming about the earth, “and walking back and forth in it” (Job 1:7). God is going to win no matter what. As a matter of fact, we’re going to see Satan get defeated right here in the book of Matthew.
Verses 9-10
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.
Commentary:
I find the story of the Magi from the east following a star until it stood over the place where Jesus had been born to be fascinating. Were they the only ones who could see this star? One would think that such a sight would bring out all of Jerusalem if everyone was able to see this traveling star. And the fact that the star “stood” over the place where Jesus was, causes me to suspect that this star was something far greater than a distant twinkling object in outer space. I suspect that this star was actually an angel which they described as appearing like a star in the night sky. This angel led the magi to Jesus and finally stood directly on top of the location where Jesus was.
Verse 11
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Commentary:
I’d like to make a few observations. First, the magi fell down and worshipped Jesus, not Mary. Second, what does it mean that they fell down and worshiped him? The magi are not merely bringing birthday gifts to a child. They are worshipping Jesus. The magi correctly understand that Jesus is divine. Throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, we are shown the divine nature of Jesus, (Genesis 3:15), (Revelation 22:13). Anyone who claims the bible never says that Jesus is God is like someone putting their fingers in their ears and saying “la, la, la, la, I can’t hear you”.
Verse 12
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
Commentary:
This is apparently the first time these wise men come to understand that Herod was not sincere in what he had previously told them. Notice that God spoke to them in their dreams. Throughout the text of the Bible, God spoke to 16 different people through their dreams.
Abimelech – Genesis 20, Jacob – Genesis 28 & 31, Laban – Genesis 31, Joseph – Genesis 37, The Cupbearer and the Baker – Genesis 40, Pharaoh – Genesis 41, Midianite Soldier – Judges 7, Solomon – 1 Kings 3, Nebuchadnezzar – Daniel 2 & 4, Daniel – Daniel 7–8 & 10, Joseph – Matthew 1–2, The three Wise Men – Matthew 2, Pilate’s Wife – Matthew 27.
Verses 13-15
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.”
Commentary:
Joseph knew the Lord was speaking to him, and he obeyed immediately—in the middle of the night. He didn’t wait until morning. He didn’t pray about it for a few days. He didn’t consult with anyone—not even the kind of spiritual advisors we might turn to today, like a pastor or church elders. He simply obeyed. And by doing so, he saved Jesus’s life.
God equals life. As we proceed further into this New Testament commentary, we will soon see that faith in Jesus Christ is the key to life. How do we gain eternal life? It is through Jesus Christ. He is the one who conquered death.
Verses 16-18
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.”
Commentary:
Herod was so fearful of losing his power that he was willing to send orders that every boy under the age of two in Bethlehem be killed.
What perplexes me about this story is that the soldiers under King Herod’s command were willing to obey the king’s orders to kill the babies and toddlers in Bethlehem. What sort of cowardice, barbaric, heathen would obey such an order? But yet they did.
But this is a familiar story. Remember what happened in Exodus Chapter 1?
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile…(Exodus 1:22a)
Pharaoh ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the Nile River where they were presumably eaten by crocodiles.
Remember, Moses was the one who, through God’s intervention, led the Israelites out of the bondage of slavery. Moses represents Jesus bringing us out of the bondage of sin.
So when Moses was born, Satan persuaded the government (meaning pharaoh), to kill babies. This was Satan, trying in vain to thwart God’s plans. Then when the Messiah was coming into the world, Satan again persuaded the government, (this time King Herod), to kill the babies in Bethlehem.
Where do we see today, a government passing laws to kill babies? Why is that happening? Satan is trying, still to this day, to thwart God’s plans. In the United States of America today, one million babies a year die in abortion. Why? What’s going on?
Acts 2:17 says:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)
Did you see that? Sons and daughters will prophesy and young men will see visions when God pours out his spirit in the last days. These are the last days; and so we see Satan doing the same thing again. When God wants to do a work through someone who was prophesied about in scripture, Satan comes along and tries to kill them when they’re a baby.
Verses 19-23
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”
So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And 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 spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Commentary:
It’s interesting to note that within just two years of killing all those babies in Bethlehem, Herod died. My strong suspicion is that his death may have been an act of God’s wrath exerting a small bit of justice.
And again, when the Lord spoke to Joseph, he acted immediately without question. However, I would like to point out that these interactions between God and Joseph are a rare occasion in which God explains the reasons for his instructions. God told Joseph to Go to Egypt because Herod was going to search for the Child to kill Him. And later God told Joseph to go back to Israel, because those seeking the Child’s life were dead.
In most cases, however, God does not explain himself. For example, Philip was in Samaria preaching the good news and crowds of people all paid close attention to Philip’s message. But then, seemingly out of nowhere and for no apparent reason God told Philip to,
“Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26)
No reason why; no explanation given. Just get up and go. Today, when God issues an instruction to someone, this is very often how he does it, without offering any explanation whatsoever. So then, we must ask ourselves, “Do we trust God?”
If God told you to get up and go to a certain location in your town, or to get up and move your family to another state, or to get up and become a missionary, but offered zero explanation as to why he wanted you to do those things, would you be willing to obey? Would you be willing to walk in the faith of believing that God knows what he’s doing?
Verse 22 of our text states that when Joseph learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea, he was afraid to go there. Keep in mind that Joseph’s instructions were very broad, “go to the land of Israel”. Joseph is being obedient while simultaneously exercising his free will. He is doing what the Lord said by going back to the nation of Israel, but decides on his own that he doesn’t want to return to Bethlehem.
Afterward, he is yet again warned in a dream, confirming his concerns about returning to Bethlehem. Notice, however, that the Lord didn’t tell him to go to Nazareth. Joseph is exercising his free will again and makes that decision because that’s where he and Mary are both originally from. My advice to Christians today is to present every care and concern to the Lord and then afterward use your free will to make a decision. Let the Lord be your guide, then move forward and see what happens.
I have heard some Christians say that they are not going to make any move until God tells them to do so. I feel this is not how God operates. How can God open a door for you, a mile away, if you’re still at home sitting on your couch watching Netflix? To me, it’s an excuse to not do anything and is based either in fear or in laziness. God already told you to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, ask God for opportunities and then make a free-will decision to get out there.
Regarding Joseph’s decision to go to Nazareth, he is fulfilling prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. This again demonstrates God’s omniscience. Before the world began, God knew that Joseph would make that decision and was thus able to have Isaiah write about it 700 years before Joseph was even born.
And later when Jesus is grown and begins his ministry, Nathanael, one of the twelve disciples is going to ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” which further reveals to us Jesus’s humble origins.
View Matthew 2 bible study resource