1 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4 Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”
5 They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
6 ’Bethlehem in the land
of Judea,
you are very important
among the towns of Judea.
From your town
will come a leader,
who will be like a shepherd
for my people Israel.’”
7 Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. 8 He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too.”
9 The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
11 When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. 12 Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.
13 After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.”
14 That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, 15 where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”
16 When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.
17 So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,
18 “In Ramah a voice was heard
crying and weeping loudly.
Rachel was mourning
for her children,
and she refused
to be comforted,
because they were dead.”
19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”
21 Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. 22 But when he heard that Herod’s son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, 23 and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Read Matthew 2:1-23 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One of the more interesting thoughts I’ve had when reading about Jesus’ birth story happens while reading about the wise men’s visit to Jerusalem. In the few verses that focus on their time spent in this city, I wonder about an idea that Matthew includes.
Matthew opens this portion of Jesus’ birth story by saying, “When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’” (v. 1-2)
Perhaps these wise men had seen the star, and they simply traveled to Jerusalem believing Jerusalem to be the place for such a celebration to occur. In their minds, an event of this much significance would be known and publicized in this key city.
However, the response that Matthew shares is interesting: “When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.” (v. 3)
From the way Matthew records this, it seems that Jerusalem was only worried following Herod’s worry. Herod was known as one of the most ruthless ruler’s of that era, and in many ways, his attitude and opinion had a way of trickling down to others present. If the king was worried, we should be worried to, because at the very least, we have no idea what the king will do.
This also surprises me a little because Herod seems to be the first person to actually pay attention to what is happening. The star had been visible for enough time for the wise men to have traveled a great distance, which may have taken weeks, or even months, and it seems that the only ones paying attention to this sign were those living far away from Israel.
Out of all those living in Jerusalem, Herod seemed to be the only one concerned about the birth of this upcoming king. Everyone else probably was more concerned with how Herod would respond. While Herod didn’t know the prophecies or even signs to look for, he did know to pay attention to the sign he had – and that was the one of some long-distance travelers.
Surprisingly, Herod can teach me that I don’t have to be the smartest person to have wisdom when signs come. I simply have to pay attention. The chief priests and other leaders knew the prophecies, and if they had been looking, they may have seen the signs as well. In my own life, the best case scenario is if I were to keep my eyes open to what God is doing around me, but the next best scenario is paying attention to what others are telling me about this. In either case, we should be ready to join Jesus’ mission when we’ve seen it firsthand and/or learned about it.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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