Matthew 2:13-23 > Seeking Jesus - by Jeff Byerley

The Study: Matthew 2:13-23 (NKJV) Seeking Jesus – Herod.
Again we saw the events being very much directed by God with an angel giving directions to Joseph three times by way of dreams. Matthew is very focused throughout his gospel on showing how the prophecies about the Messiah were being fulfilled.

Outline:
2:13-15 Escape to Egypt
2:17-18 Massacre of the Innocents.
2:19-23 The Home in Nazareth

Our Further Reflections

1. What is the relevance of “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (v.15)?

This is a quote from Hosea 11:1 ““When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son”. God's people were in rebellion in Hosea's time, but God remembered His love for Israel called out of Egypt. Despite the hardship the people would suffer, God promised that the time would come when they would again walk with the Lord” (Hos. 11:10). They would experience “The Holy One in your midst” (Hosea 11:9). We noted how Matthew presents Jesus' history as following analogically the history of Israel. Jesus was to perfectly fulfill God's promises, where Israel had failed.

2. What has Bethlehem got to do with “A voice was heard in Ramah” (v.18)?

This is a quote from Jeremiah 31:15. It was a prophecy fulfilled initially when Nebuchadnezzar's army gathered captives at Ramah, just North of Jerusalem. Jacob's wife Rachel had been buried there. Jeremiah spoke figuratively of Rachel lamenting the fate of Israel's children being dragged away to Babylon to an unknown fate. Rachel was the personification of the mothers of Israel watching this tragedy take place. Even here there is a promise that God would “gather them from the ends of the earth” (Jer. 31:8). So this quote in Matt. 2:18 points to God's plan of salvation at work despite the massacre.

3. What led to the demise of Herod (and his son Archelaus) (v.19-22)?

In March 4 AD Herod fell ill and went to his palace in Jericho. He had ordered the execution of influential Jews in Jerusalem in the event of his death. He did not want people to be rejoicing at his death and this plan seemed to assure that there would be families in mourning. Upon his death his sister, Salome, countermanded the order. His eldest son Archelaus inherited the major part of his kingdom of Judea, Samaria and Idumea. However, his cruel reign only lasted to 6 AD. He massacred 3,000 men of nobility in Jerusalem. Caesar Augustus, fearing a mass revolt, exiled him to Gaul.

4. Where's the prophecy “He shall be called a Nazarene” (v,23)?

There is no precise prophecy along these lines. However, Nazareth was settled a couple of centuries earlier by people trusting in the line of David. They looked forward to the coming branch (“neser”) of Isaiah 11:1: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch (neser) shall grow out of his roots.” Thus the town was named