O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 16:3
2:1-12
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 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.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great. [1]
During this time wise men [2] from the east came saying,
Where is the baby who will become the king of the Jews?We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 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, that I may come and worship him also.
Go and find the child. When you have found him, tell me where he is so I can come and worship him.
9 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.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
2:13-15
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Get up and take the baby and his mother to Egypt, because Herod is going to try to kill him.I'll tell you when it's safe to come back.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 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. [9]
This was to fulfill the prophecy saying, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." [9]
2:16-18
16Then 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.
17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 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.
In Rama there was a voice of great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children.
2:19-2
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 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.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
But when Joseph heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea after his father's death, he was afraid to go there.
God warned Joseph in another dream [13] to go to Galilee instead.
23 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.
Joseph and his little family settled in Nazareth to fulfill the prophecy saying, "He shall be called a Nazarene." [14]
The Herod that is referred to here is Herod the Great, as is made clear in verse 22, which refers to Herod's son, Archalaus. Since Herod the Great died in 4 BCE, this dates Jesus's birth to no later than that year. But the gospel of Luke (2:2) says that Cyrenius (Quirinius) was governor of Syria when Mary was pregnant with Jesus. Since Quirinius was appointed governor in 6 CE we know that Jesus was born sometime before 4 BCE and sometime after 6 CE -- which, if true, would indeed make it a miraculous birth.
The Revised English Bible translates this as, "After his birth astrologers from the east arrived in Jerusalem...." If this translation is correct, then Matthew's gospel seems to approve of astrology.
Is astrology condemned by the bible?
Matthew claims that Jesus's birth in Bethlehem fulfils a prophecy from Micah 5:2. But this is unlikely since:
Whatever the correct interpretation of Micah 5:2 may be, the author of Matthew thought that it required the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. So he found a way to make that happen, as did the author of Luke, probably for the same reason. They achieved it in different ways, however. Matthew's gospel has Joseph and Mary living in a house in Bethlehem when Mary becomes pregnant; Luke has them living in Nazareth and traveling to Bethlehem because of a census. Neither Mark nor John mention anything about a birth in Bethlehem, although the author of the gospel of John was aware that some expected the Messiah to be born there (John 7:41-42).
If the star "went before them," leading them to Bethlehem, then it couldn't have been a star or any other astronomical object or event. But Matthew couldn't have known that. Everyone at the time thought that stars were just little points of light a short distance above the earth. It'd be no problem to have one hover above a particular place for a while.
According to Matthew, Mary, and the baby Jesus left for Egypt soon after Jesus' birth, yet Luke (2:39) says they went directly to Nazareth.
Matthew claims that the flight of Jesus's family to Egypt is a fulfillment of Hosea 11:1.
But Hosea 11:1 is not a prophecy. It is a reference to the Hebrew exodus from Egypt and has nothing to do with Jesus. Matthew tries to hide this fact by quoting only the last part of the verse ("Out of Egypt I have called my son"). Here is the complete verse.
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. Hosea 11:1
Herod kills all infants in and around Bethlehem that are two years old and under. Such a massacre would certainly have been noted by contemporary historians. Yet not even Josephus, who documented Herod's life in detail, mentioned this event.
Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, claiming that it was a prophecy of King Herod's alleged slaughter of the children in and around Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. But this verse refers to the Babylonian captivity, as is clear by reading the next two verses (16 and 17), and, thus, has nothing to do with Herod's massacre.
Matthew claims this was a fulfillment of prophecy, yet such a prophecy is not found anywhere in the Old Testament.
So, the Holy Ghost impregnates Mary, and Joseph takes the high road and takes care of both wife and son-not-son. Up to this point, an angel has to act as bearer of bizarre, sad news to Joseph because God didn't have the guts to reveal himself to be the baby's father. What's interesting is that in this chapter, the three Wise Men seem to have the news that the new baby king of the Jews has been born and want to come a' worshippin'. How did they find out?
Did an angel tell them? Did God slip the news? If they were astrologers, then they would have read the stars, put two and two together, and figured out that this super baby savior was most certainly born. "We have seen his star in the east." Oh really? It certainly does sound like the pseudoscience of astrology was legitimized in this chapter. Isaiah 47:13-15 gives them credibility, though not necessarily in the positive.