Oh, This Jesus! – Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew’s great concern is to show us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies about Messiah. He has fulfilled the prophecy of Micah by being born in Bethlehem, David’s homeplace. He is born of a virgin and “God with us” as Isaiah predicted. And in this passage we see more fulfillments of prophecy. Oh, this Jesus!

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

   “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:13-23 ESV)

Just like Israel spent time in Egypt, so the Messiah did.  Israel was in danger from famine, Jesus from the murderous Herod, who having ascertained the time the wise men saw the star figured that the child they sought was no more than 2 years old.  Hosea speaks of Israel being called out of Egypt, and if we were able to ask him if his words could also have reference to Messiah he would have said yes, because he understood that Israel’s history would be in some sense duplicated by her greatest son.

Jeremiah speaks of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, as if she, as the mother of Israel’s tribes (at least 2 of them), is mourning as Israel was led into captivity.  But she continues to mourn as she sees the slaughter of these innocent children by Herod.  God knew that his Son’s taking on human nature and being born in Bethlehem would result in Herod’s slaughter of innocent children.  Parents lost their children because of proximity to Jesus.  God was not oblivious to this pain and this is why Matthew cites Jeremiah.  Yet in His greater purpose God saw this working for good and no doubt rewarded the children and their parents for their suffering with comfort in this life and in the life to come.

When Herod dies the angel who warned Joseph to flee tells him it is safe to return, but the family returns to Nazareth, from where they came originally, because Herod’s son is ruling in Judea.  The ESV Study Bible note on the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus would be a Nazarene is very helpful:

“Matthew is not quoting any specific OT prophecy but is referring to a general theme in the OT prophets (plural). Thus Matthew is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised (see Ps. 22:6; Isa. 49:7; 53:3; cf. Dan. 9:26), comparable to the way in which the town of Nazareth was despised in the time of Jesus (cf. John 1:46; 7:41, 52). Matthew may also have intended a wordplay connecting the word “Nazareth” to the OT messianic prophecy in Isa. 11:1, since “Nazareth” sounds like the word for “branch” in Hebrew, which was a designation for the Messiah. “Nazarene” has no evident connection with the OT “Nazirite” vow (Num. 6:2; Judg. 13:5), which is spelled differently, has no messianic significance, and has no connection with the town of Nazareth.”

It is fascinating to see how God is making His Son’s presence known (a message to the shepherds [seen in Luke], the Magi stirring up Jerusalem with news of Jesus’ birth) and alternately keeping Jesus on the down-low, hiding him in Nazareth until the appropriate time.