On Christ's Birth And Christmas (part Ii)

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Article • On Christ’s birth and Christmas (Part II)

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On Christ's birth and Christmas (Part II) Finishing the main article of the last issue, I promised that we would continue in this issue to examine some other things pertaining to the birth of Jesus Christ. From the relative records that we left unexamined, Luke 2:21-38 speaks about Christ's circumcision and the visit to the Temple, while Matthew 2 refers to the visit of the Magi and the flight to Egypt. Here, and for space reasons, we will concentrate our attention to Matthew 2, leaving to the reader to study for himself the records referring to the circumcision and the visit to the Temple.

1. Matthew 2: The visit of the "wise men" and the flight to Egypt. The fact that we didn't discuss the visit of the "wise men" together with the visit of the shepherds in the night of the birth, may have made some readers to worry since tradition teaches that these two visits happened simultaneously. Well, we have already read in the last issue the records of Luke about the visit of the shepherds, and as we have seen, there is no reference of any "wise men" be present there. To learn whether the "wise men" actually visited Jesus that night, as well as some other things pertaining to their visit, we will go to Matthew 2, where starting from verse 1 we read: Matthew 2:1 "Now AFTER Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem" According to the above passage, the wise men did not arrive at Jerusalem but only AFTER Jesus was born. Since they arrived at Jerusalem after Jesus' birth and since they stayed there able time for the events of verses 2-9 to happen (they arrived at Jerusalem and started searching for the child; Herod was troubled by what the "wise men" said, and called the chief priests and the scribes of the people to ask them where the Messiah was

to be born; Herod called the "wise men" secretly, enquiring of them to tell him what time the star appeared; Herod sent the "wise men" to Bethlehem), it is evident that they could by no means be in Bethlehem in the night of the birth, together with the shepherds as tradition teaches. Though therefore we cannot say for the moment how long after the birth, the visit of the "wise men" happened, we can do say that it certainly didn't happen in the night of the birth. Later on, we will have the opportunity to say more about it. Regarding now the "wise men" and their identity, the alternative word "Magi" seems to be more appropriate since it is a transliteration of the plural of the Greek word that is used in Matthew 2:1, the word "ìÜãïò" (magos). Concerning the meaning of this word, it is first used for the characterisation of a member of a caste of priests and wise men among the Medes, Persians and Babylonians, whose learning was chiefly astronomy and enchantment1". The LXX uses this word with this meaning in the book of Daniel (see Daniel 1:20, 2:2, 10, 27, 4:7, 5:7,11). So, when for example Daniel 5:11 says that Daniel was made "chief of the magicians [LXX: "magoi": plural of "magos"]" it means that he was made chief of this caste of learned men. Apart from this meaning, the word "magos" is also used with the meaning of a sorcerer (Acts 13:6, 8 and Acts 8:92). Regarding our case now, it is evident that the Magi that came to visit Jesus belonged to the first category. This is shown by the following facts: i) They came "from the east" i.e. from the place where this caste of learned men used to live. ii) They were regular observers of the sky, which in turn means that they had astronomic education and abilities. iii) They came searching for the Messiah (see our comments on Matthew 2:3-4). A sorcerer, like Elymas for example (Acts 13:6-11), who, as the Scripture says, was "a son of the devil" (Acts 13:11) would have never done that.

1

See: E.W. Bullinger: "A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament", Zondervan Publishing House, MI 49530, USA, p. 887., D. Dimitrakou: "The Great Lexicon of the Greek Language", Domi Publishers, Athens, 1964, p. 4,428. and J. M. Freeman: "Manners and Customs of the Bible", Logos International, 1972, pp. 330-332 2 In Acts 8:9 this word appears in the noun form (ìáãåßá (mageia) = sorcery).

iv) They were receptive and obedient to God's Spirit (see Matthew 2:12). God would have never communicated with them, had they been sorcerers i.e. operators of devil spirits. Having clarified the identity of the Magi we can now move ahead: Matthew 2:1-2 "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him [Greek: proskyneo: "to do homage to him"3]" The Magi coming to Jerusalem started searching for the king of the Jews. They said that they had seen his star in the east and came to do homage to him. However, the news of the birth of this king didn't make Herod happy. Matthew 2:3-4 tells us: Matthew 2:3-4 "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired ["he kept enquiring" (the imperfect is used in the Greek)] of them where the Christ was to be born." The fact that Herod started searching for the place where the Messiah was to be born, shows that the Magi weren't searching for an ordinary king of the Jews. Instead, they were aware that the star they saw announced the birth of THE king of the Jews i.e. the Messiah, the Christ. For him they had come from the east.

3

A formal definition of this word is "to do reverence or homage to anyone, by kneeling or prostrating one's self before him" (see E.W.Bullinger, op.cit., p.903). In the LXX it is used 172 times of which 148 is a translation of the Hebrew word "hxv" ("shachah") that means "to bow self down" (Young's Concordance to the Bible, p.1074) and 11 times is a translation of the word "rgoif" ("segad") that also means to "bow down, do obeisance" (Young's Concordance to the Bible, p.1074).

Matthew 2:5-6 "So they [the chief priests and the scribes of the people] said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet4: "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel" The chief priests and the scribes of the people were right to say that Bethlehem was to be the place of the birth of the Messiah. Through the information of the Scripture, Herod was perfectly aware that the Messiah was already born in Bethlehem, just few miles away from his palace. However, the fact that Herod had this head knowledge of the Scripture does not mean that he also made a good use of it. In fact, we will see that he used this knowledge in his endeavours to find and kill the Messiah, because his perverted and wicked heart thought that this child was......a threat to his throne. Though the case of Herod appears a bit extreme in its results, it shows clearly that the head knowledge of the Scripture is not enough to bring a good result. The reason is because a good result it also requires the existence of a heart soft enough to honestly believe and practise this knowledge. In other words, for the Word to produce a good fruit, the HEAD knowledge of the Scripture ("I simply know the Scripture") must be transformed to "HEART knowledge" of the Scripture ("After I know the Scripture I put it in my heart, in the deeper part of my being, by renewing my mind" (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 4:17-24, Colossians 3:1-17)). Without doing this, I may know all the passages that say for example that I should love, but I may not love!! I may teach others that they should not envy and me myself be envious!! I may speak for the ONE body of Christ but when it comes to application, I may consider the so and so denomination as "the body" and all the other Christians as something lower than me!! Many similar examples may be found. Whenever we know the Scripture and we haven't put it in our hearts, our knowledge is no more than mere head knowledge. This head knowledge still needs to be transformed to HEART knowledge in order to produce a fruit.

4

The passage that is quoted is from Micah 5:2

After this digression let us return to the main topic of this article. After Herod found out where Jesus was born, he called the Magi secretly enquiring of them to tell him what time the star appeared: Matthew 2:7 "Then Herod when he had secretly called the wise men enquired of them diligently [Greek: akriboo meaning "to enquire accurately"] what time the star appeared" (NKJV-KJV) The reason that Herod enquired accurately what time the star appeared, was because he wanted through this information to determine the age of Jesus. We will see later how he used this information. Matthew 2:8 "And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young child and when you have found him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship (see ftn.3) him also." Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem and told them to come back to him to tell him the results of their search so that, as he said, to go and do homage to him. However, soon we will see that he was lying and what he actually wanted was to learn where the young child was, so that he can kill him. After this conversation with Herod, the Magi departed to Bethlehem: Matthew 2:9-10 "When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy."

When it says that the star "came and stood over where the young child was", it does not mean that there was a star one meter from the roof of the place where Jesus was. What it means is that it stood in the sky over the area that Jesus was i.e. above Bethlehem. Also, there is no indication in the Bible that this star was extremely bright or huge. In fact, there is no sign that someone else apart from the Magi paid attention to it. The significance of this star was obviously not in its brightness or magnitude but in its meaning which was that Jesus, the Messiah, was born. Matthew 2:11 "And when they had come into the HOUSE, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him ["did homage to him" See ftn. 3]. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him: gold frankincense, and myrrh" Several things are worthy to be mentioned in this passage. First of all, according to the Scripture the Magi didn't find Jesus in a manger but in A HOUSE i.e. in a place where he, Mary and Joseph were living regularly and properly. Obviously, this was not the night of the birth but "AFTER Jesus was born" (Matthew 2:1). From all this, it can be concluded that after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary settled in Bethlehem in a house. Also, something else that has to be pointed out, is that though the Word tells us that the Magi brought three kinds of gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh, it nowhere says that the Magi were also three. What the Bible says is that they were of plural number ("wise men") which means that they were certainly more than one. How many more, we cannot know since the Bible does not say. Most probably, they were more than two or three since such long journeys were usually organised in large caravans for security reasons. After they visited Jesus, the Magi were ready to return to their own country. However, they had promised to Herod that they would return to him to tell him the results of their search. Then Herod, having the information of the Magi, would

immediately send his army there to kill the child. BUT at this crucial point, God interfered: Matthew 2:12 "Then, being [the Magi] divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way." God interfered and told the Magi not to return to Herod but to depart another way. Moreover, knowing what Herod was going to do after he found out that the Magi deceived him, He warned Joseph: Matthew 2:13 "Now when they [the Magi] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him" See how wonderfully God protected Jesus from the threat of Herod, and at the same time, from the threat of the one that was acting behind Herod i.e. the Devil. He first told the Magi not to return to Herod. This was necessary since Bethlehem was just 6 miles away from Jerusalem and therefore, if the Magi went to Herod, there would be no time for Joseph, Mary and Jesus to abandon Bethlehem. Then, after He secured that the Magi wouldn't return to Herod, He told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. So when Herod perceived that the Magi wouldn't return to him, Jesus was already far from his threat. Really, what a wonderful, wise and caring God He is. If we are looking to Him, He always knows how to make a way for us. There is no situation from which God cannot deliver us. As Romans 8:35,37 says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? But in ALL these things [tribulation, distress etc.] WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US." It required for Joseph, Jesus and Mary to flee to another country to avoid the threat of the Devil. Certainly, it would be

much better if there was no threat and they stayed in their home without having to go through the hardship of the movement to Egypt. However, the truth is that there is an enemy and consequently there is also a threat. Instead of arguing about this fact or ignoring it, we have to recognise it and to fight the enemy by putting on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) and by following God's instructions given in the Bible and via the spirit5. That's what Joseph chose to do: Matthew 2:14-15 "When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son" Joseph chose to obey. This meant that he had to go through the hardship of the movement to another country within a very short time. However, imagine what would have happened had he not chose to obey: Herod would have sent his army to Bethlehem entrapping Joseph, Mary and Jesus in a very difficult situation. Personally, I believe that even if Joseph or the Magi had disobeyed God, He would have found a way to save Jesus. However, the certain thing is that the whole situation would become much more tougher and difficult. It is surely much better to avoid the trap from the beginning, than to fall into it and then to have to escape. The above record is not the only one where we find Joseph following what God had told him. Matthew 1:20-24, 2:20-21, 2:22 are all records that show that he was a man full of believing, ready to immediately do whatever God wanted him to do. It was not accidental that Mary, the mother of Jesus, married this man nor was it something that happened only for the genealogical reasons examined in the last issue. In addition to these reasons, Joseph was the BEST man for the raring and care of Jesus. After this digression about Joseph, let's return to our topic. So after being instructed by God, Joseph took Mary and the child and departed to Egypt. Now, when Herod saw that he was deceived by the Magi reacted very violently: 5

See also: Biblical Insights, Vol.1, Iss.7, July 1996

Matthew 2:16-18 "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired [accurately enquired, Gr.: akribo o , as in verse 7] from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (NKJV-KJV) It is important to note here that according to the above passage, Herod put the age limit to two years and under "ACCORDING TO THE TIME WHICH HE HAD DILIGENTLY [ACCURATELY] ENQUIRED FROM THE WISE MEN". As we may remember from verse 7, Herod had enquired accurately from the Magi what time the star appeared and by this he knew the age of Jesus. Thus, if Jesus was born when "his star" appeared "in the east", it can be concluded that when the Magi visited him and the massacre of Bethlehem happened, he was certainly no more than two years old though not too much less than it6. Sometime after the massacre of Bethlehem, Herod died and thus God told Joseph to return to Israel: Matthew 2:19-22 "Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead." Then he arose, took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee." 6

Otherwise, a different age limit would have been chosen.

Joseph being told by God to return to Israel, he took Mary and Jesus and went back to his country. Initially, he determined to go and settle with his family in Judea. Probably, he might have planned to dwell again in Bethlehem, the place where they used to live after the birth of Jesus and from which they fled to Egypt. However, when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was king of Judea, he was afraid to go there, and being warned by God he decided to go northern to Galilee. Finally, he settled in Nazareth the city where he and Mary used to live before they went to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-5): Matthew 2:237 "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" From all the above, it is evident that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Joseph and his family stayed there till the visit of the Magi, many months after the birth. They abandoned Bethlehem almost immediately after the departure of the Magi, and went to Egypt to avoid the wicked plans of Herod. When Herod died, they moved back to Israel. Their initial purpose was to settle in Judea again, but after being warned by God, they went to Galilee and they finally dwelt in Nazareth.

2. Luke 2:39 As it clear from all the above, Mary, Joseph and Jesus settled in Nazareth after they first went to Egypt, which happened when Jesus was not too much less than two years old. Bearing this in mind, it is now time to have a look at Luke 2:39: Luke 2:39 "So when they had performed [Greek: "ôåëÝù" (tele ο ) meaning "finish"8] all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth" 7

For more discussion of this verse see the article "Spoken vs Written" later in this issue.

The fact that this verse comes just after the records of the visit to the Temple (Luke 2:21-38), forty one days after the birth9, may be confusing for some. The reason is because if we take what is said in Luke, isolated from what is said in Matthew, we may conclude that Luke says that Jesus, Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth immediately after their visit to the Temple (forty one days after the birth), while Matthew says that they returned there after they came back from Egypt (many months after the birth). However, a conclusion like this, cannot be right since it violates a very fundamental principle of Bible study. According to this principle: to arrive at right conclusions, ALL the references about the same event have to be taken into account. Instead therefore of taking Luke separately from Matthew, we have to put them TOGETHER. If we do that, we will see that Matthew 2 cannot be but between the visit to the temple (Luke 2:21-38) and the return to Nazareth (Luke 2:39). God having given analytically the fulfilment of various prophecies in Matthew, and having also given analytically the fulfilment of the necessary legalistic requirements in Luke, summarises all these accomplishments in Luke 2:39 by telling us what happened after Joseph, Mary and Jesus fulfilled everything i.e. "WHEN THEY HAD PERFORMED [FINISHED] ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF THE LORD". To "ALL things according to the law of the Lord10", are included both the legalistic requirements (Luke 2:21-38) and of course the various prophecies, the fulfilment of which is given in Matthew (Matthew 2:15, 2:17, 2:23). Luke 2:39 does not tell us what happened immediately after the visit to the Temple, but what happened after ALL things that the Word of God said about this stage of Jesus Christ's life were fulfilled. After ALL these things were fulfilled, Jesus, Joseph and Mary indeed returned to Nazareth (Luke 2:39, Matthew 2:23) 8

The verb "teleo occurs 27 times in the New Testament. From these the KJV translates it, eight times as "finish", seven as "fulfil", four as "accomplish" and only one as "perform" (in Luke 2:39). Its meaning therefore is "finish", "bring to an end" and not simply "perform". 9 Luke 2:22 tells us that the visit to the Temple happened when the days of Mary's purification were completed. Since according to the law (Leviticus 12:1-5), the days of purification for a woman that gave birth to a boy were forty, we can conclude that the visit to the Temple happened forty one days after the birth. 10 The phrase "the law of the Lord" does not necessarily mean the law of Moses only. Apart from the law of Moses, the word "law" is also used generally, meaning the Scriptures of the Old Testament. This is indicated by the usage of this phrase in John 10:34 and 15:25 where the Psalms are called "law" as well as in I Corinthians 14:21 where Isaiah is also called "law". It is with this more general meaning that this word is used in Luke 2:39.

3. Conclusion After all the above we are now in a position to give a summary of the events regarding the birth of Jesus Christ: 1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea (Matthew 2:1). 2. In the night of the birth, he was visited by the shepherds (Luke 2:8-18). After the birth the family continued to stay in Bethlehem and they moved to a house. 3. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day from the birth (Luke 2:21). 4. Jesus was presented to the Lord in the Temple, forty one days after the birth. There, the legalistic requirements for the purification of Mary were also fulfilled. 5. The Magi came to Jerusalem after "having seen his star in the east" (Matthew 2:2). In Jerusalem, they met Herod who enquired accurately of them the time that the star appeared (Matthew 2:7). From this, he determined the age of the child which then he used to define the age limit for the children that he commanded to be killed (Matthew 2:16). Since this age limit was two years old and under, it can be concluded that when the Magi visited Jesus, he was no more than two years old, though not much less than it. 6. God warns Joseph to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13). The prophecy of Hosea 11:1 is fulfilled. 7. Herod kills all the children in the district of Bethlehem from two years old and under (Matthew 2:16). The prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15 is fulfilled. 8. Herod dies, and Joseph returns from Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus having fulfilled everything that the law of the Lord said about this period of Jesus' life, returned to Nazareth (Matthew 2:23 and Luke 2:39). Tassos Kioulachoglou