by William Barclay
William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, pp14-25, Westminster Press, Philadelphia 1958
THE BIRTH PLACE OF THE KING, Matthew 2: 1, 2
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, In the days of Herod the King, behold there came to Jerusalem wise men from the East. " Where," they said, "is the newly born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in its rising and we have come to worship Him."
IT was in Bethlehem that Jesus was born. Bethlehem was quite a little town six miles to the south of Jerusalem. In the olden days it had been called Ephrath or Ephratah. The name Bethlehem means The House of Bread, and Bethlehem stood in a fertile countryside, which made its name a fitting name. It stood high up on a grey limestone ridge more than two thousand five hundred feet in height. The ridge had a summit at each end, and a hollow like a saddle between them. So, from its position, Bethlehem looked like a town set in an amphitheater of hills. Bethlehem had a long history. It was there that Jacob had buried Rachel, and had set up a pillar of memory beside her grave (Genesis 48: 7; 35: 20). It was there that Ruth had lived when she married Boaz (Ruth 2: 1), and from Bethlehem Ruth could see the land of Moab, her native land, across the Jordan valley. But above all Bethlehem was the home and the city of David (I Samuel 16: 1; 17: 12; 20: 6); and it was for the water of the well of Bethlehem that David longed when he was a hunted fugitive upon the hills (2 Samuel 23: 14, 15). In later days we read that Rehoboam fortified the town of Bethlehem (2 Chronicles 11: 6). But in the history of Israel, and to the minds of the people, Bethlehem was uniquely the city of David. It was from the line of David that God was to send the great deliverer of His people. As the prophet Micah had it: " Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be the ruler of Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting " (Micah 5: 2).
It was in Bethlehem, David's city, that the Jews expected great David's greater Son to be born; it was there that they expected God's Anointed One to come into the world, and it was so.
The picture of the stable and the manger as being the birthplace of Jesus is a picture which is indelibly etched in our minds; but it may well be that that picture is not altogether correct. Justin Martyr, one of the greatest of the early fathers, who lived about A.D. 150, and who came from the district near Bethlehem, tells us that Jesus was born in a cave near the village of Bethlehem (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 78, 304); and it may well be that Justin's information is correct. The houses in Bethlehem are built on the slope of the limestone ridge; and it is very common for them to have a cave-like stable hollowed out in the limestone rock below the house itself; and it is very likely that it was in such a cave-stable that Jesus was born.
To this day such a cave is shown in Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus and above it the great Roman Church of the Nativity has been built. For very long that cave has been shown as the birthplace of Jesus. It was so in the days of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, for Hadrian, in a deliberate attempt to desecrate the place, erected a shrine to the heathen god Adonis above it. When the Roman Empire became Christian, early in the fourth century, the first Christian Emperor, Constantine, built a great church there, and that church still stands. H. V. Morton tells how he visited that Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He came to a great wall, and in the wall there was a door so low that even a dwarf would have to stoop to enter it; and through the door, and on the other side of the wall, there was the church. Beneath the high altar of the church, there is the cave, and when the pilgrim descends into it he finds a little dark cavern about fourteen yards long and four yards wide, lit by fifty-three silver lamps; and in the floor there is a star, and round it a Latin inscription: " Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary."
When the Lord of Glory came to this earth, He was born in a cave where men sheltered the beasts. The cave, which is now in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, may be that same cave, or it may not be. That, we will never know for certain. But there is something beautiful in the symbolism that the church where the cave is has a door so low that all who enter it must stoop to enter. It is supremely fitting that every man should approach the infant Jesus upon his knees.
WHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem there came to do Him homage wise men from the East. The name of these men is the Magi, and that is a word which is difficult to translate. Herodotus (i: 101, 132) has certain information about these men called the Magi. He says that the Magi were originally a Median tribe. The Medes were part of the Empire of the Persians; they tried to overthrow the Persians and to substitute the power of the Medes. The attempt failed. From that time the Magi ceased to have any ambitions for power or prestige, and became a tribe of priests. They became in Persia almost exactly what the Levites were in Israel. They became the teachers and instructors of the Persian kings. In Persia no sacrifice could be offered unless one of the Magi was present. They became men of holiness and wisdom.
These Magi were men who were skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science. They were soothsayers and interpreters of dreams. In later times the word Magus developed a much lower meaning, and came to mean little more than a fortune-teller, a sorcerer, a magician, and a charlatan. Such was Elymas, the sorcerer (Acts 13: 6, 8), and Simon who is commonly called Simon Magus (Acts 8: 9, 11). But at their best the Magi were not like that; at their best they were good and holy men, who sought for truth.
In those ancient days all men believed in astrology. They believed that they could foretell the future from the stars, and they believed that a man's destiny was settled by the star under which he was born. It is not difficult to see how that belief arose. The stars pursue their unvarying courses; they represent the order of the universe. if then there suddenly appeared some brilliant star, if the unvarying order of the heavens was broken by some special phenomenon, it did look as if God was -breaking into His own order, and announcing some special thing.
We do not know what brilliant star these ancient Magi saw. Many suggestions have been made. About II B.C. Halley's comet was visible shooting brilliantly across the skies. About 7 B.C. there was a brilliant conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. In the years 5 to 2 B.C. there was an unusual astronomical phenomenon. In these years, on the first day of the Egyptian month, Mesorl, Sirius, the dog star, rose heliacally, that is at sunrise, and shone with extraordinary brilliance. Now the name Mesori means the birth of a prince, and to those ancient astrologers such a star would undoubtedly mean the birth of some great king. We cannot tell what star the Magi saw; but it was their profession to watch the heavens, and some heavenly brilliance spoke to them of the entry of a king into the world.
It may seem to us extraordinary that these men should set out from the East to find a king, but the strange thing is that, just about the time when Jesus was born, there was in the world a strange feeling of expectation, a waiting for the coming of a king. Even the Roman historians knew about this. Not so very much later than this, on the days of Vespasian, Suetonius could write, " There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea. to rule the world " (Suetonius, Life of Vespasian, 4: 5). Tacitus tells of the same belief that " there was a firm persuasion ... that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire " (Tacitus, Histories, 5: 13). The Jews had the belief that "about that time one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth - (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 6: 5, 4). At a slightly later time we find Tiridates, King of Armenia, visiting Nero at Rome with his Magi along with him (Suetonius, Life of Nero, 13: 1). We find the Magi in Athens sacrificing to the memory of Plato (Seneca, Epistles, 58: 31). Almost at the same time as Jesus was born we find Augustus, the Roman Emperor, being hailed as the Savior of the World, and Virgil, the Roman poet, writing his Fourth Eclogue, which is known as the Messianic Eclogue, about the golden days to come.
There is not the slightest need to think that the story of the coming of the Magi to the cradle of Christ is only a lovely legend. It is exactly the kind of thing that could easily have happened in that ancient world. When Jesus Christ came into this world the world was in an eagerness of expectation. Men were waiting for God. The desire for God was in the hearts of men. They had discovered that they could not build the golden age without God. It was to a waiting world that Jesus came; and, when He came, the ends of the earth were gathered at His cradle. It was the first sign and symbol of the world conquest of Christ.
THE CRAFTY KING, Matthew 2: 3-9
When Herod the king heard of this he was disturbed, and so was all Jerusalem with him. So he collected all the chief priests and scribes of the people, and asked them where the Anointed One of God was to be born. They said to him, " In Bethlehem in Judea. For so it stands written through the prophets, ' And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah. For there shall come forth from you the leader, who will be a shepherd to my people Israel.' " Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men, and carefully questioned them about the time when the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem. " Go," he said, " and make every effort to find out about the little child. And, when you have found Him, send news to me, that 1, too, may come and worship Him." When they had listened to the king they went on their way.
IT came to the ears of Herod that the wise men had come from the East, and that they were searching for the little child who had been born to be King of the Jews. Any king would have been worried at the report that a child had been born who was to occupy his throne. But Herod was doubly disturbed. Herod was half Jew and half Idumean.
There was Edomite blood in his veins. He had made himself useful to the Romans in the wars and civil wars of Palestine, and they trusted him. He had been appointed governor in 47 B.C.; in 40 B.C. he had received the title of king; and he was to reign until 4 B.C. He had wielded power for long. He was called Herod the Great, and in many ways he deserved the title. He was the only ruler of Palestine who ever succeeded in keeping the peace and in bringing order into disorder. He was a great builder; he was indeed the builder of the Temple in Jerusalem. He could be generous.
In times of difficulty he remitted the taxes to make things easier for the people; and in the famine of 25 B.C. he had actually melted down his own gold plate to buy corn for the starving people. But Herod had one terrible flaw in his character. He was almost insanely suspicious. He had always been suspicious, and the older he became the more suspicious he grew, until, in his old age, he was, as someone said, Is a murderous old man." If he suspected anyone as a rival to his power, that person was promptly eliminated. He murdered his wife Marianne and her mother Alexandra. His eldest son, Antipater, and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, were all assassinated by him. Augustus, the Roman Emperor, had said, bitterly, that it was safer to be Herod's pig than Herod's son. (The saying is even more epigrammatic in Greek, for in Greek hus is the word for a pig, and huios is the word for a son). Something of Herod's savage, bitter, warped nature can be seen from the provisions he made when death came near. When he was seventy he knew that he must die. He retired to Jericho, the loveliest of all his cities. He gave orders that a collection of the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem should be arrested on trumped up charges and imprisoned. And he ordered that the moment he died, they should all be killed. He said grimly that he was well aware that no one would mourn for his death, and that he was determined that some tears should be shed when he died.
It is clear how such a man would feel when news reached him that a child was born who was destined to be king Herod was troubled, and Jerusalem was troubled too, to Jerusalem well knew the steps that Herod would take t pin down this story and to eliminate this child. Jerusalem knew Herod, and Jerusalem shivered as it waited for Herod's inevitable reaction.
Herod summoned the chief priests and the scribes. The scribes were the experts in scripture and in the law. The chief priests consisted of two kinds of people. They consisted of ex-high priests. The high priesthood was confine to a very few families. They were the priestly aristocracy and the members of these select families were called the chief priests. So Herod summoned the religious aristocracy and the theological scholars of his day, and asked them where, according to the scriptures, the Anointed One of God should be born. They quoted the text in Micah 5: 2 to him. Herod sent for the wise men, and dispatched them to make diligent search for the little child who had been born. He said that he, too, wished to come and worship the child, but his one desire was to murder the child born to be king.
No sooner was Jesus born into this world than we see men grouping themselves into these three groups in which men are always to be found in regard to Jesus Christ. Let us look at the three reactions.
(i) There was the reaction of Herod, the reaction of hatred and hostility. Herod was afraid that this little child was going to interfere with his life, his place, his power, his influence, and therefore his first instinct was to destroy Him. There are still those who would gladly destroy Jesus Christ, because they see in Him the one who interferes with their lives. They wish to do what they like, and Christ will not let them do what they like; and so they would kill Him. The man whose one desire is to do what he likes has never any use for Jesus Christ. The Christian s the man who has ceased to do what he likes, and who has dedicated his life to do as Christ likes.
(ii) There was the reaction of the chief priests and scribes. Their reaction was complete indifference. It did not make the slightest difference to them. They were so engrossed in their Temple ritual and their legal discussions that they completely disregarded Jesus. He meant nothing to them. There are still those who are so interested in their own affairs that Jesus Christ means nothing to them. The prophet's poignant question can still be asked: " Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? " (Lamentations 1: 12).
(iii) There was the reaction of the wise men, the reaction of adoring worship, the desire to lay at the feet of Jesus Christ the noblest gifts which they could bring. Surely, when any man realizes the love of God in Jesus Christ, he too should be lost in wonder, love and praise.
And, behold, the star, which they had seen In Its rising, led them on until it came and stood over the place where the little child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. When they came into the house, they saw the little child with Mary, His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him; and they opened their treasures, and offered to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. And because a message from God came to them in a dream, telling them not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.
So the wise men found their way to Bethlehem We need not think that the star literally moved like a guide across the sky. There is poetry here, and we must not turn lovely poetry into crude and lifeless prose. But over Bethlehem the star was shining. There is a lovely legend which tells how the star, its work of guidance completed, fell into the well at Bethlehem, and that it is still there and can still be seen sometimes by those whose hearts are pure.
Later legends have been busy with the wise men. In the early days eastern tradition said that there were twelve of them. But now the tradition that there were three of them is almost universal. The New Testament does not say that there were three, but the idea that there were three of them no doubt arose from the threefold gift which they brought. Later legend made them kings. And still later legend gave them names, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Still later legend assigned to each a personal description, and distinguished the gift which each of them gave to Jesus. Melchior was an old man, grey haired, and with a long beard, and it was he who brought the gift of gold. Caspar was young and beardless, and ruddy in countenance and it was he who brought the gift of frankincense. Balthasar was swarthy, with the beard newly grown upon in the gifts the wise men brought. They have seen In each gift something which specially matched some character.
(I) Gold is the gift for a king. Seneca tells us that in Parthia it was the custom that no one could ever approach the king without a gift. And gold, the king of metals, is the fit gift for a king of men. So then Jesus was " the Man born to be King." But He was to reign, not by force, but by love; and He was to rule over men's hearts, not from a throne, but from a Cross. We do well to remember that Jesus Christ is King. We can never meet Jesus on an equality. We must always meet Him on terms of complete submission and complete surrender. Nelson, the great admiral, always treated his vanquished opponents with the greatest kindness and courtesy. After one of his naval victories, the defeated admiral was brought aboard Nelson's flagship and on to Nelson's quarter-deck. Knowing Nelson's reputation for courtesy, and thinking to trade upon it, he advanced across the quarter-deck with hand outstretched as if he was advancing to shake hands with an equal. Nelson's hand remained by his side. " Your sword first," he said, " and then your hand." Before we must be friends with Christ, we must submit to Christ.
(ii) Frankincense is the gift for a Priest. It was in the Temple worship and at the Temple sacrifices that the sweet perfume of frankincense was used. The function of a priest is to open the way to God for men. The Latin word for priest is Pontifex, which means a bridge-builder. The priest is the man who builds a bridge between men and God. That is what Jesus did. He opened the way to the presence of God; He made it possible for men to enter into the very presence of God.
(III) Myrrh is the gift for one who is to die Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Jesus came into the world to die. Holman Hunt has a famous picture of Jesus. It shows Jesus at the door of the carpenter's shop in Nazareth. He is still only a boy. The setting sun is shining in at the door, and the lad, Jesus, has come to the door to stretch His limbs which had grown cramped over the bench. He stands there in the doorway with his arm outstretched, and behind Him, on the wall, the setting sun throws His shadow, and it is the shadow of a cross. And in the background there stands Mary, and as she sees that shadow there is the fear of coming tragedy in her eyes. Jesus came into the world to live for men, and, in the end, to die for men. He came to give for men His life and His death.
Gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for one who was to die-these were the gifts of the wise men, and, even at the cradle of Christ, they foretold that He was to be the true King, the perfect High Priest, and in the end the supreme Savior of men.
ESCAPE TO EGYPT, Matthew 2: 13-15
When they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph. " Rise, he said, " and take the little child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the little child, in order to kill Him." So he arose and took the little child and His mother by night and went away into Egypt, and he remained there until the death of Herod. This happened that the word spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: 'Out of Egypt have I called My Son."
THE ancient world had no doubt that God sent His messages to men in dreams. So Joseph was warned in a dream to flee into Egypt to escape Herod's murderous intentions. The flight into Egypt was entirely natural. Often, throughout the troubled centuries before Jesus came, when some peril and some tyranny and some persecution made life intolerable for the Jews, they sought refuge in Egypt. The result was that every city in Egypt had its colony of Jews; and in the city of Alexandria there were actually more than a million Jews, and certain districts of the city were entirely handed over to them. Joseph in his hour of peril was doing what many a Jew had done before; and when Joseph and Mary reached Egypt they would not find themselves altogether amidst strangers, for in every town and city they would find Jews who had sought refuge there.
It is an interesting fact that in the after days the foes of Christianity and the enemies of Jesus used the stay in Egypt as a peg to attach their slanders to Him. Egypt was proverbially the land of sorcery, of witchcraft and of magic. The Talmud says, "Ten measures of sorcery descended into the world; Egypt received nine, the rest of the world one". So the enemies of Jesus declared that it was in Egypt that Jesus had learned a magic and a sorcery which made Him able to work miracles, and to deceive men. When the pagan philosopher, Celsus, directed his attack against Christianity in the third century, that attack which Origen met and defeated, he said that Jesus was brought up as an illegitimate child, that He served for hire in Egypt, that He came to the knowledge of 'certain miraculous powers, and returned to His own country and used these powers to proclaim Himself God (Origen, Contra Celsum 1: 38). A certain Rabbi, Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, said that Jesus had the necessary magical formulae tattooed upon His body so that He would not forget them. Such were the slanders that twisted minds connected with the flight to Egypt; but they are obviously false, for it was as a little baby that Jesus was taken to Egypt, and it was as a little child that He was brought back.