Survey of the Gospels, Part 3

Well, Happy Sabbath once again. We are continuing today in our Bible study series on a survey of the Gospels. And we're going to basically pick up the Bible study where we left off last time, studying the birth and the early portion of the life of Jesus Christ. So, let's begin doing that immediately. If you will turn to the book of Matthew, we will start off in Matthew's account. Matthew 1, verse 18.

Matthew records, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife. For that which is conceived of her is the Holy Spirit.

Now the word betrothed here means engaged, and it's a little more powerful, it's more meaningful than what we do today by the word engaged. A Jewish law looked upon engagement, which lasted for a one-year period of time in Galilee, as a formal bond that could be dissolved only by divorce. So hence, when Joseph, and I'm reading here from the Believer's Study Bible, Joseph is called Mary's husband, though the marriage had not been consummated through sexual intimacy.

The thing that I think it's important for us to think about for a minute is how difficult this must have been for Joseph. Now until this time, there was only one way for your fiancé to become pregnant, if you weren't involved as her husband. And this had to be deeply troubling to Joseph. Here he found the girl of his dreams, a godly girl named Mary in the community, and he was looking forward to marry her, and he found out that she was pregnant. And naturally, he had to struggle with feelings of betrayal, he had to struggle with feelings of inadequacy, of frustration, of sadness, but it says that he was a just man, even with his feelings, without knowing yet the angel talking to him in a dream, he had decided not to humiliate her publicly, he had decided just quietly to dissolve the marriage and not try to shame her in a public way.

So this tells us a lot about the character that Joseph had as an individual. What a good father he certainly must have made. Let's go back now to Matthew's account. And she will bring forth a son, again, this is the angel talking to him in a dream, and she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, Savior, for he will save his people from their sins. So all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which has translated God with us.

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. What I'm going to try to do in this study today is when it refers to the prophet, to actually go to that prophecy, because it's just so easy to read where it says, and the prophet said, and to just kind of assume that a prophet said it.

So I think it's good for us to literally go to some of these prophecies, because the birth of Jesus Christ fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy that pointed to his arrival on earth, the first time he would come to earth. So Isaiah, Chapter 7 and verse 14, if you'll turn there with me, Isaiah, Chapter 7 and verse 14 certainly hold your place.

Isaiah, Chapter 7 and verse 14, Isaiah was inspired to write, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. So this literally was a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in Chapter 7. Curds and honey he shall eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.

And Christ certainly understood the tree of life. Even though he understood evil, he never sinned in his lifetime. He chose to be righteous. He chose to use the power of the Holy Spirit so that he could bear himself as the Lamb of God for the sins of all mankind. Okay, that was the prophecy from Isaiah going back to verse 25.

And he did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son. This implies that Joseph and Mary had natural, marital relations after Jesus was born. By the very way that it's worded, he did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son.

This is important because there is a major religion that teaches that Mary was a perpetual virgin her entire life and that she never had any other children aside from Jesus. And later on, as we go through the Gospels, we will see numerous instances of where the literal half-brothers of Jesus Christ are mentioned by name and grew up with him and lived in the same household with him as he was certainly growing up. All right, brethren, let's now go to the book of Luke. We'll pick up Luke's account here and tie in a little bit of history.

Luke 2, beginning in verse 1. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Carinius was governing Syria and all went to be registered everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.

Let me make a few comments of this that I think was important for us certainly to understand at this time. It makes sense that if there was going to be a census that the decree from Caesar Augustus would have made more sense that a census take place during one of the Jewish Holy Days because it was during that time when the Jews, the mayors, particularly the heads of the households, would all be going to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the feast. So rather than sending people to take a census to these hundreds of small little cities and villages, it would have made much more sense to coordinate the census at a time when the Jews would be in Jerusalem observing the feast.

And of course we believe that Jesus was born around the time of the Feast of Trumpets, perhaps on the Feast of Trumpets. So that is one reason why there may not have been room at the end. If so many people were traveling on their way to Jerusalem to observe the Holy Days, it may have been very crowded. And the fact that they were traveling at that time and there was no room at the end implies the fact that everything was taken.

All the available rooms, all the available places for people to stay were taken. So it could very well be because this was the Holy Day season. Now let's go to the next slide here, quote from the Believer's Study Bible. It says, Luke's account well at this point. Luke is a careful historian as well as an accomplished theologian. Matthew, Chapter 2, 19, places Christ's birth prior to Herod's death. Thus, Christ's birth may have occurred in the summer or early fall of 4 BC. Shepherds would not normally have been tenting their fields in December due to the cold of winter.

Now again, this is the Believer's Study Bible. They don't have a particular agenda. They are not associated with the Church of God. So when they make a statement that they believe Christ's birth may have occurred in the summer or early fall of 4 BC, they're doing it from their own research and perspective, not because they've read our literature or are in particular agreement with us.

Now the Church has traditionally believed that Jesus was born in 4 BC for a number of very good reasons, particularly because there are many prophecies that would fall right in place with 4 BC. But there continues to be discussions and even debate on the exact year of the birth of Christ. There is some strong evidence that it was 5 BC. There is some convincing information that it may have been 3 BC. I've read lots and lots of papers on different proposals on when Christ was actually born. And it can get quite complicated. For example, Josephus mentions a lunar eclipse in conjunction with Herod's approaching death.

But again, he isn't specific enough to verify beyond doubt. Many people believe, because of what Josephus says, that Herod died in the spring of 4 BC. He was still alive, according to the Bible. He says he was still alive. And if Herod did die in the spring of 4 BC, then he obviously isn't around the Feast of Trumpets in 4 BC. But another lunar eclipse occurred in 1 BC. So my point is, I am not going to focus on dates, because I don't think that really solves anything. People have been debating this for 2,000 years.

Greg Thomas sure isn't going to come up with the answer today. So rather than focusing on dates, I think it's more important to us to focus on the events and the teachings and doctrines of Jesus Christ rather than being bogged down on a specific date. Let's now go to the Cambridge Study Bible notes and read something that they say here. They say, here and throughout his Gospel and Acts, Luke mentions the secular authorities, Emperor Augustus, Carinius, Governor of Syria, in order to emphasize the public nature of the events he reports and how God works through human agents to achieve his purposes.

Joseph and Mary live in Nazareth and Galilee, but travel south to Bethlehem in Judea, which was the ancestral town of Joseph, where they had to register for the imperial census. The details of the newborn child in the manger and the visit of the shepherds emphasize the simple human aspects of Jesus while the angelic song shows the divine purpose to be achieved through him. And, brethren, I think it's important for us to realize that God does work through human agents to achieve his purposes. You know, he used a wicked nation like Assyria to punish the northern tribes of Israel.

He used Babylon to punish the house of Judah. He uses Congress to punish us. How was that for an analogy? But the point is that God uses human agents to achieve his purposes. And yes, brethren, he has worked through the President of the United States and Congress throughout history to achieve his purposes, and he will continue to. Because God is in control, and he is going to use human agents in order to fulfill his plan and in order to fulfill his prophecies, and that's something that we need to acknowledge and recognize. Alright, let's go to verse 4 here, picking it up where we had just left off.

It says, "...into Judea, into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was the house and lineage of David," speaking of, of course, Joseph's lineage. And here is the prophecy that ties into that Micah, chapter 5 and verse 2. It says, "...but you, Bethlehem, Ephrath, though you are among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings are, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting." In other words, this one coming out is eternal.

It's been around a long time. Verse 3, "...therefore he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth, then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel," speaking of course of his second coming. So, following what was prophesied in Micah, chapter 5, Jesus fulfilled that by being born in Bethlehem. Let's take a look at verse 7 and go back and review that again. It says, "...and she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the end." Swaddling cloths were narrow strips of cloth that were wrapped around an infant to keep them warm.

The only good analogy I could have is kind of like wrapping a mummy. They would take these narrow cloths that were very long, and they would wrap them around the infant, and it would keep them warm, also keep them from scratching themselves if they had nails on their hands. And it was a very effective way to keep an infant warm. A manger is a feeding trough for animals.

It's usually used in a stall or a stable. And the reason they would have had a manger is it would have kept him off of the ground. If you put an infant on the ground and there are ants or there are other things on the ground, that's not desirable. But if you put them up into something, we call it a crib today, to take a child off of the floor and put them in something where they're off the ground, that's why he was put in a manger. And this led to the tradition that he was born in a stable. But even the earliest Christian traditions indicate that he was born in a cave, not in a stable.

But the fact that a manger was involved may have led to the belief that he was in a stable. The lack of room again at the end may have been caused by crowds that were heading Jerusalem for a holy day, like the festival of trumpets or the Feast of Tabernacles. Now let's go to Luke 2 and verse 8 and see what other events are occurring at this time.

And now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. Some scholars like to say that these were actually the priest sheep. But the scripture says here that they were keeping watch over their flock by night. So it gives the impression, the very strong impression that these flocks were owned by these shepherds, and they weren't just guarding them for the sake of the priest to be sacrificed. Verse 9, So there was a bright light that was just phenomenal as they're out in these fields that certainly got their attention, and they were greatly afraid.

Again, that universal emphasis that I bring you good tidings, not just for Jewish people, not just for people that are circumcised, but for all people. Verse 11, Now we'll stop before we see what they were saying. We'll go to the next slide. And I'd just like to interject something from Adam Clark's commentary. It says, So again, that is a comment from Adam Clark's commentary on the Bible, on the timing of the shepherds being out in the fields. Okay, let's see what the heavenly hosts were saying here.

So they said, yes, we were out in the field, we were watching the sheep. Then all of a sudden, this bright light appeared, and these heavenly hosts were singing. And this is what we were told. This is a made widely known what they had experienced. Verse 18, Something she actually did quite often. We'll see that she does this a little bit later as well.

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told to them. Let's zero in on verse 14 here. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. This actually is not a very good translation. A better rendering of the text is peace towards men of good will.

Some of the root words of the word good will is God's will. That's the root of the English word good will. Something that's God's will. And so, as it says in translation, God's word for today, suddenly a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those who have his good will.

So for those who were looking forward to the Messiah coming, good will towards them. That's the point of the Scripture. All right, we will now continue here in Luke chapter 2 and verse 21. It says, When eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb.

Now, when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. So it implies that they came to fulfill the law of Moses, and as a sacrifice they were there to offer a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Before we explain that, before I go into that in more detail, I wanted to mention something regarding the name that Jesus has called here, Jesus Savior, the name given by the angel. And I don't know if you can see that well or not. This is taken from the Believer's Study Bible, but I thought it's an interesting chart because it mentions all of the various titles of Christ. And here are a few of them. Again, I don't know if you can see it well or not, so maybe it would be best if I read some of these. So we can see all the titles of Christ that describe from the New Testament characteristics that he has. For example, he is the last Adam. He's the first of the new race of the redeemed. He's the alpha and the omega. He is the beginning and end of all things. He is the bread of life. He is the one essential food that's needed for spiritual life. He's the chief cornerstone. He's a sure foundation for our lives. He's the chief shepherd, a protector, sustainer, and the guide. He is the first born from the dead. In other words, he leads us into resurrection and eternal life. He is the good shepherd. He's a provider, a caretaker. He is the great shepherd of the sheep. He is a trustworthy guide and a protector. He's a high priest. He's a perfect sacrifice for our sins. He's a holy one of God, sinless in his nature. He's a manual, which means God with us. He stands for us in all of life's circumstances. The good times and the bad times, he is always with us. He is there with us. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, the Almighty before whom every knee will bow. He is the Lamb of God. He gave his life as a sacrifice on our behalf. Another title, he is the light of the world. He brings hope in the midst of darkness. He's the Lord of glory, the power and presence of the living God.

He's the mediator between God and men. He brings us into God's presence, redeemed and forgiven. He is the only begotten of the Father. He's the unique one of a kind Son of God. He's called a prophet, a faithful proclaimer of the truths of God, a savior. He delivers us from sin and death.

One of his titles is Seed of Abraham. He's a mediator of God's covenant. He's called the Son of Man. He can identify with us in our own humanity. He is the Word. He's present with God at the very creation of the earth. So I thought you might find interesting some of these actual titles that Jesus Christ has in the New Testament. Now let's take a look going back to verse 24 where we were.

The best way to translate that because the Hebrew word is if you don't have sufficiency to bring a lamb, meaning if you're poor, if you're not a wealthy person and you cannot spare a living animal like a lamb that provides wool and milk and necessary things for your family, as an alternative you could bring a pair of turtledogs or two young pigeons. And indeed, that's what the poorer classes of society did to fulfill these kinds of offerings because they could not afford a lamb themselves. The New Century version, the New International version, the New Revised Century version, God's Word for today, the New American Standard Bible all translate this if she cannot afford a lamb. She is to bring two turtledogs and two young pigeons. So the point here is that Joseph and Mary were simple, godly people. They weren't considered the upper crust of society. They weren't wealthy. They weren't well off. They were hardworking, simple, godly people. And this was the kind of family that God worked with to bring his son into the world. Now let's continue in verse 25 of Luke, the second chapter.

Let's zero in on verse 25 here a little bit. His phrase, Consolation of Israel. Actually, Isaiah chapter 40 talks about this. This was a time that Isaiah looked forward to. Isaiah is writing about a time after the Day of the Lord, after the great Cribulation of Prophecy. It says beginning in verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 40, Comfort, yes, comfort, my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh, that's all nations, all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. So this gentleman here, Simeon, had waited patiently, and it's no coincidence that the Holy Spirit brings him into the temple on the day and the hour and the time when Joseph and Mary bring Christ there to fulfill the law, what was required in the law of Moses. Let's now continue in Luke chapter 2 in verse 30. Here's what he says. Here's what Simeon continues to say, For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against. Verse 35, Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts made me reveal. Now we'll take a look at that in another translation in a minute. But before we do, let's take a look at the prophecy that was tied to what Simeon just said in verse 32 of Luke. This comes from Isaiah chapter 49. It says, And now the Lord says, Who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel is gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Indeed, he says, Is it too small a thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel? I will also give you, as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. So even when Simeon himself is saying this blessing, he is referring to the prophecy from Isaiah chapter 49, that Christ would be a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles. Now I wanted to spend just a little time here providing a better translation in Luke chapter 2 of verses 34 and 35, because it is a little bit muddled in the New King version. So let's read what it says here.

Let's continue.

So that the thoughts of many people will be made known. Now that's interesting, verse 35, because in so many of the Sadducees and Ephesus claimed to be looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, and then when he shows up they deny him. Because he was a threat to their agenda. He was a threat to their power base. He was a threat to their own deceived self-importance. So the thoughts of many were made known when Jesus Christ came to earth, and some who proclaimed to be looking for the Messiah and wanting the Messiah to return actually didn't want the Messiah to return. They resented him when he came. Continuing, and the things that will happen will make your heart sad too. And certainly Mary saw the death of her son. She saw a lot of very sad things during the end of his ministry, things that would have brought sadness to her heart. Now let's go to verse 36 of Luke, chapter 2.

Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fenuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple. Now if we're reading this correctly, and I looked at a number of translations, it certainly implies that she was married seven years.

And after her husband died, she was a widow of 84 years. So if you add seven to 84 and assume that she was maybe married around age 13 or 15, she was well over a hundred years old. And that is why it says that she was of great age. I want you to notice how remarkable this woman was. It says, But served God with fastings and prayers night and day. She certainly had dedicated herself to worshiping God in the temple. And coming in at that instant, again, do you think this is a coincidence of all the days she could have come in, of all the times during the day she comes in at the instant when his mother is fulfilling the requirements of the law of Moses.

She coming in at that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to those who look for redemption in Jerusalem. So when they have performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they return to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. So another event regarding this time in the temple. Now we're going to go back to Matthew's account, continue the survey. Matthew 2, beginning in verse 1. It says, I will stop right there and make a comment on a few of the verses here. The implication from the wise men is that they came from the east, that they saw a star in the east. By the time they come to Jerusalem, the star is temporarily gone. Otherwise, they would have followed the star right to the exact site of where Jesus is at. But it implies that the star temporarily has stopped shining. And that's why they come and inquire, where is the king of the Jews that we've heard about? Because they no longer have the exact coordinates to get to that place. So that's something that I think is important in thinking about. Secondly, I think it's important to understand that this star may not have been an astrological star. It may literally have been an angel.

It was something that was shining in the sky. It was something that they saw. And again, men have spent two thousand years trying to coordinate a star at that period of time and what it is that men may have seen. And when I say men may have seen, it's interesting that no one else seems to see this except the wise men, which to me, again, may indicate that it was an angel that they were seeing. Because no one else appears to see this odd star in the sky and make any comment about it.

Let him know where they could find the newly born king of the Jews. He gave the orders to kill the babies of Bethlehem, two years old and under, in hopes of getting this one whom he saw as a successor to his throne. Herod the Great was an extremely barbaric man, even killed his own children, his own sons, because he felt threatened by them. Caesar once said that it's better to be Herod's hog than to be his own son. That's what a butcher this man was. He was ruthless and he wanted to wipe out anyone and anything that he thought might be potential opposition to his kingship. Now, I'd like to, while we're in Holman's Bible dictionary, I want to make a few comments here about the wise men coming from the word magi.

Defined as Eastern wise men, priests and astrologers, expert in interpreting dreams and other magi arts. Now, I'm not going to go so far to say that there was a dark side to these men, but these men obviously were doing something that was not allowed in the law of Moses. The law of Moses did not allow you to look at stars and to interpret things through stars. You could be stoned if you did that according to the law of Moses. You could look at the moon, you could calculate the calendar, you could calculate the days of the month, the days of the month and the holy days and so on by looking at the moon, but there was a prohibition against looking at stars.

So, let's read what it says here in Holman's Bible dictionary. These were men whose interpretation of the stars led them to Palestine to find and honor Jesus, the newborn king. The term has a Persian background. The earliest Greek translation of Daniel, chapter 2, verses 2 through 10, uses magi to translate the Hebrew term for astrologer.

The magi who greeted Jesus' birth may have been from Babylon, Persia or the Arabian desert. Matthew gives no number, names or royal positions to the magi. The visit of the magi affirms international recognition by leaders of other religions of Jesus' place as the expected king. Now, we'll go from Holman's Bible dictionary and take a look at this phrase from the Believer's Study Bible. They're a little bit more dogmatic on who they think these individuals were. The Greek term magi, wise men, is plural, but nothing is said of the exact number of men traditionally considered to be three because of the three gifts. A magos was a wise man or seer from a Median tribe in Persia who interpreted dreams and acted as a priest.

After an unsuccessful rebellion against the Persians, the magoi became a priestly tribe much like the Levites of Israel. Although they were not kings, often magoi were elevated to positions of rule. They possibly became familiar with the Jewish hope of the Messiah while Israel was under Persian rule and that occurred from 539 to 332 BC. So I want to make a few comments here, again, without getting too deep and without providing too much information. One of the things that I struggle with doing a survey of the Gospels is that if I don't control myself, it'll take us longer than Jesus' actual ministry to go through his ministry.

So I have to stop and contain myself at times and try to consolidate information rather than provide too much detail. But here are some things that I'd just like to give you as food for thought. The star, it appears in the east at the birth of Jesus. Some say at the time of his conception, but again, I'm not going to get into that.

And by the time the magi travel over 700 miles, and depending on what part of Persia or Babylon or Arabia they may have come from, it might have been well over 1,000 miles. By the time they did all that traveling by camel, Christ is no longer an infant and a major.

Obviously a lot of time has gone by. They assume he has been born, and when they show up in Jerusalem they say, where is he? Where is the king of the Jews who was born? So they assume that he's already been born. And the fact that they were summoned by Herod, that they went to see him, may indicate again that the star that they had seen had temporarily stopped shining. Another thing I'd like to point out is that the magi were Gentiles, and they're a partial fulfillment of prophecy that looks forward to a time when wise men from all nations will travel to Jerusalem to worship the king.

So this looks forward to a time when people, wise men, kings, and representatives from all the nations of the earth will come to Jerusalem to worship the king. I think another interesting thing to ponder is that the magi, discovered by sheer faith, they didn't need scriptures in front of them, they didn't need all of these things.

By faith, they discovered what was missed by Herod and the religious leaders of Judaism who possessed the scriptures. So one group of people had faith, another group of people had the scriptures. And it was by their faith that they traveled perhaps over 1,000 miles to follow a prophecy that they may have orally been told from Daniel or other godly, biblical men many years before to make that kind of a journey to find the king of the Jews. So let's continue here. Matthew 2, verse 6. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the rulers of Judah.

For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And this is important in why he decides when he realizes they don't come back to him to kill the children two years old and younger.

He determined from them the time that they said the star first appeared. And he calculates how old he thinks Christ must be. Verse 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 him also. Of course, Herod doesn't want to worship him. He wants to kill him. He wants to wipe out anyone he sees as a perceived threat.

Verse 9. 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. Now, if this star had done this earlier, there would have been no reason for them to go to Jerusalem and say, Where is this king at if the star earlier had still been there and they followed it until it stood over where the young child was? So again, this is an indication that this was not an astrological event, that this was a supernatural angel that literally guided them right directly over where Jesus Christ, the young child at this time, he's not an infant anymore, he's certainly not in a major, but stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And again, the prophecy that was read in verse 6 here comes from the book of Micah, Micah 5 and verse 2. So let's take a look at the phraseology here of when the wise men arrived. Matthew 2 and verse 11. And when they had come into the house, so no longer a cave, certainly not a stable, when they had come into the house they saw the young child, not an infant, in swaddling cloth and a manger, they saw the young child would marry his mother and fell down and worshiped him.

And when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him gold and frankincense and myrrh, and then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring word to you, and Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

And 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.

So let's take a look at a couple of things here. I want you to notice the words in verse 11, and how they show many months must have gone by since the actual birth of Jesus Christ.

The phrase is used, that Christ was now a young child. That is from a Greek word, a paedion, which means a childling or a young child. Also, they say that they came into the house, and that is oikia, obviously not a cave or a stable. It doesn't say there were three wise men. It only states that there were three types of gifts that were presented to the future king.

The so-called names of the three wise men that come from the Catholic tradition have no foundation from Scripture.

Matthew 2, verse 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry. And he sent forth and he 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 determined from the wise men.

So he tries to figure out just how old Jesus Christ might be. Then was fulfilled what was spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. But 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.

Just to comment here about verse 16. Two-year-olds are not infants. By the time you get to being two years old, you're walking, a two-year-old child is saying a few words. There's a big distinction between an infant and a two-year-old.

This shows that Herod had determined the birth of Jesus to be about one to two years before the Magi arrived. He was not zeroing in on infants that had been born thirty days before. He knew, and he had calculated by what the wise men had told him, that this would be a childling who was somewhere between one to two years old. And that's exactly the characteristics that Herod went after to try to destroy what he thought would be his competition. Verse 19. Again, we just saw this. When Herod was dead, behold an angel, the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

Joseph and his family was only in Egypt for a short time. And again, this was to fulfill prophecy at various levels. That's exactly what Joseph did. He was obedient. When an angel told him something, he certainly did what God directed him to do. Now let's go to Matthew 2, verse 21. Since then he arose, took the young child and his mother, and came to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Arpus Laus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being mourned by God in a dream, he turned his side into the region of Galilee. 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. Now this must have been an oral prophecy because you cannot go back to any Old Testament prophets and see where they said in writing that we have for us today that he shall be called a Nazarene.

Actually, a Nazarene, what it is believed, was a small, what we would say in modern terms, a one-horse town. It was a derogatory phrase to be from Nazareth. It was like being today at term we would use called a hick. And don't confuse this with a Nazarite vow or being a Nazarite which was a type of a religious office, so don't confuse the two. But it says here that as was spoken by the prophets, because again we don't have anything written by the prophets in the Old Testament saying that he would be called a Nazarene.

Here's what it says regarding this verse from the weary Bible notes. He shall be called a Nazarene based on the sense of several Old Testament prophecies. Notice the plural prophets. Nazarene is probably a synonym for contemptible or despised since Nazareth was the most unlikely place for the residents of the Messiah. If we go to the book of Psalms for example, chapter 22 and verse 6, to the prophecy about the words of Christ as he is hanging on the cross.

He says, But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men. This is how he felt as the sins of the world were laden on his back and forth. And as his father in that brief moment of time turned his back on the stench and the curse that Jesus Christ was to the point they reacted to me. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

So for that brief moment in time, he carries the sin and the curse of the world on himself. He's the stench. And he says, But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see me ridicule me. They shoot out the lip. They shake their heads, saying, He trusted in the Lord. Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. So again, just trying to tie in the fact that this phrase that someone was a Nazarene or from Nazareth may have been a derogatory phrase used at that time.

Let's go to Luke chapter 2 and verse 39.

And he finished the days as they returned, the boy, Jesus, lingered behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother did not know it. Now at age 13, a Jewish boy became known as a son of the commandment and a full member of the religious community. It was also at age 13 that a father had a responsibility to teach his son a trade so that his son could support himself. So here, even before the age of 13, Jesus must have been considered a spiritual prodigy to the teachers that he met.

And the way that it worked is when you would go to the temple, these teachers would be under little portable booths that were surrounded in the outline of the temple. And you could just go up and initiate a discussion and a conversation. I also want to point out the fact that Joseph and Mary were not negligent parents. People traveled to the festivals in large extended families.

I have very fond memories 30, 40 years ago in doing the same thing to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. We would go as extended families. You know, Mrs. Wardsicki and the Hortons and my family, Joe Horton. And we would all travel together like one huge caravan to the Feast of Tabernacles. And we'd all stop at the same restaurants and eat on the way there. And we would watch each other's kids if an activity was going on and someone wanted to go somewhere. So they would travel to the Feast in large extended families.

And they just simply assumed that Jesus was with other family members when they were returning from the Feast. They were with one of the aunts or the uncles or spending time with one of their cousins. So they weren't being negligent here at all. Luke 2 and verse 44. But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him.

Now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. I just want you to notice that he acts the way we should act. He acts like a disciple. And that word means learner. At age 12, he's not sitting there telling the teachers. He's not sitting there lecturing the teachers. He's not sitting there being the smartest man in the room.

It says he is listening to them and he is asking them questions so that he can learn. In verse 47, And all who were heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. So he's carrying on a dialogue, a discussion with them. So when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us?

Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. And he said to them, Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Now, according to Believer's Study Bible, here's what it says regarding verse 49.

Jesus' first question means, Why didn't you know where to look? So he's implying, and this is a 12-year-old, he's not being cocky or brash. He's beginning to sense his destiny. It's beginning to all come together now, even at the age of 12. We read earlier how he's growing in wisdom, how he's maturing. And that just doesn't mean physically. The meaning and purpose of his life is beginning to come together. So, as it says in the New Century version, Jesus said to them, Why were you looking for me?

Did you know I must be in my father's house? So for him it was natural that I must be in the temple. It is my calling to be here learning and growing and listening and sharing and finding out more about my father in his house.

And at the age of 12, he doesn't presume to know more than everyone else. We'll see that here in verse 51, as a matter of fact. Luke 2 and verse 50. But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he was subject to them. In other words, he was in obedience to his family.

So he didn't come back with an attitude that I'm a 12-year-old spiritual prodigy. I'm smarter than everyone else. And from now on, things are going to change around here. That's not the attitude that Christ has. It says he came back and he was obedient. He was subject to his family, subject to them, but his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with men. And of course, the interesting thing is that for the next 18 years, until he begins his ministry, the Scriptures are silent on what happens to him from ages 12 to ages 30. Now, understanding what occurred at that time in Jewish history, we can probably pick up a few facts. We can pick up the understanding that Joseph is not mentioned again. So his father is dead by the time he begins his ministry. There is no mention of his father Joseph being alive. We don't know what happened. The Scriptures don't tell us. But somewhere in this 18-year-old gap, his father Joseph leaves the picture. We know that at age 13, he would have developed a skill.

He was a carpenter, which more appropriately in our world today would be more as someone who worked with stone and wood, not just someone who hammers nails and wood. He was considered a carpenter. He would have learned the skill beginning at age 13 from his father Joseph on how to have a trade. So from age 13 to age 30, he managed a business. He provided a need in the community.

He learned to communicate and associate with people. He was a hard-working carpenter between the ages of 18 and 30 when he physically began his ministry. He learned a lot of things working that prepared him for his ministry. So those are some of the things that we can understand occurred in that 18-year gap of history from age 12 until the time that he became 30 years old and began his ministry.

Verse 52, it says that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with men. I want to point out the fact that he doesn't simply grow physically into his teen and adult years. A lot more is going on in the life of Jesus Christ. He grows in spiritual discernment and understanding. People always seem naturally attracted to Christ. And this is evident by the many crowds that followed him during his ministry. He developed intellectually, which is a good thing. He developed physically. He developed spiritually, but he also developed socially. He seems to have had just a beautiful balance of personality and of character that people naturally were attracted to him and wanted to hear what he had to say. And again, that's why very large crowds of multiple thousands followed him in his ministry to hear what he had to say. Well, brethren, that's the end of the Bible study for today. Have a wonderful Sabbath, and we hope to have some time to fellowship with all.