I haven't begun exegeting the text yet because I'm reading through first before breaking it down further, but a couple of things jumped out at me while reading through Matthew chapter 2 the other morning and have been on my mind since.
First, no matter how many times I've read this text something never seemed to have popped until now; I've been a victim of tradition! Always I've had in my mind the manger scene we see so often during the Christmas holiday season. In that scene, we usually see the magi bearing gifts for the baby Jesus.
Wrong!
It was the shepherds in the field, alerted by angels of heaven of the savior's birth, who visited Jesus in the manger (Luk 2:8-18). The magi didn't come until much later, when Christ was nearly 2. It sounds like (and I'm on my own with this, I know) Christ's birth may have had such impact on the community that Joseph decided, or was convinced, to stay in Bethlehem after the census was completed rather than return to Galilee.
In Matthew's account of the Lord's infancy, it's stated “and going into the house...” (Mat 2:11). There was no manger here nor is a number given to the magi, only that there was more than 1 and they presented 3 gifts.
Interesting.
At least it is in the sense that it's a reminder for us (just me?) to REALLY REALLY check any assumptions at the door before going in to read the Word.
The other thing that popped out to me was that, in purely human terms, the way we would reckon things from our perspective, Herod and the Jewish authorities campaign to thwart the will of God and retain their grip on power appeared to be a rousing success.
Sure, they didn't actually succeed in killing the child, but Joseph did take Christ and flee to Egypt. To be blunt, they were run out of town. The current power structure remained until Herod's death (and again, from an earthly standpoint for some time after.)
Looking at the heavenly perspective provided in the Scriptures, of course, we know this is unquestionably not the case. It was FAR more a victory for God. Prophecy was fulfilled with total completeness. Not a jot or tittle was left unfulfilled. The will of the human element in the story was allowed to run its course while God's sovereign will remained above it all completely unthwarted and intact.
