Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G014 The Lord Jesus Is Worshiped
by the Wise Men, Flees to Egypt,
and His Childhood in Nazareth
Matthew 2:1-23; Luke 2:39-40

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All Scriptures quoted in this article are from the New King James Version (NKJV), unless otherwise noted (https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/).

Matthew 2:1-23

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,

2 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.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6 ‘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.’ “

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

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.”

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.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

13 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, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,

15 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.”

16 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 determined from the wise men.

17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18 “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.”

19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20 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.”

21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 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.

23 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.”

Luke 2:39-40

39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

In this lesson, we will together examine several details related to the wise men from the east coming to Bethlehem to worship the Lord Jesus; King Herod’s order to kill the male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding regions; how the Lord Jesus had to flee to Egypt; and how afterward He returned to Israel and lived in the city of Nazareth.

Matthew 2:1-2

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,

2 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.”

The Bible confirms that the Lord Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, in the land of Judea. This passage proves that the prophecy concerning the place where the Christ would be born was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. The Bible also confirms that He was born in the days of King Herod. “The days of Herod the king” means the days when Herod was king. The King Herod mentioned here is Herod the Great, also called Herod I, who was the king of Judea and a vassal of the Roman Empire. This means that Herod was appointed by the Roman emperor as king of Judea, but the economy, politics, and military were all dependent on the Roman Empire.

Herod was the one who initiated the rebuilding of the second Temple of God, expanding the Temple complex from seven hectares to more than fourteen hectares. He also built many additional structures around the Temple, making the entire Temple area considered a wonder of that time. In that period, the whole Temple complex was commonly referred to as “Herod’s Building Project.” There was also a saying: “Whoever has not seen Herod’s Building Project has never seen a beautiful structure.” The disciples of the Lord Jesus once marveled to the Lord about the buildings in the Temple area (Matthew 24:1). The rebuilding and expansion of the Temple complex began in 20 BCE. Although Herod died in the spring of 4 BCE, the construction continued until it was completed in the year 65. Throughout the period of construction, the sacrifices continued to be offered. In the year 70, the Temple was completely destroyed by the Roman army [1].

The noun “wise men” (G3097) is used to refer to scholars who were knowledgeable in the humanities and sciences of the Babylonian, Median, and Persian empires at that time. They were skilled in languages, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, geography, politics, and history. It is likely that the wise men who came to worship the Lord Jesus were astronomers. The Bible does not say that there were three wise men, but because of the three gifts they brought as offerings to present to the Lord Jesus, many people think that there were three. In reality, the group of wise men may have numbered up to several dozen. Since they had to travel a long distance while carrying many valuable possessions and could easily be attacked by robbers, they would have needed many people to guard them.

“From the east” means from the eastern direction of Jerusalem. Looking at a map, we can see that Babylon (modern-day Iraq) and Persia (modern-day Iran) lie to the east of Jerusalem. Therefore, the wise men may have come from Babylon or Persia. At that time, Babylon and Persia belonged to the Parthian Empire. There is a tradition that the wise men were three kings from three countries in the east, but the Bible does not call them kings; and the noun “country” in Matthew 2:12 is singular, implying that the wise men came from the same region somewhere east of Jerusalem.

When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, they likely entered the city and asked the people about the place where the Lord Jesus had been born.

We do not know at all how, through astronomical observation, the wise men knew that the King of the Jews had been born. But we can understand why they did not hesitate to travel a long and dangerous distance to seek the Lord Jesus in order to worship Him. The birth of the Lord Jesus was marked by an unusual star, showing that it was an extraordinary event; and surely the King of the Jews would have influence upon other nations. The wise men clearly said that they wanted to come and worship the King of the Jews who had been born. If the wise men were descendants of the Israelites who had been exiled to Babylon, then they would naturally have known the promise concerning the Christ and would naturally have desired to worship the Christ. Whether they were descendants of the Israelites or belonged to the Gentile nations, we may believe that God Himself revealed to them the birth of the Christ and the meaning of the unusual star. God Himself moved them to set out, to seek Him where He was, to worship the Christ, and to present offerings to Him.

The star that signaled the birth of the Christ was a miracle. We know that ordinary stars remain in their orbits and move according to the laws that God has appointed for them. But the star that the wise men saw in the east led them westward on a journey that lasted about two years. Afterward, the star again guided them southward and stopped directly above the location of the house where the Lord Jesus was living. This means that when the wise men first noticed the unusual star in the sky, it gradually moved from east to west. Therefore, the wise men set out and followed the direction in which that star was moving.

Because the City of Jerusalem was the Holy City of the people of Israel, after the star led the wise men to Jerusalem, they probably thought that they had arrived at the place. They entered the city to ask where the Lord Jesus had been born. If the wise men thought that the Christ had been born in Jerusalem, that would also have been reasonable. But King Herod told them that they had to go to Bethlehem. After they received the command from King Herod and left the City of Jerusalem to go toward Bethlehem, they saw the star again. But the star had changed direction, moving from north to south.

There is a hypothesis that the star the wise men saw was merely an astronomical phenomenon involving the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn when they move close to each other and appear as a bright point in the sky. That hypothesis does not agree with the details recorded in the Bible. Jupiter and Saturn cannot come close together, move from east to west for about two years, then move from north to south, and then stop above the house where the Lord Jesus was. The phenomenon of Jupiter and Saturn coming close together also did not occur during the period from 7 BCE to 4 BCE. We may believe that the unusual star that guided the wise men to the place where they could worship the Lord Jesus was a miracle, not an astronomical phenomenon.

Matthew 2:3-4

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

The coming of the wise men from afar, asking where the King of the Jews had been born so that they might worship Him, caused the people of Jerusalem and King Herod to be troubled. The people were troubled because, in their thinking, if the King of the Jews had been born, then it should have been in Herod’s palace. Yet they had not heard any news about a newly born prince who had been appointed crown prince, that is, the one who would inherit the throne. King Herod was troubled because he felt that his throne, and the throne of his descendants, was being threatened by the descendant of another family.

Although the wise men did not mention the title the Christ, King Herod understood that the one whom the wise men were seeking was the Christ promised in the Bible. King Herod understood that the Christ would become the King of the people of Israel and would become the Deliverer of the people of Israel. Herod may also have understood that the Christ would deliver the people of Israel from the rule of the Roman Empire. That was also the understanding and hope of most Israelites at that time. They were Israelites who believed in the promise of the Christ, who in Hebrew is called the Messiah. Therefore, King Herod gathered the chief priests and the scribes of the people and questioned them about the place where the Christ was to be born.

The phrase “the chief priests” includes the current high priest and the former high priests. The scribes were those who specialized in copying and explaining the Old Testament Scriptures to the people of Israel. King Herod questioned them because they had knowledge of the Scriptures.

Matthew 2:5-6

5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

6 ‘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 immediately answered King Herod that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea. They also cited the words of the Prophet Micah. But for some reason, they did not quote the exact wording. The prophecy of Micah is:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

According to Genesis 35:19, Ephrathah (H672) is another name for Bethlehem (G965). The name Bethlehem means “house of bread.” The name Ephrathah means “fruitful.” Both names are fitting for the land where the Christ was born because He is the Living Bread and His ministry is fruitful.

Bethlehem Ephrathah belongs to the tribe of Judah, which is different from Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun mentioned in Joshua 19:15. Bethlehem Ephrathah was a small place among the thousands of localities in the land of Judah. Yet from Bethlehem would come forth the One who would rule Israel for God. The origin of that One is from ancient times, from everlasting. This implies that He is God.

It can be said that the chief priests and the scribes explained the meaning of the prophecy rather than quoting the exact wording of the prophecy.

Matthew 2:7-8

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

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.”

After questioning the chief priests and the scribes, King Herod secretly summoned the wise men to meet with him. It is possible that, apart from the person responsible for calling them, no one else knew that Herod was meeting with them. Herod carefully inquired about the time when the wise men had seen the star. We may understand that from the time the wise men first saw the star until they met King Herod, nearly two years had passed. For this reason, Herod later ordered the massacre of the male children two years old and under.

Herod lied to the wise men when he instructed them to search for the child and report back to him so that he also might come and worship Him. In reality, Herod’s intention was to kill Him in order to protect the throne for his own family.

It is difficult for us to understand why Herod dared to openly oppose God when he clearly knew that the prophecy concerning the Christ was being fulfilled in his own lifetime. But this helps us understand that Herod rebuilt the Temple of God in such a magnificent way in order to gain praise for himself, not because he wanted to honor God. Perhaps for that reason, only a few years after the rebuilding was completed, God allowed the Roman soldiers to burn the Temple so that not one stone was left upon another (Matthew 24:2).

Today, many people understand God’s Word and recognize that the prophecies about the End Time are being fulfilled. They also realize that the time when the Christ will take the Church out of the world could happen at any moment. Yet they still openly live in ways that oppose God’s Word, openly violate the commandments of God, and serve their own desires.

Matthew 2:9-10

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.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

After hearing King Herod’s command, the wise men left the City of Jerusalem and continued their journey. It is likely that as soon as they left Jerusalem and headed toward Bethlehem, they saw the unusual star. This time, the star did not move westward but changed direction and went southward, which corresponded exactly with the route from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. For that reason, they rejoiced greatly, knowing that the prophecy about the birthplace of the Christ had been fulfilled and that only a few more hours of travel remained before they would reach the place.

We may understand that, because they followed the unusual star, the wise men likely rested during the daytime and traveled only at night. It is very possible that their group used camels as their means of transportation, since camels were the most suitable means of travel at that time and could carry a large amount of baggage.

The detail that the unusual star led the wise men to the place where the child was and stopped over that place helps us understand that it was not an ordinary celestial body. It certainly was not any star in our solar system; it was not any star in the Milky Way; nor was it a comet. Rather, it was entirely a miracle, like the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that once guided the people of Israel in the wilderness. We may also understand that the unusual star must have shone a beam of light upon the house where the Lord Jesus was, enabling the wise men to know exactly which house it was.

Matthew 2:11

11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When the wise men arrived, it was still night. If they had left Jerusalem at about seven in the evening, they could have reached Bethlehem at around nine o’clock at night. When they entered the house, they saw the Lord Jesus and Mary. The Bible does not mention Joseph. We do not know where Joseph was at that time. It is possible that Joseph had gone out and had not yet returned home. As a carpenter, it is very possible that there were times when Joseph had to travel some distance for work and returned home late at night.

The wise men fell down and worshiped the Lord Jesus. The Bible does not record the reaction of Mary or of those in the wise men’s company when they saw the wise men bowing down before the child Jesus to worship Him. Yet such a scene would naturally have been remarkable, because men of status and authority were bowing down to worship a child about two years old in a humble place. After that, the wise men opened their valuable baggage—the gifts they had brought—to present them to the Lord Jesus. They did not worship the Lord Jesus only with words and actions, but also by presenting precious gifts to Him. The gifts included gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold was often used for a crown and symbolizes the kingship of the Christ. Frankincense was commonly used in offerings to God and symbolizes the office of the Christ as the high priest. Myrrh was commonly used to prepare the body of the dead for burial and symbolizes the death of the Christ as the sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity.

Today, do we seek the Lord and worship Him, offering to Him what is precious to us? We can offer to the Lord our physical bodies so that He may completely rule over us and be our King (Romans 12:1). We can offer to Him prayers of praise and thanksgiving, together with good works and fellowship in the Church, like fragrant incense (Hebrews 13:16; Revelation 5:8). We can put to death our old self in order to live a new person for the Christ (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 4:24).

Matthew 2:12

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

At least the wise men stayed overnight in Bethlehem on the very night they found the Lord. It is likely that during that same night, they received a revelation in a dream. They immediately set out to return to their country by another route, departing from Bethlehem and heading directly west. Since they were accustomed to staying awake at night and traveling by night, they may have departed right away during the night after receiving the revelation.

The term “divinely warned” means to be informed by God through a spoken message. It is possible that in the dream, the wise men saw an angel of the Lord appearing and speaking to them. But it is also possible that they did not see an angel and only heard a voice speaking to them, telling them not to return to Herod. It is possible that each wise man received the revelation directly. Afterward, they likely told one another and understood that the message had come from God.

Matthew 2:13

13 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, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

It is possible that just as the wise men set out on their journey, Joseph also had a dream in which an angel told him to arise and take the Lord Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt. The reason was that King Herod intended to kill the Lord Jesus. The angel did not tell Joseph how long his family would have to remain in Egypt. The gold given by the wise men was God’s provision to cover the travel and living expenses for Joseph’s family in Egypt.

Matthew 2:14-15

14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,

15 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 immediately arose and took the Lord Jesus and Mary and fled to Egypt during the night. From Bethlehem, Joseph led his family southward and then westward to reach Egypt. That night they likely walked throughout the night. The next day, when they encountered merchant caravans, they may have rented a seat on a wagon or a camel for Mary and the Lord Jesus. There is something we should learn from Joseph: he was eager to carry out immediately what the Lord commanded.

If the Lord Jesus was born on October 8, 7 BCE, then the wise men would have met Him no later than October 8, 5 BCE. That would also be the time when Joseph took the Lord Jesus to Egypt to escape. According to history, King Herod died after the lunar eclipse on March 13, 4 BCE, but before the Passover on April 11, 4 BCE [2]. Thus, the time that the Lord Jesus remained in Egypt may have been from eighteen months to two years.

The prophecy in Hosea 11:1 first refers to God calling the people of Israel out of Egypt because Israel is called His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4:22). But it is also a prophecy that God would call His Firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus, out of Egypt. The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judea. In order for Him to be called out of Egypt, there first had to be a reason for Him to go to Egypt. The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Matthew to understand that Hosea 11:1 was fulfilled in the Christ.

Matthew 2:16

16 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 determined from the wise men.

We do not know how long King Herod waited before realizing that the wise men had left the land of Judea. Perhaps it was about one or two days later. If Herod had been prudent, he might have sent people to follow the wise men. But even if Herod had sent people to follow them, God would still have had a way to prevent him from killing the Lord Jesus. When Herod learned that the wise men had departed from Judea without reporting back to him, he became extremely angry. He then ordered his soldiers to kill all the male children two years old and under in the city of Bethlehem and in the surrounding regions. This was because, according to what Herod had learned from questioning the wise men, the unusual star had appeared nearly two years earlier. That means that by that time the King of the Jews had been born nearly two years earlier.

Matthew 2:17-18

17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18 “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.”

The words of the Prophet Jeremiah, which are considered to be fulfilled in the case of the mothers in Bethlehem and the surrounding regions whose children were killed by Herod’s order, are recorded as follows:

“Thus says the Lord: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:15)

Jeremiah chapter 31 contains God’s prophecy about the day when He will restore Israel and establish a new covenant with the people of both kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. At that time, the two kingdoms will be united again and will have only one king.

Verse 15 speaks of the condition of the mothers of Israel weeping because their children have died in war or have been taken away into captivity.

Rachel was the beloved wife of Jacob and the matriarch of three tribes: the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim through Joseph and the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was Joseph’s younger brother and the youngest son of Jacob. The right of the firstborn had been given by Jacob to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1–2). Therefore, Rachel is used as a representative figure for the mothers of Israel. Ramah is about 10 km northwest of Jerusalem. It was also the place where Rachel was buried. It was also the place where the people of Israel from Jerusalem gathered before being taken away into captivity.

The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Matthew, helps us understand that the event of the mothers of Israel weeping for their children at Ramah is a figure of the event in which the mothers of Israel would weep for their children who were slaughtered in Bethlehem and its surrounding regions.

Many people have wondered why God allowed the event of King Herod slaughtering innocent children to happen. Yet throughout history in this world, it has not been only the killing of innocent children by King Herod that has occurred. Many other innocent children have also been killed when their parents offered them as sacrifices to idols (Psalm 106:38) and when governments permitted abortion.

In the United States alone, statistics show that from 1973 to 2020, at least 63,600,000 children in America were killed in the womb legally [3]. That number is greater than half (66.6%) of the current population of Vietnam. God allows the wickedness of humanity to be manifested so that humanity may see how dreadful sin is. Yet God surely has a plan for the innocent children who have been killed. Children who have not yet become conscious of committing sin are naturally cleansed from the sinful nature in them by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They naturally have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord Jesus Himself said:

“But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”” (Matthew 19:14)

What should truly cause us to wonder is this: Why does God still love humanity—so extremely wicked and corrupt—grant them salvation, and patiently wait for them to repent and receive His salvation?

Matthew 2:19-20

19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20 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.”

History records that King Herod died sometime between March 13, 4 BCE—the day when a lunar eclipse occurred over the sky of Jerusalem—and April 11, 4 BCE, which was the Passover of that year. The historian Josephus recorded the events that took place during this period and stated that King Herod died after the lunar eclipse but before the Passover [2]. Why Josephus did not record the exact date of Herod’s death is unknown to us.

According to the historian Josephus, King Herod was punished by God after committing the sin of slaughtering innocent children. He suffered infections of the intestines, the anus, the bladder, and the genital organs. Urine, feces, and bloody pus flowed and collected beneath his feet. The genital organs and the anus were itchy, swollen, ulcerated, and filled with worms. The pain caused Herod’s whole body to contract. His legs became greatly swollen. Herod could breathe only when sitting. His whole body emitted a foul odor.

It is very possible that immediately after Herod died, the angel spoke to Joseph, telling him to bring the Lord Jesus and Mary back to Israel before the Passover of the year 4 BCE.

According to the content of Matthew chapter 2, we know that only King Herod intended to kill the Lord Jesus. However, in verse 20 the plural is used in the phrase “those who sought the child’s life are dead.” It is very possible that not only King Herod died, but that the officers who commanded the soldiers sent to hunt for the Lord Jesus had also died.

Matthew 2:21-22

21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 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.

It is very possible that Joseph set out with his family to return to Israel in time to attend the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which the men of Israel were required to attend. But when he heard that Archelaus, one of Herod’s sons, had become king in place of Herod and was ruling over Judea, Joseph was afraid and did not dare return to Judea. That means he did not dare bring his family to Jerusalem to attend the feast, nor did he dare bring them back to Bethlehem to live. Instead, Joseph went straight north into the region of Galilee.

We may understand that God moved Joseph so that he felt such fear, because in the plan of God the Lord Jesus would grow up in the city of Nazareth.

Matthew 2:23

23 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.”

Joseph brought the Lord Jesus and Mary back to their former place of residence, the city of Nazareth (Luke 1:26). From that time—meaning from about three years old—the Lord Jesus lived and grew up in the city of Nazareth until He began His ministry at about the age of thirty.

In the Bible, there is no prophecy that directly states that the Christ would be called a Nazarene. Bible interpreters have offered two explanations, as follows:

1. The Prophet Isaiah used the noun “branch” to refer to the Christ:

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Ê-sai 11:1)

In Hebrew, the noun “branch” and the noun “Nazareth” are written and pronounced the same: נצר (H5342) /nēy-tser/.

2. In Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, the Christ is described as a person who is lowly in society, and the people of Nazareth were also regarded as lowly, as implied in John 1:46. Therefore, being called a Nazarene carries the sense of being regarded as a lowly person in society.

In addition, some have suggested that being called a Nazarene has the same meaning as being called a Nazarite. In reality, however, the nouns “Nazareth” and “Nazarite” are written and pronounced differently. The Lord Jesus was not a Nazarite, because He drank wine and touched dead bodies. Perhaps because of the misunderstanding that the Lord Jesus was a Nazarite, based on the erroneous teaching of religious organizations, painters have often depicted the Lord Jesus with long hair.

Luke 2:39

39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

“When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord” means that they had fulfilled the presentation of the Lord Jesus to God at the Temple and had offered the sacrifice after forty days following Mary’s childbirth.

We may understand that after Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus, Joseph probably brought Mary back to Bethlehem and stayed temporarily in their own house or in the house of their relatives. When the forty days were completed, Joseph brought the Lord Jesus and Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem to perform the ceremony and offer the sacrifice. After that, from Jerusalem, Joseph brought the Lord Jesus and Mary back to Nazareth.

However, nearly two years later, for some reason Joseph brought the Lord Jesus and Mary back to Bethlehem, just at the time when the wise men arrived. It may be that they returned to visit relatives in their hometown, or more reasonably, they may have decided to live in Bethlehem.

But after they had to flee to Egypt, they did not return to the land of Judea again. Instead, they returned to live in Nazareth, in the region of Galilee.

Luke 2:40

40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

The above verse describes the period from when the Lord Jesus returned from Egypt to the region of Galilee and lived in the city of Nazareth until He fully matured and began His ministry. His “growing” included growth both physically and spiritually—growth in the body of flesh as well as growth in the spiritual body, which is the spirit.

The spirit is strengthened when the spirit is filled with the knowledge of God’s Word and has firm faith in God. The more one has knowledge of God’s Word and firm faith in God, the more one receives wisdom and every grace from God. The wisdom that comes from God helps us know how to live in a way that pleases the Lord. Every grace from God helps protect us and gives us the power to live according to God’s Word and to accomplish the good works that God has prepared for us.

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
12/032022

Notes:

[1] https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/antiquities-of-jews/herod-rebuilds-temple.html

[2] https://preachingfromthebible.net/the-birth-date-of-the-lord-jesus/

[3] https://www.all.org/abortion/abortion-statistics

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.