by Giles Day

Created on: May 16, 2010

A definitely logical sequence to the opening chapter of the New Testament, Matthew one introduces us to the birth of Jesus and His miraculous origins. Matthew two expounds on that account and tells us  about the other important events that surrounded the birth of Iour Savior. Isiah 9:6 clearly shows us that Jesus cannot be denied as the promised one.

There are three groups of individuals mentioned in Matthew 2,  and one very notable person. They include the wise men (Mt.2:1), the chief priests and scribes (Mt.2:4), and Herod himself (Mt.2:3). The holy family of course, is the most important of all these people, and is mentioned throughtout the entire chapter. Jesus of course is the most important of all these figures, and is very important to the reading of the nativity. All fall neatly into the plan God has for them in history. If any ofthem were missing, they wouldbe keenly missed.

The duality ofJesus 'life is to be explained here. The Bible clearly makes the point that Jesus was God, descended from heaven to be part ofhumanity. (John 1:1-12) This was God's paln, even before humanity came into existence. (Psalm119:89-90)  That plan will not come into fruition unitl the church is raptured to be with Christ forall eternity.

The wise men from the East, called the Magi, are problably as a result of Daniel's sojurn into Babylon. (Daniel 1-12)They probably has familiarized themselves with the prohesies of the Messiah,foretold by the prophets. (Daniel 7-12) Scripture does no clarify whether or not they were true believers, but they at the very least had an understanding, albeit superstitious, of the workings of God.Perhaps their studies took them as far back as the false prophets Balaam and whatnhe foretold by the moving ofthe Spirit ofGod.

King Herod is  a study in and of himself. As a Jew, he was not totally ignorant ofthe Scriptures. He was most likely an Edomite, and as such his appointment to office was highly political. Rome had the power over him, just as he had the power of the priests and scribes. The word "demand" in verse four  shoes the power he had, and the arrogance of his nature of their people, HIs attempt atdeciet in verse nine and his arrogant response in verse sixteen shows that he was absolutely ruthless in maintaining his position.

The next group are the scribes and pharisees. These people would have been the most guilty Scripturally and Spiritually. They knew the Old testament extremely well, quoted Scripture from Michah glibly,and understood what was foretold as to the coming of the Messisah. If they had been doing their job as they should, they would have theyn would have followed the geanologies fromDavid through to Jesus. The virgin birth was not beyond their understanding of the workings of God. Instead, they resonded by trying to murder Jesus allofHis life, and to attempt to nullify the gospel of grace He and his followers tried to preach all of theirn lives. In Matt. 2:20, we see that everything is in conflict to the word of God, and Herod came to the same erroneous conclusion.

Many of us do not grow up and live inthe same town we were born in. If the Pharisees had paid closer attention to the family lists they had available to them, they would have realized that this was the case with Jesus. Insteasd as we see in John 18:35, for three years, they derided and humiliated Him and eventually tried to kill Him.

As always, the Bible is a book of faith, and we must accept the account of Christ'slife and ministry by faith.

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