CRITICAL NOTES
Matthew 2:1. Born.—The birth of Jesus has been assigned to “the fourth year before the common account called Anno Domini.” But Rev. A. Carr (Cambridge Bible for Schools) says, “the year 3 before the Christian Era has been fixed almost beyond a doubt as the date of the Nativity.” Bethlehem of Judæa, situate on a limestone ridge, six miles from Jerusalem, south by west. Called Bethlehem of Judæa, to distinguish it from Bethlehem in Zebulon (Joshua 19:15). A very ancient place. Called Ephrath or Ephratah, before it came into the possession of the Hebrews (Genesis 48:7). Now called Beit-lachm. The birth-place of David. Name means literally “the house of bread”; derived probably from fertility of soil. Herod the king.—Called afterwards, but not in his lifetime, “the Great.” An Idumæan (Edomite) who, chiefly through the friendship of Mark Antony, became king of Judæa. He was not an absolute monarch, but subject to the Roman empire, much in the same way as some of the Indian princes are subject to the British government (Carr). As a prince he was able and magnificent, but utterly unprincipled and most unhappy (Morison). Came.—Probably shortly after the presentation in the temple (Luke 2:22). Wise men = μάγοι.—In Chaldea and Persia a special class who gave themselves to the study of the stars and to that of the occult arts generally. In Egypt and in Babylon they formed a recognised and highly honoured class (Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:2). Those who came to Bethlehem may have been from Media, but their gifts would rather suggest Arabia (Universal Bible Dictionary).
Matthew 2:2. Born.—Literally, “the born King of the Jews.” Herod was not a born king. It was long since there had been a born king in Israel (Morison). King of the Jews.—A title unknown to the earlier history of Israel and applied to no one except the Messiah. It reappears in the inscription over the cross (Carr). Star.—It is perhaps safest to regard it as simply a luminous meteor, which appeared under special laws, and for a special purpose (D. Brown). Worship.—To acknowledge His worthship (Morison). Not adoration in the strict sense. We attribute too much to the Magi if we suppose them aware of Christ’s divinity. But it was clearly more than mere reverence for an earthly king. It hovered on the border line, and meant an indefinite submission and homage to a partially discerned superiority, in which the presence of God was in some sort special (Maclaren).
Matthew 2:3. Troubled.—When we remember the recent agitations at Jerusalem, through the refusal of the Pharisees, to the number of six thousand, to take the oath of allegiance to him (Jos., Ant., XVII. ii., 4), with their prophecy of the divinely intended transfer of the kingdom from him and his race, to a favourite of their own, we can easily understand how much less a thing would have been sufficient to terrify him than this announcement of the star and the king (Trench). Jerusalem.—From a dread of revolutionary commotions, and perhaps also of Herod’s rage (D. Brown).
Matthew 2:4. Chief priests.—Probably the high priest, with those who had previously held the office of high priest (for at this period it was often transferred at the caprice of the Romans, Jos., Ant., XV. iii.), and the heads of the twenty-four courses into which the sons of Aaron were divided (2 Chronicles 23:8; Luke 1:5). Scribes.—The interpreters of the law, casuists, and collectors of the traditions of the elders, for the most part Pharisees (Plumptre). Called “lawyers” in St. Luke’s Gospel. Not certain whether a meeting of the Sanhedrin, or only of a “committee of notables” (Plumptre) or a “theological conference” (Lange).
Matthew 2:6. Thou Bethlehem.—The passage is important as showing that the authorised expositors of the Jewish scriptures were in the habit of citing them by paraphrase, and not literally (Speaker’s Commentary). Princes of Juda (Micah 5:2).—“Thousands.” The tribe had been subdivided into thousands or chiliads, corresponding to the hundreds of England, and over each subdivision there was a chieftain or prince (Morison). Rule = act the part of a shepherd to.
Matthew 2:7. Inquired … diligently.—Rather “ascertained exactly” (Speaker’s Commentary).
Matthew 2:8. I may come.—It was something like the kiss of Judas (Gualther).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 2:1-8
The King proclaimed.—The previous passage was of a comparatively domestic description. It told us practically how the holy family were made acquainted with the true origin of the heavenly Babe just appearing among them. Here we have a wider field and a more public announcement. That heavenly Babe is now presented to the whole of the world as its King. So we find here to be openly declared, on the one hand; and distinctly understood, on the other.
I. Openly declared—This may be seen:—
1. By the form of language employed by those who are spoken of here as coming as visitors to Jerusalem. Nothing is so emphatic a declaration of a fact as to ask a question which assumes its existence. “Where is the child we are seeking for?” Compare Judges 4:6; Judges 6:14; Joshua 1:9, etc.
2. By the purport of the question thus asked. Where is the King? The King of the Jews? The infant King of the Jews? To the people addressed such questions could mean only one thing: “There is an Infant among you whom ye know not, although He is really your King.”
3. By the known position of those who employed it. They were men from afar, and therefore men most probably having something important to say (Isaiah 39:3). Men of repute, also, and therefore not improbably well knowing what they were speaking about.
4. By the special experience which these strangers had had. Continual watchers of the skies themselves, they had seen that in the skies which they had learned to look upon as of the highest significance. “We have seen His star in the East.” If they are right in their view, therefore (and they were fair judges of that), the message they bring is a message from heaven itself.
5. By the purpose avowed by them. They desire not to find only, but to do homage to, this infantile King. “We are come to worship Him.” What depth of conviction! To come so far for that purpose. What depth of confession! However far off their home was, they acknowledge it thus to be part of His realm. All these things make their advent and language a wide and express proclamation indeed; especially so to men who were familiar with such prophecies as those of Numbers 24:17; Psalms 72:8-11, etc., and who were even then looking for some one to “restore to Israel” (Acts 1:6) just such a kingdom as that of which these messengers spoke. No procession of heralds with banners and trumpets and regalia could have said any more.
II. Distinctly understood as so being.—The agitation this question aroused is one token of this. It greatly agitated king Herod, the then ruler of Jerusalem and Judæa. The fact of the question did so. “Where is the King?” was an inquiry which at once put him on one side. The form of it did so still more. Where is He that is “born” to be King was to reproach him tacitly as a usurper. No wonder, therefore, that together “with him”—“with” him and “after” him both, so some render the words—all Jerusalem also was agitated. Agitated with hope. It would be something to get any king—more still such a King as that asked about—in place of such a notorious tyrant as Herod. Agitated with fear. Jerusalem knew by experience what it was to have Herod disturbed. It meant double oppression for them. Next, the results of this agitation had the same significance. There was the question which immediately followed. The point it turned on—where the Christ should be born. The persons it was addressed to—those who from their office and the direction of their studies were the most likely to know. There was the answer returned to this question. An answer from the pages of one of the prophets which spoke so explicitly of “Bethlehem Judah” as the future birthplace of King Messiah, and as the city out of which was to come a “Governor that shall rule My people Israel.” There was the further question, propounded by Herod in consequence of this answer. A question with some faith in it but more unbelief. A question asked privately (Matthew 2:7), so as not to extend the impression already made by the wise men’s inquiry. A question asked “diligently,” or with much concernment, as though there might be far more than was wished for in that inquiry. A question asked in much evident subtlety, in order, if possible, to be in a position to prevent that which was feared. See, therefore, how blind, yet how discerning, he was, and some of those he questioned as well. How little they understood the Power that was behind the inquiry of these strangers! How well they understood the direction to which it pointed their thoughts. As well to all these, as in itself, it was a proclamation of Christ.
Being such, it may be regarded, in conclusion, under more aspects than one.
1. As an act of justice to the infant Jesus.—Thus indeed a King, it was only right that He should be presented as such. The equivalent to this is done in all earthly sovereignties when a minor comes to the throne. The actual assumption of power, even the full ascription of power—the solemn coronation—may not follow at once. But the assertion of right is never delayed. For to delay that would be to deny it in fact.
2. As an act of mercy to Israel.—Here was a light given them, which, if they had followed it up, would have led them, as it did the wise men, to the very cradle of Christ!
3. As an act of mercy to all mankind.—It was not without significance that this “star in the East” was manifested to Gentiles and strangers. About this time we find from Virgil and others that there was a general expectation of some Great One amongst the nations of the earth. This message to Gentiles, conveyed in a language which they could all understand (Psalms 19:3), was a kind of corroboration of this idea. That great Christian church, indeed, which has been since gathered in so especially from the Gentiles, has understood it so ever since. It was a “manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles”; a beginning of that which has ever since been distinguished by this most distinguishing mark!
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Matthew 2:1-15. Old types of modern classes.—In the historic facts of this chapter we have types of four classes of men which have ever existed, and which exist still, viz:—
I. Those who earnestly seek the truth.
II. Those who rest in the letter of the truth.
III. Those who are fearfully alarmed at the truth.
IV. Those who are affectionate guardians of the truth.
The Magi represent the first, the scribes and Pharisees the second, Herod the third, and Joseph and Mary the fourth.—D. Thomas, D.D.
Matthew 2:1-12. The first-fruits of the Gentiles.—
I. We see here heathen wisdom led by God to the cradle of Christ.
II. The contrast of these Gentiles’ joyful eagerness to worship the King of Israel, with the alarm of His own people at the whisper of His name, is a prelude of the tragedy of His rejection, and the passing over of the kingdom to the Gentiles.
III. Then comes the council of the theologians, with its solemn teaching of the difference between orthodoxy and life, and of the utter hollowness of mere knowledge, however accurate, of the letter of Scripture.
IV. Herod’s crafty counsel; its absurdity.—If the Child were not Messiah, he need not have been alarmed; if It were, his efforts were fruitless. But he does not see this, and so plots and works underground in the approved fashion of king-craft.
V. The discovery of the King.—The great paradox of Christianity, the manifestation of Divinest power in uttermost weakness, was forced upon them in its most startling form.
VI. Adoration and offering follow discovery.—A. Maclaren, D.D.
Matthew 2:1-3. The doom of Herod.—There is hardly any figure in history in whom the tragic irony of dreadful doom has been more vividly or terribly displayed than in that of Herod the Great. His fate has all the elements of pathos and of romance which constitute a great drama, and it was played on a large scene of human history at a moment when the stage was occupied by names famous to all time: Pompey, Cæsar, Crassus, Antony, Cleopatra, Augustus. With all these he is concerned. A great drama, and on a great stage! It is the splendour and the passion of the world that we touch when we read, “Then was Herod troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” He was troubled, troubled with a wholly new and unanticipated trouble, for the peril to his throne, which he had hitherto spent his whole life in arresting and subduing, had come from another direction altogether from that which now disturbed him. The claim that he had had to fear and to resist, and had been forced by his fear at last to stifle by murder, had been not that of the house of David, but of the Maccabean princes. That was the family by whose fall Herod the Great had risen. And now, when he might have supposed that the throne for which he had been driven to pay so dire a price had been secured at last from the fear of a competitor, he hears of the arrival of wise men from afar, asking for One who has just been born “King of the Jews.” Why, had not Herod swept every claimant out of the field? Had he not rid himself at last of every terror which could assail him? Yes, but here is the irony. In wiping out of the scene the names of the Maccabees, he had but stripped off the veil that had obscured the memory of David. The Levite dynasty of Mattathias had, after all, been usurping the ground that was due to another. As long as its hope of victory, fed by such new glories, should fill the imagination of Jewish patriotism, the deeper tradition might lie forgotten. But Herod had himself wrecked the hope of the Jews. He had shattered that independence; he had stamped out its last spark; and now his very crimes had liberated a far more dangerous disturbance. A stronger voice, long buried in silence, wakes out of the dust, and cries against him. Behind this, then, and within it, is all the power of gathered prophecy, telling of One who should lift little Bethlehem-Ephrata into high place among the thousands of Israel; for out of it, out of the ancient stock of Jesse, should come One who should be the ruler of God’s people in Israel. The entire force of spiritual Judaism, held in reserve hitherto by its doubtful allegiance to an intruding and unauthorised Maccabee, would move at the call of One who touched on the heritage of Judah and on all the sanctities of David. What a strange stroke of judgment! Herod has sacrificed the wife of his love, the children of his heart, to find that they have been his safest barrier against a peril which their removal has endowed with unanticipated life. The heart of the people—he knows it—will shake as corn Under the wind, if once the cry of David is heard in the land. And, therefore, it was a desperate hour when the lonely and savage-hearted king, tortured already by his last sickness, tortured yet deeper by the agonies of his repentance, suddenly knew that all his sin had been in vain if he could not by some swift stroke slay down all the children of two years old and under that had been born in Bethlehem of Judæa. We are shown here, how God uses the sinful resistance of man only to evoke a yet deeper and stronger manifestation of His name.
1. Is not that the whole story of the cross?
2. This is repeated in the story of the church.
3. This is the story of the crisis through which our church has passed in the last fifty years.—Each temporary disaster has served to break down some artificial and incidental support of the truth, only by that disappearance to throw us back on the deeper foundations which no man laid.
4. And each personal life is a repetition of this irony of God.—The sword of Herod only serves to reveal the living Christ; sometimes the sword of doubt, but perhaps more often the bitter blade of pain. There is a peace which passeth all understanding; there is a power in Jesus which suffering alone can disclose; there is a strength which is only made perfect in weakness; there is a life which has its root in death. We know it at last; the Christ of prophecy, the Christ of the Psalms, is become our Christ.—Canon Scott-Holland.
Matthew 2:1. The birth of Jesus. (For the young.)—“Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa.”
I. The village in which Christ was born and the reasons for His being born there.—Christ was born in Bethlehem:—
1. To teach men that the Old Testament was the book of God.—The past is somewhat clear, but the future is dark to all. Yet the writers of the Old Testament named, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the place where He would be born, and even the time. This could only have been because God had told them where He would have His Son born.
2. To teach us the importance of little things.—Men would have naturally thought that Christ would be born in the greatest city of the world, but Bethlehem was least among the thousands of Judah. A boy or girl is not to be despised on account of his or her birthplace.
3. There is a beautiful harmony between the birthplace and Him who was born in it.—Bethlehem means the “House of Bread,” and Christ is the bread of life.
II. The place in the village in which Christ was born and the reasons for His being born there.—It was not in a house, nor in an inn, nor in a stable, for the “manger” was one of the caves in the adjacent rocks which were used both for the burial of the dead and for a temporary shelter by travellers. A friend of mine, with his children, slept in one of these caves for many a night without suffering any discomfort. Christ was born in that cave:—
1. That He might teach men humility.
2. To teach us not to despise humble birthplaces.—He was not ashamed of the place of His birth, but told His disciples to write about it.
3. To show how willing He was to receive men.—Had He been born in a lofty mansion the people might have been too timid to call; had He been born in a stable they might have been afraid of the cattle; but into the peaceful cave, which was open to all, they could freely come.—J. McAuslane, D.D.
Jesus the wonderful Babe. (For children.)—“Jesus was born.” Children are mightily pleased when a new baby appears in the family. I want to speak to you of the most wonderful Babe ever born.
I. He had been talked about, written about, and expected for centuries.—Prophecies. Typical rites, etc. Expectation in heathen world as well as among Jews.
II. His birth caused more excitement than any other birth has done before or since.—Excitement in heaven (Luke 2:9-10; Luke 2:13-14). On earth (Luke 2:8; Luke 2:17; Matthew 2:1, etc.; Luke 2:25, etc.).
III. He was different in Himself from every other babe.—The Child born; the Son given. His name “Wonderful.” Incarnation. Without sin, etc.
IV. Far more depended on His life than has depended on any other.—Human salvation. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus,” etc.—H. M. Booth.
Matthew 2:1-2. The wise men from the East.—Here we have the first indication of the coming fulfilment of the gracious promises of God toward the Gentile world. “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” But these strangers recognise Him and in worship bow before Him. A token this of what was afterward to come to pass. The Jews rejecting Christ, the Gentiles receiving Him. Notice:
I. The guidance which the Magi received.—“Star.”
1. God will not with-hold guidance from any who sincerely desire to direct their steps to Christ.
2. If ordinary means are not sufficient, extraordinary means will be employed.
3. If we do not succeed in finding the Saviour, it is certainly not for want of the star.
II. The journey which the Magi took.—Long and arduous, and beset with difficulty, but the faith by which they were inspired surmounted all.
III. The worship which the Magi offered.—It was more than civil homage they paid, it had, undoubtedly, reference to the spiritual dignity of the holy Child. Nor did they come empty-handed. What are the feelings with which we regard Christ—what the homage which we pay to Him?—W. R. Inglis.
Matthew 2:1. The Child-Saviour.—The salvation of the world in the form of a child:—
I. Concealed, yet well-known.
II. Hated and feared, yet longed for and loved.
III. Signally despised, yet marvellously honoured.
IV. Beset by extreme dangers, yet kept in perfect safety.—J.P. Lange, D.D.
Matthew 2:2. The inquiry of the wise men.—
1. Though Christ’s kingdom be not of this world, yet is He King of saints, the true King of Israel, to whom the throne of David was promised, that He should sit thereon and reign over souls for ever.
2. Saving faith looketh through all clouds of human infirmities in Christ and pitcheth upon some point of excellency in Him. These men behold, by faith, in a new born babe the promised Messiah and the King of Israel. “The King of the Jews” the ordinary style of the Messiah.
3. The least degree of saving knowledge doth set a man to seek after Christ. “Where is He?” say they.
4. Faith will hazard all to find Christ. These men confess Him, with the danger of their life, to be born King of the Jews, and do ask for Him in Jerusalem, even when and where Herod, a stranger, is reigning as king.
5. Though Christ came in the form of a servant, and humbled himself to be born of a mean damsel, yet is His honour to be seen in heaven and earth. A star gives warning to the world that the bright and morning Star is arisen, and from the East wise men do come to confess Him.
6. Though God gives signs and evidences of Christ’s coming, yet every man doth not observe them, but such only as God doth reveal them unto. Only these wise men get a right sight of the star.
7. Faith in Christ and love to Him, will spare no pains to find Him.
8. Faith seeth Christ to be God, and that maketh men to overcome a world of difficulties in seeking communion with Him. “We are come to worship Him.”—David Dickson.
Matthew 2:3. Herod and the Jews troubled.—
1. It is no new thing that kings are jealous of Christ, when they hear He is a king. Yet their kingdoms have no such friend as Hebrews 2. Worldly men, settled in their honours, ease and wealth, are troubled about Christ, and could be content to be quiet without Him. All Jerusalem was troubled, more fearing temporal inconveniences by occasion of Christ’s nativity, than rejoicing in the hope of salvation through Him.—Ibid.
Fear, the constant companion of the wicked.—
I. The wicked are afraid of the good.—The vicious man cannot conceal from himself that the good feel towards him repugnance, loathing, and contempt, and are resolved to oppose his wickedness with all possible energy.
II. The wicked are afraid of the wicked.—They have a constant dread and mistrust of each other.
III. The wicked are afraid of themselves.—They have no true courage to face the future. Conscience condemns.
IV. The wicked fear unexpected occurrences.
V. The wicked have a dread of the invisible.
VI. The wicked have a constant dread of death.—F. Mathieson.
Matthew 2:4. Herod a type of the enemies of Christ.—In Herod we have the portrait of Christ’s enemies.
1. He dissembleth, like a crafty fox waiting for the prey. So do they.
2. He befriendeth the wise men, who are seeking Christ, so far as it may serve his own ends. So do they.
3. He abuseth the church-men and their assembly, calling for a meeting of the chief priests and scribes and propounding questions to be solved, as if he wished to make good use thereof. Specially he asks of them where Christ should be born, as if none were readier to serve Him than he; meantime he was seeking to find Him out to kill Him. So do they.—David Dickson.
Matthew 2:6. Rulership.—
I. The world has been taught to hope for rulership.
II. Rulership is right only in proportion as it is derived from Christ.
III. All false rulership trembles before the government of the Redeemer.
IV. Rulership is often connected with improbable circumstances.—
1. Improbable place, “Bethlehem.”
2. Improbable person, “young child.” The Ruler does not come from the metropolis; does not appear as an imposing personage.
V. True rulership is moral.—Joseph Parker, D.D.
Matthew 2:7-8. Herod’s plot.—In Herod we see yet more of the ways of the enemies of Christ.
1. He carrieth on his design closely, lest any should suspect his intention. He calleth the wise men privily. So do they.
2. Though he hath learned more of Christ than before, yet because his knowledge is not sanctified, his malice is not abated. So with the crafty politicians of this world.
3. When he hath gained one point about the place of Christ’s birth, he goeth about to gain another concerning the time of His birth also, that he may draw so much nearer for the surprising of Christ. So do they, hauling in their nets gradually.
4. He covereth his purpose of murder under pretence of a purpose to worship Christ. So do they, drawing near in profession of religion, that they may more easily betray.
5. To make all fast, he abuseth the simplicity of Christ’s friends, and thinketh to make them ignorantly betray Christ into his hands. “Go and search diligently,” etc. So do they.—David Dickson.
Hypocrisy.—Hypocrisy may be designated the shadow of faith in the world.
I. It accompanies faith as the shadow the substance.
II. It is a proof of the existence of faith as the shadow is of the substance.
III. It vanishes before faith, as the shadow before the substance.—J. P. Lange, D.D.