The Wise Men & Egypt - Matthew 2:1-18

I wanted to do some more research on the wise men visiting Jesus, and while I was thinking about that I started thinking about all the other parables and events that take place in the first four gospels and became overwhelmed by how much there was and that some things were mentioned in all the gospels and some things were only mentioned in one of them, and how to go through them and make a chronological guide for myself but to make sure that I included everything. Needless to say, it became overwhelming very quickly. One of the things that is nice about studying the New Testament is that because the Bible is the only source of scripture that mainstream Christianity has, there is a lot on non-LDS information out there. Again, that information needs to be studied carefully and with caution because we must be sure of its doctrinal accuracy before taking it to heart, but some of it is quite profitable and President Uchtdorf has said, “We seek for truth wherever we might find it.” With that in mind, I googled “the gospels in chronological order,” and came across a website that had a most glorious spreadsheet. It is nine pages of “Event” the lists the chapter and verse through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is quite a beautiful work of art. With that being said, I’m going to go by this spreadsheet chronologically because everything is laid out so thoroughly and I have to be honest, I was super proud of myself because the first 11 points were the ones that I’ve already covered and almost in the same order. Super exciting.

After the Passover was over “and when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.” Nativity scenes from all over the world portray Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the shepherds and the wise men but apparently came to see Jesus quite some time later because the scene is described as “when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother.” They lived in their house in Nazareth and Jesus is a “young child” not a baby. There are a few points about the wise men that I think are important to mention.

1. They must not have had much knowledge of the Roman Empire because they went to Herod to inquire about where the baby would be born. Even as a child I thought “why would they even go to Herod to ask about where the ‘king of the Jews’ was to be born?” As men of learning and wisdom they must have known the dynamics that come with men of power, they would have known that asking the current “king of the Jews” where his successor would be born would have caused all types of problems. Factor into that common dynamic the fact that this was the Roman government and they should have known immediately that this was going to endanger the Christ child they came looking for. It’s with that understanding that I figure that wherever they lived in the “east” is far outside of Roman control or influence, otherwise they would have known. Talking to Herod about the whereabouts of the Christ child makes them look not very wise.
2. They had the scriptures. They had to know why they were looking for a savior, they had to know the importance of the savior, they had to know what signs to look for, and they had to know how to interpret those signs. The IM says, “While there has been much speculation about the identity, origin, number, and names of the Wise Men, Matthew did not provide these details. Matthew used the Greek work Magoi, which originally referred to religious wise men from Persia or Babylon, but by Matthew’s day the word encompassed a variety of religious practitioners. Regarding the identity and origin of the Wise Men, Elder Bruce R. McConkie observed: ‘It would appear they were true prophets, righteous persons like Simeon, Anna, and the shepherds to whom Deity revealed that the promised Messiah had been born among men. Obviously they were in possession of ancient prophecies telling of the rise of a new star at his birth. That they did receive revelation for their personal guidance is seen from the inspired dream in which they were warned not to return to Herod after they had found and worshipped the Son of Mary.”

The wise men go to Herod and according to the JST ask, “Where is the child that is born, the Messiah of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” The IM says, “Regardless of who the Wise Men were or where they came from, their visit shows that those who should have been aware of the signs accompanying the birth of Jesus Christ failed to recognize them, while righteous people from other lands, directed by the Holy Ghost, not only noticed the signs but acted upon them.” Herod called the Jewish leaders together to ask them where the Christ child was to be born, and they told him Bethlehem. Herod “sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” Herod didn’t mean it, he meant to find it out and kill the baby. They left Herod and followed the star “and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” I had heard somewhere that these gifts of great value were what financed the flight into Egypt and I thought that that was interesting.

The wise men “being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” Around the same time “when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.” JTC comments on what happens next saying, “When it was apparent to the king that the wise men had ignored his instructions, he was exceedingly angry; and, estimating the earliest time at which the birth could have occurred according to the magis’ statement of the star appearing, he ruthlessly ordered the slaughter of ‘all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under.’ In this massacre of the innocents, the evangelist found a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s fateful voicing of the word of the Lord, spoken six centuries earlier and expressed in the forceful past tense as though then already accomplished: ‘In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.’” The IM says, “Herod’s attempt to kill the baby Jesus was one of a number of violent actions committed by Herod the Great. Like Jesus, Moses escaped miraculously from an attempt on his life when he was a baby- one of many ways in which Moses’s life has parallels with Jesus’s life.” I’ve thought about this a lot, what it would be like to have someone come in and kill your baby while you watch, and especially if it was a government mandate. I couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. Joseph took Jesus and his mother to Egypt and waited until God gave him the all clear to come back.