Jesus' journey Part Two

Matthew 2

The Visit of the Magi

 ¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[b] and have come to worship him."
 ³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ^[c] was to be born. ⁵"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
 ⁶" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for out of you will come a ruler
      who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'^[d]"
 ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
 ⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east^[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

 ¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." ¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."^[f]
 16When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
 ¹⁸"A voice is heard in Ramah,
      weeping and great mourning,
   Rachel weeping for her children
      and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more."^[g]

The Return to Nazareth

 ¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
 ²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."



We will learn more about the true motives of King Herod later on.

From the very beginning, Jesus had to endure greedy emotions . . Before he was even old enough to understand any of these selfish events taking place. Think about it, Herod was disturbed... Because people were worshiping baby Jesus?? Sounds like a real gem.

Herod sent spies to tell him where baby Jesus was.

The appointed spies didn't even go back to tell Herod. This was a test of faith for them. They passed.

Thanks to a lovely angel of the Lord, baby Jesus would be safe for a while. Joseph, Marry and baby Jesus lived in Egypt until Herod died.

Herod had all of the boys age 2 and under killed when he found out he had been outsmarted. . Kings of all sorts are overtaken by their yearnings.. Yearnings for things of sin. . People in general, but I suppose we are all more familiar with the corrupt royalty and politicians. Perhaps due to the fact it published far more than mere every day Jane's and John Doe's..

All these events had been documented before they happened, through the prophets.

So we end today with Jesus moving from Egypt to Nazareth.

Let this help you to think about peoples true intentions. Herod claimed he wanted to find baby Jesus so that he could worship him. His true intention was to kill him out of jealousy.

Just let yourself be aware that people do not always mean what they say. The Devil dresses up his evil to make it easier to lure you in. Be safe and smart. Listen to what the Lord is telling you.

                                                        Stephie

P.S. Jeremiah 17:7
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him."