Three times in this chapter, as well as once in the preceding (Matthew 1:20), do we thus read of the intervention of particular Divine directions given to Joseph in the interest of the infant Jesus. The grand head under which events of this kind must seek and find their classification is that of providence. The next greatest fact to creation is providence, without which creation itself would soon have proved a still-born thing, or some monstrosity. The objections that have been sometimes felt, sometimes urged, against particular providences, do but betoken a feeble hold upon the real nature of providence. They incontestably lie in part material, and must be granted to be in somewhat closer relationship, at all events, than the interpositions called miracles and the general course of the so-called laws of nature. The very same hand that ministers the one ministers and rules the other in both instances. As surely as "a thousand fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand," seen, more than those numbers fall unseen also. As surely as we owe it to God's goodness that we are saved from the comparatively few dangers we see and are cognizant of, we owe it to that goodness that we are saved from an immensely larger number unseen, undreamt of. What appears to us as the extraordinary interventions of Divine goodness and mercy are in no wise so extraordinary as respects the quality of the goodness and mercy, as in the fact that the whole matter of them lies, for some reason or other, disclosed and patent before our eyes. Notice, therefore, that -

I. THE NECESSITIES OF HUMAN LIFE, IN VIEW OF ITS WEAKNESS AND ITS NO FORESIGHT, ARE SUCH AS TO REQUIRE THE CONTINUAL MINISTRY OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

II. THE ADVANTAGE OF HUMAN LIFE IS INFINITELY CONSULTED IN THE INTERVENTION OF THAT PROVIDENCE IN SUCH SHAPE AND MANNER AS SHALL MAKE IT STRIKINGLY APPARENT.

III. THOUGH SOME DIVINITY UNMISTAKABLY HEDGED IN THIS WONDERFUL, IMPERILLED, GLORIOUS LIFE OF JESUS, YET, AT PRESENT AT ALL EVENTS, NO SPECIAL DIVINITY HEDGED IT IN. NO "mark was placed on Jesus to designate him as the Favourite of God and of angels. Neither his Person nor his head only were really enveloped in a halo. He is befriended by providence, and faithfully befriended, but

(1) only to the extent of his need, and

(2) only in the same kind of way as innumerable others.

His earthly parents must take all care, all precautions, all toilsome journeys, all vexatious home-leaving and country-leaving, if he is to be safe.

IV. DEEP INDICATIONS LIE IN ALL THIS OF THE MOST REAL HUMANITY OF JESUS, AND OF HIS UNFEIGNED, OBEDIENT TAKING OF HUMAN NATURE AND HUMAN LOT. - B.

I. CHILDHOOD IS EXPOSED TO IMMINENT DANGERS. "Herod sought the young child's life." Evil is never so active or persistent as when it seeks the ruin of the young.

II. ON WHAT CONDITIONS THE SAFETY OF CHILDHOOD DEPENDS.

1. The first of these is parental love. See the love and fidelity of Joseph and Mary. Nothing more natural than that parental love should seek at any cost the safety of a child.

2. Parental love wisely directed. The parents of Jesus did not trust to their own wisdom.

3. The Divine direction given to parents respecting their children is to be followed in obedience and faith. Joseph and Mary obeyed the will of God.

(Monday Club Sermons.)

I. THE TRUTH OF GOD.

1. Earth's opposition to the truth.

2. Heaven's interest in the truth.

3. Man's guardianship of the truth.

II. THE TRIAL OF ITS FRIENDS.

(Dr. Thomas.)

I. That God can use not only the extraordinary, but even THE TRIVIAL EVENTS OF LIFE IN THE RESCUE AND GUIDANCE OF HIS PEOPLE. "In a dream."

1. He puts Joseph on his guard.

2. He keeps His eye on Herod.

3. He points out a place of safety.

II. That at all times, especially in peril and perplexity, IT IS THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF GOD'S CHILDREN TO OBEY. Obedience may call for —

1. Prompt action, "Flee."

2. It may call for sacrifice of friends and home — "Into Egypt."

3. It sometimes calls for patient waiting — "Be thou there."

4. It always brings God's further direction and blessing — "I bring thee word."

(T. Kelly)

1. That when God brings forth good, evil is sure to oppose.

2. God permits wicked and lawless tyrants to be supreme for a time.

3. That cross-handed providences often bring our greatest mercies.

4. That while self is always in a hurry to display itself, real greatness is content to wait its time.

(W. P. Balfern.)

I. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

II. THE MASSACRE OF THE INFANT CHILDREN AT BETHLEHEM. Herod may be considered as an example of the infatuating influence of sin and its power to stultify the most obvious conclusions of a rational intelligence. Herod never thought of our Lord as a human opponent, but as the Messiah. He did not disbelieve the star or the prophecies interpreted by the priests and scribes. He was fighting against God; He thought the prophecies might fail at the last.

III. THE RECALL OF THE HOLY FAMILY. Egypt has often been the asylum of persecuted goodness; Abraham, Joseph, Jacob.

(D. Moore, M. A.)

I remember reading a story of a baby — a wee child — that travelled by railroad. Away whirled the coach very fast; but it soon knocked against something, and all were thrown cut — men, women, mothers and babes. Some were pitched here, some there; heads were broken, hands cut off. In the midst of the confusion, a voice was heard crying — "Where is my baby? Oh l my dear baby! I cannot find him anywhere. Did nobody see my sweet baby? What shall I do? " One man lost his leg; another his hand; another his eye; but the mother did not mind them, but was going about, wringing her hands, and crying — "Where is my baby?" After much search for it, and for a great while in vain, at length a man went over to a place where was a bandbox. He took up the bandbox, and what do you think he found under it? The baby, fast asleep! Now, if God takes care of common babies, surely He would take care of His own child, Jesus.

(J. Gregg.)

A slave-mother who had been faithful under the very worst usage remained so until told that her child was to be severed from her and sold in New Orleans. It was midwinter, yet at midnight she started for the Ohio, determined to live and, if need be, die with her child. As she reached the bank no boat was near, and along the water masses of broken ice drifted. Trusting to heaven, she put her feet on the treacherous element, and, with it bending and breaking beneath her, she boldly pushed on from cake to cake until she safely landed on the Ohio shore. Five minutes sooner, and she must have perished; two minutes later, and she would have met with a watery grave, for, before she had proceeded twenty steps, the ice behind her on the Kentucky side had broken, and was scattered ere she reached the river. "Thank God, you and your child are safe!" exclaimed the hard-hearted master, rejoicing that he had escaped the responsibility of their death. "Brave woman," said a Kentuckian, who had witnessed her escape, "you have won your freedom, and you shall have it." The mother and child were kept together in liberty and love, and in a humble but happy home.

Archelaus, Herod, Jeremiah, Jeremias, Jeremy, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, RachelBethlehem, Egypt, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, RamahAngel, Appear, Appeared, Appeareth, Appears, Arise, Babe, Behold, Bring, Child, Death, Departed, Destroy, Dream, Egypt, Escape, Flee, Herod, Joseph, Kill, Messenger, Order, Rise, Risen, Saying, Search, Searching, Seek, Speak, Stay, Till, Withdrawn1. The wise men from the east enquire after Jesus;
3. at which Herod is alarmed.
9. They are directed by a star to Bethlehem, worship him, and offer their presents.
13. Joseph flees into Egypt with Jesus and his mother.
16. Herod slays the children;
20. himself dies.
23. Jesus is brought back again into Galilee to Nazareth.

Matthew 2:13

     4111   angels, servants
     4140   angel of the Lord
     5196   voice
     5263   communication
     5319   fugitives
     5408   messenger
     5511   safety
     5548   speech, divine
     5564   suffering, of Christ
     5975   violence
     9130   future, the
     9412   heaven, worship and service

Matthew 2:1-15

     2520   Christ, childhood

Matthew 2:1-18

     2515   Christ, birth of

Matthew 2:1-23

     5652   babies
     8131   guidance, results

Matthew 2:7-13

     5910   motives, examples

Matthew 2:12-13

     1403   God, revelation

Matthew 2:13-14

     2545   Christ, opposition to
     5590   travel

Matthew 2:13-15

     2570   Christ, suffering
     5491   refugees
     7212   exile

Matthew 2:13-20

     8729   enemies, of Christ

The First-Fruits of the Gentiles
'Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2. Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. 3. When Herod the king had heard these things, 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 demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5. And they said …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The King in Exile
'And 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. 14. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt; 15. And was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Sermon for Epiphany
(From the Gospel for the day) This Sermon on the Gospel for the day, from St. Matthew, showeth how God, of His great faithfulness hath foreseen and ordained all sufferings for the eternal good of each man, in whatever wise they befall us, and whether they be great or small. Matt. ii. 11.--"And they presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense and myrrh." NOW consider first the myrrh. It is bitter; and this is a type of the bitterness which must be tasted before a man can find God, when he first …
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

History of the Interpretation.
1. AMONG THE JEWS. This History, as to its essential features, might, a priori, be sketched with tolerable certainty. From the nature of the case, we could scarcely expect that the Jews should have adopted views altogether erroneous as to the subject of the prophecy in question; for the Messiah appears in it, not in His humiliation, but in His glory--rich in gifts and blessings, and Pelagian self-delusion will, a priori, return an affirmative answer to the question as to whether one is …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

One Argument which Has Been Much Relied Upon but not More than Its Just Weight...
One argument which has been much relied upon (but not more than its just weight deserves) is the conformity of the facts occasionally mentioned or referred to in Scripture with the state of things in those times, as represented by foreign and independent accounts; which conformity proves, that the writers of the New Testament possessed a species of local knowledge which could belong only to an inhabitant of that country and to one living in that age. This argument, if well made out by examples, is …
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Flight into Egypt and Slaughter of the Bethlehem Children.
(Bethlehem and Road Thence to Egypt, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 13-18. ^a 13 Now when they were departed [The text favors the idea that the arrival and departure of the magi and the departure of Joseph for Egypt, all occurred in one night. If so, the people of Bethlehem knew nothing of these matters], behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise [this command calls for immediate departure] and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt [This land was ever the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Child Jesus Brought from Egypt to Nazareth.
(Egypt and Nazareth, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 19-23; ^C Luke II. 39. ^a 19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 17), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The visit and Homage of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt
With the Presentation of the Infant Saviour in the Temple, and His acknowledgment - not indeed by the leaders of Israel, but, characteristically, by the representatives of those earnest men and women who looked for His Advent - the Prologue, if such it may be called, to the third Gospel closes. From whatever source its information was derived - perhaps, as has been suggested, its earlier portion from the Virgin-Mother, the later from Anna; or else both alike from her, who with loving reverence and …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Child-Life in Nazareth
THE stay of the Holy Family in Egypt must have been of brief duration. The cup of Herod's misdeeds, but also of his misery, was full. During the whole latter part of his life, the dread of a rival to the throne had haunted him, and he had sacrificed thousands, among them those nearest and dearest to him, to lay that ghost. [1084] And still the tyrant was not at rest. A more terrible scene is not presented in history than that of the closing days of Herod. Tormented by nameless fears; ever and again …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

He Division of the Land.
T The Jewish writers divide the whole world into "The land of Israel," and "Without the land": that is, the countries of the heathen. Both which phrases the book of the gospel owns: "The land of Israel," Matthew 2:20: and it calls the heathens, "those that are without," 1 Corinthians 5:13; 1 Timothy 3:7, &c. And sometimes the unbelieving Jews themselves, as Mark 4:11. They distinguish all the people of the world into "Israelites," and "the nations of the world." The book of the gospel owns that phrase …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Chronology of the Life of Christ.
See the Lit. in §14, p. 98, especially Browne, Wieseler, Zumpt, Andrews, and Keim We briefly consider the chronological dates of the life of Christ. I. The Year of the Nativity.--This must be ascertained by historical and chronological research, since there is no certain and harmonious tradition on the subject. Our Christians aera, which was introduced by the Roman abbot Dionysius Exiguus, in the sixth century, and came into general use two centuries later, during the reign of Charlemagne, puts …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Heathenism.
Literature. I. Sources. The works of the Greek and Roman Classics from Homer to Virgil and the age of the Antonines. The monuments of Antiquity. The writings of the early Christian Apologists, especially Justin Martyr: Apologia I. and II.; Tertullian: Apologeticus; Minucius Felix: Octavius; Eusebius: Praeparatio Evangelica; and Augustine (d. 430): De Civitate Dei (the first ten books). II. Later Works. Is. Vossius: De theologia gentili et physiolog. Christ. Frcf. 1675, 2 vols. Creuzer (d. 1858): …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

All My Prefaces to the Books of the Old Testament, Some Specimens of which I Subjoin, are Witnesses for Me on this Point; and it is Needless to State the Matter Otherwise than it is Stated in Them.
I have received letters so long and eagerly desired from my dear Desiderius [3137] who, as if the future had been foreseen, shares his name with Daniel, [3138] entreating me to put our friends in possession of a translation of the Pentateuch from Hebrew into Latin. The work is certainly hazardous and it is exposed to the [3139] attacks of my calumniators, who maintain that it is through contempt of the Seventy that I have set to work to forge a new version to take the place of the old. They thus …
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

The Great Slaughters and Sacrilege that were in Jerusalem.
1. Accordingly Simon would not suffer Matthias, by whose means he got possession of the city, to go off without torment. This Matthias was the son of Boethus, and was one of the high priests, one that had been very faithful to the people, and in great esteem with them; he, when the multitude were distressed by the zealots, among whom John was numbered, persuaded the people to admit this Simon to come in to assist them, while he had made no terms with him, nor expected any thing that was evil from …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

In Judaea
If Galilee could boast of the beauty of its scenery and the fruitfulness of its soil; of being the mart of a busy life, and the highway of intercourse with the great world outside Palestine, Judaea would neither covet nor envy such advantages. Hers was quite another and a peculiar claim. Galilee might be the outer court, but Judaea was like the inner sanctuary of Israel. True, its landscapes were comparatively barren, its hills bare and rocky, its wilderness lonely; but around those grey limestone …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Supplementary Note to Chapter ii. The Year of Christ's Birth.
The Christian era commences on the 1st of January of the year 754 of the city of Rome. That our Lord was born about the time stated in the text may appear from the following considerations-- The visit of the wise men to Bethlehem must have taken place a very few days after the birth of Jesus, and before His presentation in the temple. Bethlehem was not the stated residence of Joseph and Mary, either before or after the birth of the child (Luke i. 26, ii. 4, 39; Matt. ii. 2). They were obliged to …
William Dool Killen—The Ancient Church

Two Famous Versions of the Scriptures
[Illustration: (drop cap B) Samaritan Book of the Law] By the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Egypt, lies Alexandria, a busy and prosperous city of to-day. You remember the great conqueror, Alexander, and how nation after nation had been forced to submit to him, until all the then-known world owned him for its emperor? He built this city, and called it after his own name. About a hundred years before the days of Antiochus (of whom we read in our last chapter) a company of Jews …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The King's Herald.
"On Jordan's banks the Baptist's cry Announces that the Lord is nigh; Awake and hearken, for he brings Glad tidings of the King...." When the Saviour of the world was about to enter upon His public ministry, the Jewish nation was startled with the cry, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (S. Matt. iii. 2). Such was God's call to His people of old time, to prepare themselves to take part in the fulfilment of the promises, on which their faith and hopes were founded. The fulness of the times had come; …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

Commencement of the Legends Concerning Jesus --His Own Idea of his Supernatural Character.
Jesus returned to Galilee, having completely lost his Jewish faith, and filled with revolutionary ardor. His ideas are now expressed with perfect clearness. The innocent aphorisms of the first part of his prophetic career, in part borrowed from the Jewish rabbis anterior to him, and the beautiful moral precepts of his second period, are exchanged for a decided policy. The Law would be abolished; and it was to be abolished by him.[1] The Messiah had come, and he was the Messiah. The kingdom of God …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Blessed are they that Mourn
Blessed are they that mourn. Matthew 5:4 Here are eight steps leading to true blessedness. They may be compared to Jacob's Ladder, the top whereof reached to heaven. We have already gone over one step, and now let us proceed to the second: Blessed are they that mourn'. We must go through the valley of tears to paradise. Mourning were a sad and unpleasant subject to treat on, were it not that it has blessedness going before, and comfort coming after. Mourning is put here for repentance. It implies …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Messianic Prophecies in the Pentateuch.
In the Messianic prophecies contained in Genesis we cannot fail to perceive a remarkable progress in clearness and definiteness. The first Messianic prediction, which was uttered immediately after the fall of Adam, is also the most indefinite. Opposed to the awful threatening there stands the consolatory promise, that the dominion of sin, and of the evil arising from sin, shall not last for ever, but that the seed of the woman shall, at some future time, overthrow their dreaded conqueror. With the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Birth of Jesus.
(at Bethlehem of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke II. 1-7. ^c 1 Now it came to pass in those days [the days of the birth of John the Baptist], there went out a decree [a law] from Cæsar Augustus [Octavius, or Augustus, Cæsar was the nephew of and successor to Julius Cæsar. He took the name Augustus in compliment to his own greatness; and our month August is named for him; its old name being Sextilis], that all the world should be enrolled. [This enrollment or census was the first step …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Roman Pilgrimage: the Miracles which were Wrought in It.
[Sidenote: 1139] 33. (20). It seemed to him, however, that one could not go on doing these things with sufficient security without the authority of the Apostolic See; and for that reason he determined to set out for Rome, and most of all because the metropolitan see still lacked, and from the beginning had lacked, the use of the pall, which is the fullness of honour.[507] And it seemed good in his eyes[508] that the church for which he had laboured so much[509] should acquire, by his zeal and labour, …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

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