Christ's Life Prior to His Ministry II: Sections 13-15

Section 13
EASTERN WISE-MEN, OR MAGI, VISIT JESUS, THE NEW-BORN KING
 (Jerusalem and Bethlehem, B. C. 4.)
MATT 2: 1-12

Differences between the gospels--
Luke is the only gospel to include the trip to Bethlehem and all its detail. Matthew's focus is different than Luke's.  He begins with the genealogy, recounts Joseph's visit with the angels.

God comes to men in the spheres with which they are most familiar; to Zacharias in the Temple, to the shepherds in the fields, to the Wise-Men by a portent in the heavens. He knows just where to find us. “Lift the stone, and I am there.” Be sure to follow your star, whatever it be; only remember that it must ultimately receive the corroboration of Scripture, as in the present case, Mat_2:5. A miracle may be wrought to awaken and start us on our great quest, but the miraculous is withdrawn where the ordinary methods of inquiry will serve. The news of Jesus always disquiets the children of the world; they know that it means division. -FB Meyer

Section 14
FLIGHT INTO EGYPT AND SLAUGHTER OF THE BETHLEHEM CHILDREN
 (Bethlehem and Road thence to Egypt, B. C. 4.)
MATT. 2: 13-18

Section 15
THE CHILD JESUS BROUGHT FROM EGYPT TO NAZARETH
(Egypt and Nazareth, B. C. 4.) 
MATT. 2: 19-23
LUKE 2: 39



An angel appears to Joseph in a dream (third of fourth angel visit to Joseph) and tells him Herod is dead, go back home.  Joseph does not wish to go back to Judea because of Herod's unbalanced son. In a  separate, fourth dream, an angel directs him to Galilee instead.

BKC: "A son of Herod, Archelaus, was ruling over the territories of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. Archelaus, noted for tyranny, murder, and instability, was probably insane as a result of close family intermarriages. (He ruled from 4 b.c. to a.d. 6)  God’s warning to Joseph was not to return to Bethlehem, but instead to move back to the northern district of Galilee to the town of Nazareth. The ruler of this region was Antipas, another son of Herod, but he was a capable ruler.

A further comment of Nazareth's reputation:

Nazareth was the town which housed the Roman garrison for the northern regions of Galilee. Therefore most Jews would not have any associations with that city. In fact those who lived in Nazareth were thought of as compromisers who consorted with the enemy, the Romans. -BKC

 How much time has passed between the actual birth of Christ in Bethlehem, the visit of the wise men, and the flight to Egypt?  The Fourfold gospel suggests that "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."

Both of these narratives are difficult for me to read carefully because I have carried them with me for as long as I can remember.  They have been a part of each Christmas, each annual cycle of seasons.  My strongly practical and realistic mind is ready to move on to the parables and purpose of Christ's life, resisting the unusually bright star in the east, the astronomers visiting the family, the family fleeing to Egypt because of Herod's bizarre fears.  Enough already.

A further obstacle is the key details which have been refined and shaped by human tradition, rendering them even hazier.  Why dictate three wise men, who show up in all nativity sets in an untimely remix--their arrival in this setting is off by months, even years.  I realize the nativity scene is more symbolic than literal, but in an age where the Church and the inerrancy of scriptures are questioned and examined relentlessly, why offer grounds for more criticism? Why all this mixing and remaking?   How does it serve us or His Kingdom?

My point is both the Christian and Jewish traditions have superimposed so many things upon the bones of the scriptures, that it is an additional head game to sift out what man has added.

These continued fantastical circumstances on top of others (the visits of the angels, the trip to Bethlehem, the revelation to the shepherds in the fields, and Christ's birth in a manger) are so extraordinary that my brain admittedly short-circuits, spitting it all back out if I think too long and too hard..  The whole narrative reads like a super familiar bizarre exaggerated tale in my mind if I'm completely honest.  My default is to glide across it because it makes my head hurt.

However, this is not to say it isn't true, that it didn't happen and happen exactly that way.  Christ's arrival on earth amid this odd parade of circumstances was God's notable choice--His pick.  Who am I to think it all too much together at once? Who would have all these bizarre things surrounding his birth except the Messiah?

It's messy thinking. But such is the state of my thoughts this morning. God help us reconcile it all.