Where did you grow up?

Environment isn’t everything; but it means a lot in the development of a child. Tarzan is proof of that. Whether you lived in a city or the country is significant. In today’s reading, we learn about the early childhood of Jesus.

Matthew 2:19-23

• Herod died (v. 19).

Josephus (Wars of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 33, Section 5) describes his last days thus:

the distemper seized upon his whole body, and greatly disordered all its parts with various symptoms; for there was a gentle fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continual pains in his colon, and dropsical turnouts about his feet, and an inflammation of the abdomen, and a putrefaction of his privy member, that produced worms. Besides which he had a difficulty of breathing upon him, and could not breathe but when he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all his members

Not many would say that such a cruel man deserved a less painful death.

• After Herod’s death, Joseph returned to Israel. But because Herod’s son became king (v. 22), Joseph did not return to Judea; instead he moved back to Nazareth in Galilee (v. 23).
• Does Judges 13:5 apply here?

Luke 2: 39-40

• Nazareth was their home town. Joseph and Mary settled there (v. 39).
• The child grew, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. God was with him (v. 40).

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“Let’s go to Egypt”

What does it cost for a trip to northern Africa? Well, it costs a lot more today than it did 2,000 years ago. And if you’re already in Israel, it costs less than if you have to travel from Singapore. In today’s reading we learn that Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Was it a vacation?

Matthew 2:13-18

• Herod’s plot to kill the baby was revealed to Joseph by an angel of the Lord (v.13).
• Thus warned, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt (v. 14).
• Their staying in Egypt until the death of Herod (v. 15) was fulfillment of Hosea 11:1.
• Eventually Herod realized that the wise men weren’t coming back, so he ordered the slaughter of all male children under the age of two in that region, hoping to kill Jesus with such a broad stroke of death (v. 16).
• The great mourning for lost children (v. 17-18) was fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:15.

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“Let’s go see the baby”

When someone in your family has a baby, are you excited to pack up the car and go see the newborn? When your neighbor has a baby, are you equally excited? When someone you’ve never met, living in another country, has a baby, do you even consider going to see the child?

Matthew 2:1-12

• Wise men came to Jerusalem looking for Jesus (v. 1).
• They believed that the child they sought was to be King of the Jews, and they came to worship him (v. 2).
• Herod, the political king, was troubled by this visit (v. 3).
• The priests and scribes of Jerusalem were consulted on the matter (v. 4).
• Micah 5:2 was advanced as evidence that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (v. 5-6).
• Herod sent the wise me off to Bethlehem to find the child, asking them to return and report to the king what they learned (v. 9-10).
• The wise men found THE YOUNG CHILD in THE HOUSE (v. 11).
• But, being warned by God about Herod’s plot, they returned home without seeing the king first (v. 12).

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“A baby will change your life”

And if you don’t believe it, then go get one of your own. The baby Jesus was no less life-changing for Mary and Joseph. In today’s reading you can see how.

Luke 2:21-38

• Circumcision may be advanced as a health issue, it was first introduced to Abraham as a sign of his faith (Genesis 17:12) and obligatory for all males thereafter. Hence Jesus, who was born and lived under the law (Galatians 4:4; Galatians 5:3), needed to be circumcised also (v. 21). On that day, he was officially named Jesus.
• About 5 weeks later he accompanied his mother as she traveled to Jerusalem to offer a post-birth sacrifice for herself (v. 22-23; Leviticus 12:2,6) and to present the 6-week old baby boy to the Lord (Exodus 13:2,12; Ex 22:29; Num 8:17; Leviticus 12:6, 8).
• While Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus were in the Temple (v. 27), Simeon, a just and devout man (v. 25), was led by the Spirit of God to go to the temple, too (v. 27).
• Simeon had been assured by God that he would not die before he’d seen the Savior (v. 26).
• Without doubt, Simeon recognized the baby Jesus as the Savior (v. 29-35).
• Also in the Temple that day, was holy Anna who saw Jesus and praised God (v. 36-38).

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