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Luke 2, Matthew 2 Listen 
Introduction to the chronology of Luke 2 and Matthew 2
Matthew and Luke both cover the birth of Jesus, but from different perspectives. Luke reports on the shepherds, Matthew on the wise men. Luke reports on the circumcision of Jesus, Matthew on Herod's threat and the family's trip into Egypt. Luke gives us a glimpse of Jesus at twelve years old; Matthew concludes the early childhood account with their return from Egypt.
The chronology of these events is as follows:
This was no weekend trip (Luke 2:1-7)
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Nazareth of Galilee was inland from the Mediterranean Sea about 20 miles in Northern Israel. While Bethlehem is south of Nazareth, you'd have to go over some pretty tough terrain to get there that way. It would have been necessary to go west, south and then back east in order to make the trip - about 82 miles on foot (see map on right). So, how many miles a day do you go with an expectant wife - 10 or maybe 12? It was a multi-day journey. It is not certain why Mary went with him (of course it was the providence of God). It may have been the fact that she was in her third trimester, and he just needed to get her into an anonymous environment since they were still not married according verse 5. People in the hometown would have been well aware of that, but strangers in Bethlehem would not have known.
So...what about an end-of-December birth? Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. While there is nothing in scripture to pin point the exact date, a December birth is quite unlikely. There was no annual celebration of Christ's birthday in the first three centuries of church history. It became an issue in the fourth and fifth centuries. The choosing of December 25 for this celebration is not based upon historical facts as one might assume. It was finally declared to be so by the Roman Catholic Church in the fifth century. The Roman Catholic writer Mario Righetti admits, "to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient to institute the 25th of December as the feast of the birth of Christ to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honor of the 'Invincible Sun' Mithras, the conqueror of darkness" (Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67). If you didn't digest that, let's simplify it to say this: The pagans in Rome already celebrated the "sun god" on December 25. To the Roman Catholic Church it seemed like a good idea to offer an alternative celebration on the same day of the year and call it Christ's birthday.
So...if not December 25, when was Christ born? Good question. First of all, it doesn't seem likely that a Roman census/tax would have been executed in the dead of winter, since most people traveled by foot. It would be more likely that a spring or fall time frame would have been selected. Furthermore, the shepherds were watching their flocks in the field at night rather than having brought them home to shelter for the winter (Luke 2:8). However, a spring census throughout the Roman empire would certainly interfere with the harvest season and be harmful to the Roman economy, so a fall census/taxation is the most likely scenario.
Then there's the prophetic aspect of the birth of Jesus. Jesus was crucified on the day of the celebration of Passover. Since the exodus from Egypt, the Passover was celebrated on the 14th day of the first month which falls each year in latter March or April on the Gregorian calendar. The first new moon after spring was regarded as the first month of the new year. The new agricultural year is marked by the Feast of Trumpets which falls on the first day of the seventh month on the Jewish calendar. That day is designated as the first new moon that falls 6 1/2 months after the celebration of the Passover, placing it around September/October. Therefore, many feel that, for prophetic purposes, the birth of the Messiah would have occurred at the beginning of the Jewish agricultural year. That fact, added to the weather and economic factors already mentioned, makes a September/October birth of Jesus the most likely scenario.
After everything has been said on the subject, let's all just take full advantage of the fact that there is an intense focus on Jesus Christ on December 25th around the world each year. Don't get hung up on the fact that Jesus probably wasn't really born during that season.
The shepherds make a trip to Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-20)
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
An angel makes an appearance to some shepherds about the birth of the Messiah. Joseph and Mary have stayed on in Bethlehem after the birth of the baby. That's where the shepherds find them. Since they planned to dedicate Jesus at the temple, heading back to Nazareth would not have made sense. Bethlehem was only about 8 miles from the temple in Jerusalem. In verse 11 the angel makes a very significant declaration about Jesus to the shepherds, "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." He is proclaimed to be the Savior, the Messiah ("Christ" - Greek: "christos" means "Messiah"), and Lord (the special name for the God of the Jews), and he's only a few days old.
A trip to the temple (Luke 2:21-38)
21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;
37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Every male child was circumcised on the eighth day; so was Jesus (verse 21). It is not stated here that the circumcision took place at the temple. Verse 22 does take place at the temple on the occasion of Mary's purification 33 days later according to Leviticus 12:8 (see notes), "And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean." It should be noted that people of financial means sacrificed a lamb, but obviously Joseph and Mary were not people of financial means. They likely would have stayed around Jerusalem for these two trips to the temple over the first six weeks after the birth of Jesus. Verse 23 is the essence of Exodus 13:12 (see notes), "that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD’S."
A man named Simeon had been promised by God that he would live to see the Messiah. He blesses Jesus while making reference to Isaiah 49:6 (see notes), "Indeed He says, It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth." In doing so, he was proclaiming Jesus to be that prophesied Messiah. Mary can't be overly happy with the whole prophecy though, when in verse 34 he proclaims concerning Jesus, "...and for a sign which will be spoken against." A prophetess (an old lady named Anna), who had been fasting and praying, was at the temple and made a similar prophecy over Jesus. All in all, it was a great temple day.
Herod the Great - one mean king (Matthew 2)
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, 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 inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you 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 for Egypt,
15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.”
21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, about 5 miles southwest of Jerusalem. The Herod of this chapter is Herod the Great. He died in 4 B.C.; as stated earlier, that's why the dating typically found in Bibles shows Jesus to have been born in 4 B.C. It was an oversight by a monk mathematician in the sixth century A.D. named Dionysius Exiguus who was charged with redoing the calendar by the Pope. Up until that time, the calendar counted the years from the founding of Rome. The Pope wanted a new calendar to count the years from the birth of Christ instead. However, in doing so, Dionysius Exiguus failed to take at least two events into account. The first was the death of Herod. It is obvious from this passage that Herod was alive at the birth of Christ. The second oversight was his failure to insert a year 0. His computations went from year 1 B.C. to the next year being 1 A.D.; he skipped a year. Some mathematician he was! These two obvious oversights by Dionysius Exiguus cause us to place the birth of Christ at somewhere before 4 B.C.; ironic huh?
Who were these wise men of verse 1? The Greek word used for "wise men" is a transliteration of the Hebrew word "mag." That was the word for soothsayer or magician. You will recall that this is the prestigious group of which Daniel became a member back in the Babylonian empire. He saved their necks when they couldn't help Nebuchadnezzar with the interpretation of his dream. I say that to point out that these "magi" were men who were regarded to have supernatural knowledge back home. I can't vouch for their overall wiseness, but they surely could follow a star.
Herod was in a panic. He brings in the experts on such matters - the scribes and chief priests. In verse 6 they point him to Micah 5:2 (see notes) and proclaim, it's Bethlehem! But wait! There's more! Micah, in that very same verse, proclaims that the child (Jesus) is to become the governor of the land. Herod must have thought, "Hey! That's my job!" Herod takes on a battle against God himself after that knowledge. In the face of overwhelming evidence from the magi and then the local temple experts that the Messiah had been born, he makes his lame attempt to put a stop to it by murdering all the babies under the age of two. We deduct from this that the wise men probably did not appear immediately after the birth of Christ. But go ahead and keep them in your Christmas manger scene; it's a nice look. Perhaps they did, and it took Herod two years to realize he had been double crossed by them (probably not). However, it does say that when they found "the young child," they entered into the "house" where he was. God told Joseph to head for Egypt for safety from Herod after that event, and they did. They did not return to Israel until Herod's death in verse 22. Joseph was still leery of moving back to Bethlehem so close to Jerusalem where Herod's boy was on the throne, so he moved about 75 miles north of Jerusalem to Nazareth, Mary and Joseph's hometown.
Some points of prophecy fulfillment are noted by Matthew here. First of all, Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 (see notes) and declares the prophetic necessity of the trip to Egypt with baby Jesus as a fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy. Secondly, the slaying of the children, we are told by Matthew, was a fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:15 (see notes).
The childhood of Jesus (Luke 2:39-52)
39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.
42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.
43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;
44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.
45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.
46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.
47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.
48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.
51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
There's not much written about the childhood of Jesus, but we do have this account. The family headed down to Jerusalem every year for the passover. It was a considerable journey of 75 miles or so. We see in verse 44 that they traveled in a company of fellow travelers to and fro. This incident takes place when Jesus is 12 years old. After they leave, Jesus stays behind in the temple to learn from the "doctors" (the Greek word "didaskalos" means "master teacher"). They didn't realize for a day or so that he was not with the company headed back to Nazareth. Have you ever forgotten your child? We inadvertently left our daughter, Julie, at church one time when she was four or so. I thought she was with my wife and Evelyn thought she was with me. It's an unsettling experience, and we see in the passage that it was unsettling for Mary and Joseph too, as they spent the next three days searching for Jesus. Mary catches a glimpse of reality when Jesus is found and proclaims his reason for staying back in Luke 2:49, "And He said to them, Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" Mary remembered these words.