Exegesis of Matthew 2:1-12 and the visit of the Magi

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An Exegesis of Matthew 2:1-12

Table of Contents Main Idea and Outline 3 Introduction 3 Context 4 Historical-Cultural Context of the Gospel of Matthew 4 Literary Context 5 Content 5 Application 8 Bibliography 10

Main Idea and Outline

Matthew 2:1-12 serves as the focus of this exegetical paper. The main idea of the passage is that three Magi from the East follow the sign in the sky indicating that the king of the Jews has been born and that, upon hearing of this sign, Herod (the ruler of Judea) is troubled and wants the Magi to report to him exactly where they find this newborn king of the Jews so that he “may go and worship him” (Matthew 2:8)—though paying honor to the child Jesus is hardly Herod’s true intent.[footnoteRef:2] The main idea unfolds in twelve verses, with the Magi coming to Jerusalem following the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2:1), and asking of the Jews where the newborn king is to be found whose star has shown in the sky (Matthew 2:2); which causes Herod to fear (Matthew 2:3) and call for the Magi to find out where this Messiah is said to have been born (Matthew 2:4); to which the Magi respond “Bethlehem in Judea” (Matthew 2:5) as told by the prophet (Matthew 2:6); which causes Herod to inquire more deeply into this phenomenon (Matthew 2:7) and to request that the Magi find the child and report to him that he may too go and worship (Matthew 2:8); following which the Magi go on their way and see the star again (Matthew 2:9) and are filled with joy (Matthew 2:10), worship the child Jesus in the house of Mary (Matthew 2:11), but do not report to Herod because of a warning they receive in a dream (Matthew 2:12). [2: Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew: an exegetical and theological exposition of Holy Scripture, vol. 22 (B&H Publishing Group, 1992), 27.]

Introduction

Matthew 2:1-12 shows the dramatic effect that the birth of Christ had on the world. Indeed, the first to really honor Jesus are not Jews—but rather foreigners of other lands: Gentiles—Gnostics to be precise—who looked for signs in the sky of the “unknown God”[footnoteRef:3] and as such have become known as the “wise men” in Biblical tradition.[footnoteRef:4] The Wise Men from the East are thus presented as the first group of people to pay tribute to the king of the Jews—Christ—with gifts representing his kingship, divinity, and humanity, which would be sacrificed to redeem mankind.[footnoteRef:5] Feeling threatened by the idea of a new king in his midst Herod seeks to know the exact whereabouts of the child that he might pursue his own aims—which are revealed subsequently by Matthew in a later passage. [3: Alistair Logan, “Magi and Visionaries in Gnosticism.” Portraits of Spiritual Authority: Religious Power in Early Christianity, Byzantium and the Christian Orient (1999), 30.] [4: David L. Jeffrey, A dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1992), 472.] [5: Fulton Sheen, “Magi and the Slaughter of the Innocents,” http://www.catholictradition.org/Christmas/christ-child10.htm]

Context

Literary Context

The passage of this exegesis fits in with the passages before and after by serving as the bridge between the two worlds—the Jewish and the Gentile worlds. The Jewish world is described in Jewish’s genealogy in the preceding chapter. However, this world is not awake as it should be to Christ’s coming. The Gentile world, surprisingly, is more attuned to the signs—which is seen in the passage on the Magi coming to worship Christ. It is also seen in the passage that follows—Herod’s desire to kill Christ, which leads to the slaughter of the innocents. Matthew’s style in the Gospel is thus revealed: Christ came for the Jews, was rejected by them but received by the Gentiles, and his life would be subject to death by the authorities—i.e., the Romans. Content

Matthew 2:1-12 is really concerned with contrasting three worlds: the Jewish world that knows of the prophecies of the Messiah but does not see the signs of the birth of the Messiah, the Gentile world who sees the signs and comes to pay homage, and the Roman world who feels threatened by the power of the Messiah. As Nolland points out, these three worlds are intertwined in this passage in such a way that they cannot be isolated but must be understand in terms of how their stories intersect and really unite to tell the story of Christ.[footnoteRef:7] [7: John Nolland, “The sources for Matthew 2: 1-12.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 60, no. 2 (1998), 284.]

The Magi serve as the focal point of this passage: they are described as coming from the East. Traditionally, they have been said to be kings because of the prophecy of the Old Testament regarding Christ being worshipped by kings—but the more likely explanation of who they were is given by Plummer, who notes that their search for the “king of the Jews” signifies them as heathens, and they were likely astrologers who were aware of the tradition that a sign in the heavens would be given relating to the coming of this king.[footnoteRef:8] Nonetheless, they are certainly not Jewish—yet they are aware of the prophecies of the Jews and of the significance of the star appearing over Bethlehem. They are thus to be considered “wise men” in the Christian tradition, as they are first to bring gifts to Christ. Logan represents them as Gnostics who were aware of the traditions of the various religions of their time and thus, seeing this sign in the sky, knew what the acceptable form of tribute was.[footnoteRef:9] [8: Alfred Plummer, An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to S. Matthew (E. Stock, 1910), 13.] [9: Alistair Logan, “Magi and Visionaries in Gnosticism.” Portraits of Spiritual Authority: Religious Power in Early Christianity, Byzantium and the Christian Orient (1999), 31.]

Matthew views their worship of Christ as significant because it is really what the Jews themselves should have been doing: even if they had missed the star, they should have been alerted to its presence by the Magi who had come for that specific reason; yet they are not shown as having any incentive to go and pay homage to the Christ-child. Instead, it is later shown by Matthew that they are directed by their own rabbis to hold Christ in contempt. Thus, the Magi serve as a sign of the tension between Christ and the Jews from the very beginning. Sheen explains this tension by stating that it had already been prophesized: “Simeon had foretold that the Divine Babe would be a Light to the Gentiles. They were already on the march. At His birth there were the Magi, or the scientists of the East; at His death, there would be the Greeks, or the philosophers of the West. The Psalmist had foretold that the kings of the East would come to do homage to Emmanuel. Following a star, they came to Jerusalem to ask Herod where the King had been born.”[footnoteRef:10] [10: Fulton Sheen, “Magi and the Slaughter of the Innocents,” http://www.catholictradition.org/Christmas/christ-child10.htm]

Their gifts are also significant because they foreshadow the life of Christ. Gold signifies His kingship, frankincense signifies His divinity, and myrrh signifies his death. Gold was commonly used to pay tribute to kings. Frankincense was used for anointing and myrrh was used at Christ’s burial. These two latter ingredients had a special spiritual significance, as both were also for incense as well.[footnoteRef:11] The fact that they brought these gifts and bowed and worshipped Christ shows that they were well aware that this was their God. If they were heathens before, they ceased to be heathens at this point and became essentially the first Christians. [11: Olschki, Leonardo. \\\\\\\"The Crib of Christ and the Bowl of Buddha.\\\\\\\" Journal of the American Oriental Society 70, no. 3 (1950), 162.]

Herod did not know that Christ came to wear a heavenly crown, as Sheen puts it—only that He seemed to threaten Herod’s Roman crown, for which reason Herod sought to use the Magi as informants.[footnoteRef:12] The Magi had to be warned in a dream, from God, that they should not report to Herod, indicating that they understood the spiritual importance of Jesus: in their innocence, they did not suspect the ill will of Herod and that is why they required a direct warning from God not to speak to him of Christ’s whereabouts. [12: Fulton Sheen, “Magi and the Slaughter of the Innocents,” http://www.catholictradition.org/Christmas/christ-child10.htm]

What this passage reveals is that neither the Jews nor the Roman authorities were among the first group to worship Christ. Instead, His true nature was spied by the Gentiles. Nonetheless, Christ would go on to communicate to the Jews—as the very fact of Matthew’s Gospel shows, since it was indeed written for the Jews of Palestine that they might understand what they had missed. Application

This passage can be applied to contemporary life in a number of ways. First, one can see from it that God does not appeal to one select group of people but rather to all. Nor does He infringe upon the free will of people to do as they would like. For instance, rather than drop a rock on Herod, he simply tells the Magi not to report to Him. He allows Herod to make up his own mind about how he wants to approach Christ. God respects free will. He will never force one to recognize His divinity. This lesson can applied to those of today who are waiting for a sign or waiting for God to move them somehow towards Him. But they are waiting in vain. The signs have already been given. The signs are all around in history and in the world. God is real and His presence can be known if one is willing to look for it. It requires, however, that one have good will. Those who are self-centered, like Herod or the Jews at the time who were only interested in wresting control from the Romans, will miss God’s signs to them. Likewise, for people who are not born Christians, they too can profit from God’s grace. God wants all to come to Him through Christ. The Magi show that this is possible even if people are of a different religion or race. Being open to the truth is what matters. The Magi were watching and paying attention to their surroundings. They immersed themselves in a study of the world’s religions. They understood the signs to look for—and when one appeared, they responded appropriately. This is what men of good will must do. Today’s people must do no less so that they too can profit from all the good graces that God wishes to share with them. Being open to reality and being of good will are of course the primary conditions for connecting with God.