Matthew 2 closes out with the return of Jesus and his family from Egypt. Having fled there from Herod’s desire to kill the baby who threatened his reign, the family could now return, fulfilling prophecy in the process.
Joseph was guided by a dream from God in which he was told to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt in order to avoid Herod. It’s not clear just how long they stayed in Egypt, but they were again guided to return by an angel in a dream after the death of Herod. It’s likely they were not in Egypt for very long at all.
Herod the Great died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign, when he was seventy years old, in the spring of the year 4 BC, just before the Passover. This event was God’s timing for Jesus to return to Judea. Matthew tells us that another angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and gave him these instructions.
When Joseph came back to his homeland, he settled in a small town named Nazareth. Verse 22 seems to indicate that Joseph’s intention was to return to Bethlehem, probably to make the ancestral city of David their permanent residence. God’s plans were different, and he sent the family back to their Galilean home.
So Nazareth becomes the home of Christ. At this point in history, it was an an obscure village, nestling on the hills about 500 feet above the Plain of Esdraelon. Now, it has become a large city of more than 75,000 people.
In light of this, Matthew gives a puzzling statement: “He shall be called a Nazarene.” No Old Testament prophet had declared in express terms that Jesus should be called a Nazarene. They did apply the term netzer which means “branch” or “sprout” to Him. That prompted a little more study on my part, and I found an interesting possibility in the study notes of the MacArthur Study Bible:
Nazareth, an obscure town 70 miles north of Jerusalem, was a place of lowly reputation, and nowhere mentioned in the Old Testament. Some have suggested that “Nazarene” is a reference to the Hebrew word for branch in Isaiah 11:1. Others point out that Matthew’s statement that “prophets” had made this prediction may be a reference to verbal prophecies nowhere recorded in the Old Testament. A still more likely explanation is that Matthew is using “Nazarene” as a synonym for someone who is despised or detestable – for that was how people from the region were often characterized (see John 1:46). If that is the case, the prophecies Matthew has in mind would include Psalm 22:6-8 and Isaiah 49:7, 53:3.
Regardless, Jesus returned from Egypt to the nation of Israel, in order to complete his mission. And for that I am thankful!
Question: What prophecies about Jesus do you find the most interesting? You can leave a comment by clicking here.