We live in a modern world
With Fast Foods, Internet
Fast speed travel
And so we think that anything
And everything can be accessed
Immediately!
But Jesus was born into a different world
And we need to remember that
And try and think and visualise
How things “worked” then
Matthew uses “words”
Which describe the scene he is retelling
We are familiar with the Christmas story
We celebrate it with
Nativity scenes
The stable, the manger,
The cows, the sheep
And the shepherds
But then imagine that the wise men
Came into this same scene
Matthew, however, gives us hints
To the “real” picture
Verses 8, 9 and 10
Talk about the “young Child”
NOT a baby
And just in case you may think
That I am “splitting hairs”
And looking for something
That isn’t really there…
“And when they had come into the house,
they saw the young Child
with Mary His mother,”
(Matthew 2:11a)
The wise men came into the HOUSE
They did NOT come into the STABLE
A period of time has passed
Jesus is no longer a baby
But now is a “young Child”
As resposible parents
Mary and Joseph have moved
Into more appropriate accommodation
Both for the Child as well as His mother
Now the text does NOT say this
Other than Matthew using the words:
Young Child
The other, perhaps more obvious
Clue or hint, is found here:
“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.”
(Matthew 2:16)
All boys under the age of TWO years old
Were put to death
The wise men came to Herod
In Jerusalem
Jesus was born in Bethlehem
Which is about 6 miles away
So perhaps Jesus was at least
One year old
When the wise men visited Him
Again, we don’t know…
But think about these things
As you READ this chapter
Or ask yourself some questions:
Why did Herod wait for two years
After His birth?
Why does it say “house” and not “stable”?
Why does it say “young Child”
And not “baby”?
Remember Stephen King
“The truth is in the details”