This week’s readings are all from Matthew 1-4. Click here to see a full listing of each day’s reading and the full chapter of Matthew 1-4. Full readings of each day’s smaller segments of the readings will be posted on this site during the week.
Today's Reading
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Who could see the Star of Bethlehem? It appeared to the wise men but Herod didn’t appear to know about it. The star is not mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, it was an angel that appeared to them.
@vltaylor1136: Who could see the Star of Bethlehem? It appeared to the wise men but Herod didn’t appear to know about it. The star is not mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, it was an angel that appeared to them.
Vickie, this is a great question. I know some amount of modern astronomy work has gone into trying to figure this out in terms of a natural explanation, and there are some documentaries out there on this. However, I don't really know what they've found. In general, in the ancient world events in the sky (the 'heavens') were seen to be related to events on earth, and the appearance of comets, meteors, etc., were often tied to signs of kingship or government (or were signs of destruction...or both). Charles Talbert writes:
'In antiquity, stars, comets, and constellations were believed to signal the birth of a ruler. Cicero (Div. 1.47) says that on the night of Alexander the Great’s birth, magi prophesied on the basis of a brilliant constellation that the destroyer of Asia had been born. Tacitus (Ann. 14.22) asserts that it is the general belief that the appearance of a comet means a change of emperors. So when a comet appeared during Nero’s reign, people speculated about Nero’s successor as though Nero were already deceased. In T. Levi 18.3, it is said about the priestly Messiah: “His star will rise in the heaven as of a king.” Eusebius (Dem. ev. 9.1) reflects the cultural assumptions. He says that in “the case of remarkable and famous men we know that strange stars have appeared, what some call comets, or meteors, or tails of fire, or similar phenomena that are seen in connection with great or unusual events” (Gifford 1981). In the Jewish scriptures Num. 24:17 says: “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” To seek the identity of a new king on the basis of a star’s appearance, then, would fit common Mediterranean assumptions.'
Charles H. Talbert, Matthew,
ed. Mikeal C. Parsons and Charles H. Talbert,
Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament.
Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), 38.
Also, in Jewish culture stars and planets were sometimes seen as being angelic or heavenly beings. In some Jewish sources, planets (literally 'wanderers' in Latin) were seen as being rebellious members of the heavenly armies that were worshipped by pagans, and meteors and meteorites were sometimes viewed as what we would call 'fallen angels.'
As far as the star at Jesus birth, which must have been visible for a long while and also 'came to rest' above where Jesus was, I'm not sure we have a natural explanation.
Here is an image of the coin commemorating Julius Caesar after his death, where a comet was seen as his apotheosis, his ascension to heaven and becoming a god. The inscription on the face side is 'CAESAR AUGUSTUS' = 'Revered/Worshiped Caesar' (concerning his adopted adult son Octavian, who was now a 'son of god' and the new emperor) and the back is the comet with 'DIVI JULIU' = 'Divine Julius.'
You know, this part of the text always sticks out to me: “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
They refer to him as the born king of the Jews, and whether its semantics or not I find it interesting that they knew the prophecy and weren't part of that culture. That being said, I am absolutely terrible at geography and wouldn't know if they were from right across the way or from far off...
@silverfx23 Jaun, we don't know exactly from where the Magi started their journey. It was likely an area of modern-day Iran or northern Iraq. Magi were often associated with the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism (although they could also just be 'magicians' from the East, as the term is translated elsewhere in the NT). Taking a northern route of the fertile crescent, a journey from Jerusalem to Tehran would be about 2000+ miles. According to google maps (super super accurate 😉 ), walking this route would take about 18-19 days. I think a safe bet would be about a month or two (more?) for a group.
The Jews had been exiled to Babylon (modern day Iraq) in 587 BCE, and prior to that, the northern kingdom of Israel had been exiled in 722 BCE to various lands in the East by the Assyrians. By the time of Jesus (and up until the latter half of the 20th century), there were very large and influential Jewish communities in Babylon/Iraq and Persia/Parthia/Iran (note the Book of Esther). The religious leaders of various religions could very easily have been aware of the prophecies and expectations about rulers coming out of Judah/Judea. Greco-Roman writers seem to be well aware of these expectations. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in the first and second centuries, after the First Jewish Revolt, records:
'... [among the Jews] there was a firm persuasion, that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers, coming from Judæa, were to acquire universal empire.'
Cornelius Tacitus, The History 5.13
A really ancient map I found of the possible path of the Magi's journey 😉 (click to enlarge):
It was an angel that appeared to the wise men.
Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly
The OT laws concerning what happens to married women who were accused of not being virgins prior to the consummation of marriage or wives that committed adultery after were public, brtual, and harsh:
Suppose a man marries a woman, but after going in to her, he dislikes her and makes up charges against her, slandering her by saying, “I married this woman; but when I lay with her, I did not find evidence of her virginity.” The father of the young woman and her mother shall then submit the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. The father of the young woman shall say to the elders: “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man but he dislikes her; now he has made up charges against her, saying, ‘I did not find evidence of your daughter’s virginity.’ But here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town. The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him; they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver (which they shall give to the young woman’s father) because he has slandered a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a disgraceful act in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22.13–21 NRSV)
If a woman was accused of having committed adultery because her husband simply had doubts or jealousy about her, she had to go through the following process:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act; if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself; then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
Then the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD; the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. The priest shall set the woman before the LORD, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the curse. But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has had intercourse with you,” —let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—“the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge; now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.” Then the priest shall put these curses in writing, and wash them off into the water of bitterness. He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain. The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall elevate the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar; and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and turn it into smoke on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an execration among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children. This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall apply this entire law to her. The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity. (Numbers 5.11–31 NRSV)
Some scholars argue that in the first century a betrothed couple was already considered fully husband and wife prior to consummation and that the previous biblical laws would apply. However, the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish laws and customs compiled in the 2nd and 3rd centuries after Jesus (but possibly reflecting customs during the first century), states that betrothed women who become pregnant prior to the consummation of the marriage do not have to drink the bitter water, but are still subject to public shame and do not receive their dowry:
With regard to a betrothed woman who secluded herself with another man after being warned by her betrothed, and a widow waiting for her brother-in-law [yavam] to perform levirate marriage who secluded herself with another man after being warned by her yavam, they neither drink the bitter water nor collect payment of their marriage contracts. The reason they are not entitled to payment of their marriage contracts is that the betrothed woman became forbidden to her betrothed or the widow became forbidden to her yavam due to her own actions of entering into seclusion with the paramour. And the fact that they do not drink the bitter water is as it is stated: “This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled” (Numbers 5:29). The verse excludes a betrothed woman and a widow awaiting her yavam; since they are not yet married, neither is considered as “under her husband” (m. Sotah 4:1).
@siteadmin So... can you help me move beyond: "Dang... the Law of Moses was more awful than I thought!" ???
And what does it mean for "a spirit of jealousy to come on a man" ? (Even if "she has not defiled herself")
Just not sure what to do with all this.
@travisbruno3: So... can you help me move beyond: "Dang... the Law of Moses was more awful than I thought!" ???
Well, I don't know that I can. I think one way that I personally approach this is through a historical perspective. This is an Ancient Near Eastern text/law written to an Ancient Near Eastern people, and in that context these laws are not that different from others in that period. And, in some cases, even things that seem harsh (or awful) to us were, in that ancient context, actually more merciful than the laws of other people groups and kingdoms. The Eternal God's revelation came in particular places and times, and just as God used Hebrew and Greek to communicate to those during that period and used the worldviews, cosmologies, theologies, etc., that existed then to reveal God's self, he also used and engaged the culturally understood systems of society and family. We don't speak Hebrew and Greek today, nor do we have those customs, so a process of translation must take place. BUT I don't think God would say to us: everyone must go and learn and live in the languages and customs of the periods in which I revealed myself.
This is difficult for us because we want the revelations of God to be as timeless (where context does not matter) as God is. But, it seems to me, that God's revelation and will is progressively revealed through scripture, with the fullness of that revelation being Jesus. Noah, Abraham, Moses, the prophets, etc., did not fully see the end goal of that revelation. Maybe they couldn't see it due to their context, just as we can't truly fully see ourselves. Some day, maybe, but not yet. Until then we see through a blurry, dim reflection (1 Cor 13.12). But God meets those in the past and us in the present the midst of where we are, so that, step by step and through the voice of the Spirit, our relationship with God deepens and our understanding of God and God's will becomes more clear, with ebbs and flows, for ourselves and for coming generations.
The other way I approach this (and definitely here comes the controversial part of my thoughts 😉 ) is more a question: What if God sometimes wants us to push back against even the things God has revealed to us? Not in rebellion against God but wrestling with God. We see this happen in the lives of some of the most faithful persons in the scripture, where they say to God, in a variety of ways: 'Ummm...please don't take this wrong...far be it from me...but would this actually be right of You/me to do this?' Abraham does this in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18). Moses does this when he mediates for Israel when God is frustrated with them to the point of declaring that He would destroy them (Exodus 32:9-14). Rahab lies and is considered and commendd for being faithful (Joshua 2.11–12; 6.21–25; Hebrews 11.31; James 2.25). David eats forbidden bread when he and his men are hungry (1 Sam 21.2–6; see Mark 2.23–28 where Jesus uses this incident to justify his disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath). The prophets declare that the divinely commanded sacrifices actually make God angry (Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:22-23; see Jer 7.21–24, where God seems to say He never even really wanted them). Jesus asks if the cup of suffering at the center of his whole call can be taken from him (Luke 22.42). What if there are times that God wants us to wrestle? To ask: 'Is this really what you want?' The very name God gave to Jacob was Israel, which means something like "He who wrestles with God." And note that when Jacob wrestled with God at the Jabbok River, God lets Jacob win and gave him a blessing...and then God broke his hip and changed his walk forever (Gen 32.22–32). 😉
I think there is something to this latter idea. I believe deeply in the revelation of God in and through scripture. But, I think we are also supposed to wrestle with it and wrestle with God. We are not supposed to be mindless, but we are supposed to engage it (and God) with our whole selves, minds, emotions, etc. And this process is done with the Holy Spirit, without whom the whole thing would be futile. It would just be a study of ancient history and/or a religious text or rules. But the revelation of God is alive. Living. Not static. And at the pinnacle of the progressive written record of that living revelation we now have Jesus, who changes everything. I think it is worth quoting Paul in fullness here from a passage in 2 Corinthians:
Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on stone tablets —came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2Corinthians 3.4–18 NET)
@jimmy Man that is a lot to take in, but I do think it makes a lot of sense... I like the idea of wrestling vs. rebellion...
I think about how we get sort of taken aback by some of these laws because they seem still off to us — but the reality that those laws were merciful in comparison to what was typical at that time. So, maybe God wants us to engage in this process of honing and wrestling to continue to reveal more of God's heart.
I do find some trouble with it, because it also seems reeeeally easy to slip into a sort of "everything is up for interpretation and can be justified" type of thing.
How might we engage in wrestling without rebellion?
And what does it mean for "a spirit of jealousy to come on a man" ? (Even if "she has not defiled herself")
It means he has jealous thoughts.
How might we engage in wrestling without rebellion?
This is part of the wrestling. 😉