Matthew 1:18-2:23 — She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
Matthew’s account of the Christmas story is unique from the other nativity account in the Book of Luke. Matthew’s account focuses on prophecies fulfilled and the wise men or magi who visited. Each focus shows that Jesus is the One to whom the Jews had been looking. He’s the one foretold in the Old Testament. He is the King of the Jews, even the King of all the earth!
Five Prophecies Fulfilled
In the first two chapters, Matthew includes five specific prophecies that the birth of Jesus fulfilled. In the first part of chapter one, he used a genealogy to prove that Jesus met three major qualifications: He was of the line of Judah, through the royal line of David, born of a virgin. Matthew continues the Nativity Story to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of five more Old Testament prophecies!
Prophecy #1
Matthew 1:22-23 — Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.
Matthew points to Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6-7 to show us that Jesus is the fulfillment of these passages. He was born of a virgin, and He is “God with us.” God emphasized His distance in the Old Testament. Sinners did not approach God without a sacrifice, nor on their own. They went through a priest and only so often. Matthew says that in Christ, God became a man and dwelt with His people. Jesus is “God with us.”
Prophecy #2
Chapter two shows us the magi who asked Herod where to find the newborn King of the Jews. We’ll get into who the magi were and why they matter on page two. They were more important and interesting than what our Christmas nativity scenes lead us to believe!
According to Matthew 2:4, Herod asked the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah would be born. The scribes answered with Micah 5:2—they knew Bethlehem was the location. So, Herod ordered the magi to go and to report back so that he, too, can worship this new king (v. 8). Herod didn’t want to worship. He wanted to eliminate this new threat to his throne. God, however, intervened by warning the magi in a dream not to return to Herod. The magi obeyed and went home another way.
Prophecy #3
Matthew 2:13 — …an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him.”
Joseph obeyed God and went to Egypt with his family. We don’t know anything else about this trip. We don’t know what they did or how long they were there other than they stayed until the death of Herod.
According to verse 15, we see the fulfillment of prophecy pointed out by Matthew: “He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” This prophecy was found in Hosea 11:1. It’s not only another fulfillment but also a statement from God saying that Jesus is, in fact, “My Son!”
Prophecy #4
God provided a star to let the magi know the long-awaited king had been born. According to Matthew 2:7, Herod asked the magi when they had first seen the star. With that information, Herod figured out the approximate age of Jesus. Thus, Herod “saw that he’d been tricked by the magi, he became enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under” (v. 2:16). Herod committed one of the great evil acts in history attempting to protect his throne.
Matthew 2:18 — A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great morning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she refused to be comforted because they were no more. Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15 to show us that this terrible event was foretold by the prophets.
Prophecy #5
After Herod died, God appeared to Joseph while he was still in Egypt (v. 2:19). God told him to “Get up, take the child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel.” When Joseph heard that Herod’s son, Archelaus, was in charge he knew he couldn’t go back to Bethlehem or Jerusalem. God told him in a dream (v.2:22) to go to the regions of Galilee, specifically to a city called Nazareth.
Matthew 2:23 — …This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
The King Makers
The magi are well known to us because of our Christmas nativity scenes. We typically see three wise-men in the stable standing near the shepherds, gifts in hand with camels tied up outside the stable. Matthew’s account is the only place in the Gospels we see the magi. There is some information about them we can learn from Scripture, and some historical facts we can glean. These help us see why the magi mattered, and it helps us understand why Matthew would have chosen to communicate their arrival.
Here’s what we know about the magi from Scripture:
1) We know they were from the east (v. 2:1)
2) They were looking for someone specific, “the King of the Jews” (v. 2:2)
3) They saw HIS star (v. 2:2).
4) They saw His star again, and it led them to the house where Jesus was living (v. 2:9).
5) They brought three gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh (v. 2:11).
Historians and biblical scholars alike believe it’s the magi from the east would have been Medes. The historian, Herodotus, describes the magi of that time to be from a priestly tribe that had enormous political clout at that time.
The magi would have studied divination, had pagan priestly rights, and would have had knowledge in Astronomy and Astrology. They became known as “wise men” across the four major world powers in this period of history (fifth century B.C.).
During the Medo-Persian Empire, a king would have to meet two major conditions. First, he would have to master the scientific and religious discipline of the magi. Second, he would have to be chosen and crowned BY the Magi. The Magi were literally “King Makers.”
Fast forward to the time of Jesus birth: these guys didn’t have the same type of influence they had in the past. Yet, they were still respected and feared by the Romans as a powerful force. The magi were well known to the Jews because of their history. They show up several times in the Old Testament, but most prominently in the Book of Daniel.
King Nebuchadnezzar had decided to kill all the magi because they failed to interpret his dreams six centuries prior to Jesus’ birth. Daniel stepped in to interpreted the king’s dreams, and in return, Nebuchadnezzar allowed the magi to live. The magi back in Daniel’s time knew Daniel and had likely passed down through the ages details about the coming King.
When the magi showed up in Jerusalem, King Herod was troubled (v. 2:3). Historically, the magi would have traveled on Persian steeds with up to 1,000 royal guards. Herod and the Jewish leaders knew who these guys were and why they were there. The King Makers were in town!
Conclusion
The Magi presented baby Jesus with three gifts fit for a king. The King Makers bowed and worshiped to acknowledge the future King. Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience. Through the fulfillment of prophecies and the acknowledgement of the King Makers, we should see that this is HIM! This is the King of the Jews, our King, the Messiah foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. Matthew spent the first two chapters of his Gospel laying this foundation for his readers, to make it clear that the King is here!