Matthew 2 Commentary
Please choose a passage:
Matthew 2:1-2
Matthew’s narrative of Jesus, the Messiah, continues with the arrival in Jerusalem of magi from the east. Having seen “His” star in the east, they have travelled from far to worship the young King of the Jews.
Matthew 2:3-6
The magi’s news of a newborn king disturbs Herod and all of Jerusalem. The child is a threat to Herod’s power. He summons the scribes and priests, and asks them to let him know where the Messiah is supposed to be born.
Matthew 2:7-8
Herod intends to kill the child sought by the magi and end the threat to his rule. He treacherously summons the magi to determine precisely when the star first appeared so that he would know how old the newborn king is.
Matthew 2:9-12
The magi continue following the star until it leads them to Jesus. They worship Jesus and present him with three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When the magi leave, they do not return to Herod, because God warned them by a dream to not reveal Jesus to the wicked king.
Matthew 2:13-15
An angel commands Joseph to take his young family away from Bethlehem and to flee to Egypt, because Herod will soon try to kill Jesus. Joseph obeys and stays there until Herod dies. Matthew highlights that this action fulfills the prophecy from Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Matthew 2:16
King Herod is furious when he realizes that the magi tricked him. He sends soldiers to kill all the males in and around the village of Bethlehem under two years of age. Matthew points out that this tragedy fulfills a prophecy from Jeremiah.
Matthew 2:17-18
Matthew points out that the tragedy of the murdered children in Bethlehem fulfills the prophecy from Jeremiah, again confirming Jesus as the anticipated Messiah.
Matthew 2:19-23
After King Herod dies, an angel informs Joseph by dream that it is safe to return to Israel. Joseph obeys, but is careful to avoid the region of Judea, because Herod’s son is in charge. In another dream God warns Joseph to go north to the region of Galilee.
Additional Resources
The Gospel of Matthew was written to demonstrate to the Jews of Jesus, the Messiah’s generation that He was indeed the Christ. Matthew thematically substantiates the Messianic identity of Jesus beginning with the genealogy of Jesus, which ran from Abraham, the father of Israel’s people through King David who was promised to have a son who would be on Israel’s throne forever. Throughout his Gospel account Matthew makes use of numerous prophecies both explicitly stated and by way of subtle allusion to support his thesis. Matthew further makes use of parallel events in Jesus’s life to those of Messianic figures from the Old Testament (Moses, Joseph, David, etc.) to bolster his argument.
Jesus came to offer the Jews the chance to participate in the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom. To do this, they would have to receive and follow Him as their Messiah. Jesus’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Ultimately, they rejected Him as their Messiah and condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion. The Jews’ rejection of the Messiah opened the door for Gentiles to enter the kingdom (Matthew 8:11-12, 22:1-10). Matthew’s Gospel is therefore a call for the Jews repent of their murder of Jesus and to embrace Him for the divine Messiah He is.
Matthew shows how their rejection of Him and His brutal death was predicted not only by Jesus Himself, but also was foretold in the Jewish scriptures of the Messiah.
The main proof that Jesus was the Messiah was “the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39, 16:4). This was Jesus’s death and resurrection from the dead. “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
Because Matthew’s Gospel was written to people who were already members of God’s eternal family by virtue of their faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah, Matthew emphasizes the “reward of eternal life” (aka “The Prize of Eternal Life”) rather than “the Gift of Eternal Life”. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel focuses on how to “enter the kingdom” rather than how to “be born again”.
Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates how Jesus came to fulfill the law and open a way for God’s people to participate in the Messianic kingdom if they would follow His example of worshiping God from the heart by forgiving and serving others.
For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). If we have faith to follow the example set forth by the resurrected Messiah, whom all authority on heaven and earth has been granted (Matthew 28:18) and take up our cross for His sake (Matthew 16:24-25), then we will become great in His kingdom (Matthew 20:26).
Finally, Matthew provides extensive samples of Jesus’s teachings including “the Sermon on the Mount”, “the Little Commission”, and “the Olivet Discourse” and many parables, alongside accounts of numerous miracles and wonders, personal moments with His twelve disciples, interactions with seekers, and increasingly as his Gospel account progresses: challenges and confrontations with His adversaries – the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests.
Matthew narrates the events surrounding Jesus’s infancy. He tells the stories of the magi from the east who saw a star in the sky signifying the birth of the King of the Jews; Herod’s terror at this news; the holy family’s escape to Egypt; Herod’s slaughter of young males in Bethlehem; and the holy family’s return to Israel as they settle in Nazareth. Throughout the chapter Matthew emphasizes his main themes, namely, that Jesus is both the King of the Jews and the Messiah. Over the course of the chapter’s events, Matthew cites the direct fulfillment of no fewer than four Old Testament prophecies to reiterate these themes.
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