Matthew 2

Matthew 2
The Visit of the Magi
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ[c] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[d]"
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Escape to Egypt
13When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."[f]
16When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."[g]
The Return to Nazareth
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
21So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

***Can you imagine the scene? These Magi with their entourage from the East (most scholars believe Persia is the country of origin). The men are the Gentiles that come on our behalf to welcome the King of the Jews. Now Jesus would have been 2 or 3 by the time of their arrival. Interestingly, Joseph and Mary didn't return to Nazareth. The Magi found the star over Bethlehem. They came for the census and never went home. It is striking to me that there was no room for them in the inn and I believe we can interpret this to mean their families did not accept this pregnancy as immaculate! Otherwise the couple would have traveled with their family to Bethlehem (after all, their parent's were David's descendants too). How lonely! Joseph and Mary stayed in a new town for at least 2-3 years. With a new baby! How hard that first year must have been without family close by to help out.
Then the Magi came and upset a lot of people, especially Herod. No doubt the gifts of the Magi helped pay for the red-eye flight to Egypt. A look back into Genesis and Exodus shows Jacob and his family leaving Canaan for Egypt and then the return 400 years later. I love how the Old Testament is shown in the life of Christ!
After the all clear to return, Joseph did not go back to Bethlehem but on to Nazareth. Someone said to me recently that she is a big believer in time healing all things and so it must have been with Joseph, Mary and their families. Back to Nazareth with the controversial child plus a few more of their own. When Jesus is 12 we see him traveling with all His family to Jerusalem. ***