Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:39
And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
39. Between this verse and the last come the events narrated by St Matthew only namely the Visit of the Magi; the Flight into Egypt; and the massacre of the Innocents. It is difficult to believe that either of the Evangelists had seen the narrative of the other, because the prim facie inference from either singly would be imperfectly correct. They supplement each other, because they each narrate the truth, though probably neither of them was aware of all that has been delivered to us.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They returned into Galilee – Not immediately, but after a time. Luke has omitted the flight into Egypt recorded by Matthew; but he has not denied it, nor are his words to be pressed as if he meant to affirm that they went immediately to Nazareth. A parallel case we have in the life of Paul. When he was converted it is said that he came to Jerusalem, as if he had gone there immediately after his conversion Act 9:26; yet we learn in another place that this was after an interval of three years, Gal 1:17-18. In the case before us there is no improbability in supposing that they returned to Bethlehem, then went to Egypt, and then to Galilee.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 2:39-52
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover
The life of Jesus
I.
JESUS CHRIST IN HOME LIFE. And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.
1. We see Him settling down to the relationships of home. But Jesus Christ was perfectly content in the home circle. He did not complain of its narrowness and confinement. For He did not judge life by its magnitude, but by the principle which animates it; He did not judge life by its conspicuousness; but by the spirit which inspires it. The tiny speck on the lady-birds wing is as round a circle as that of the world. The sphere which a tear makes is as mathematically perfect as that of yonder sun. It makes not the slightest difference in the real merit of a book whether it is printed in large or small type; in either case the meaning is precisely the same. Some people seriously object to the privacy of home–the type is too small to please their fancy; they must act their part on the public stage, in the corners of the streets, and in the synagogues–they dearly love a large type. But the Saviour spent thirty years in the privacy of home, and never once complained of its narrowness and obscurity.
2. We are further taught that He faithfully discharged the duties of home–the duties which devolved on Him as a son in the family. Each memberof the family has its respective services to perform, and harmony always depends upon the right adjustment, the proper balancing, of distinct interests. He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. He might have been wiser than they; but superior knowledge does not justify insubordination.
3. And the context shows that in all this He was doing His Fathers work. Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers work? And if home life were not an integral department of that work, it would have been utterly impossible for Jesus Christ to have submitted to it. But home life is a Divine life, a type, possibly, of the inner life of the Godhead. The Bible represents God as a Father, it describes Him as having a family, it sets Him forth as having a home. Home life is a Divine life, and by serving it we do Gods work.
II. JESUS CHRIST IN SOCIAL LIFE.
1. Here we see Him settling down to the relationships of society, and that the most corrupt society in the whole world. Nazareth would have ranked among the choicest towns of Palestine; but its inhabitants were notorious far and near for their impiety, recklessness, and heathenism. Every prospect pleases, and only map is vile. Strange that God should choose depraved Nazareth to be the dwelling-place of His Son for thirty years 1 We would have imagined that a select and secluded spot would have been chosen where He would have been kept from all contact with sin, and where He would have been partitioned off from other children, and thus secured against the contagion of evil. But that was not Gods idea of holiness. Glass-house virtue He did not covet. For the dove to keep her wing pure and unsullied amid the free air of heaven is not so very difficult–indeed the difficulty is to soil it; but to keep it white and clean amongthe pots is quite another matter, and harder far to accomplish. From early infancy Jesus Christ had to face vice; from the outset He had to grapple with sin. His virtue must be sinewy, manly, tried, and triumphant. Earthly parents may here learn a very precious lesson: not to put too much confidence in glasshouse virtue–it generally withers on its first exposure to the rude winds of the world. Children may be ruined in one of two ways: either by being permitted to visit all kinds of wicked places and witness all manner of obscene spectacles without let or hindrance; or by being kept too strictly aloof from all society and guarded too narrowly against the approach of other children, for when the protection is withdrawn, as withdrawn it surely must be, and they are left to fight for themselves, they will almost necessarily succumb to the first assault of temptation. And conservatory children may be very pleasing to look at so long as they are under shelter; but the first storm will make a sad havoc among their branches. Let children learn from the first how to defend themselves against physical and moral foes alike.
2. We further learn that He discharged with the utmost fidelity the duties of society, the duties that devolved upon Him as a citizen of Nazareth. He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and there, adds the evangelist very significantly, He grew in favour with God and men. I confess to a strong liking for the phrase that He grew in favour with men. He knew what it was to luxuriate in the golden opinions of His neighbours. And let none of you, young people, despise the favour of men; to please society is not altogether an unworthy aim. Favour with God must precede favour with men. He grew in favour with men. This supposes that He was studious of the little proprieties of every-day life. There are men who cling with indomitable tenacity to the fundamental verities; rather than relax their hold of them, they will go cheer fully to the stake to die. But they are culpably regardless of the little politenesses of social intercourse–they never grow in favour with men. They remind one of a rugged granite rock, firm, solid, and white under the meridian light; but no flower grows in its clefts, no snowdrop or foxglove, no primrose or daisy, softens the untarnished hardness. They are men of strong principles, but of ungracious disposition; they never grow in favour with men.
3. And in leading the life of a citizen the context shows He was doing the work of God. Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? If there is a must in it, it is evident He cannot leave it; and that in going down to Nazareth He continued to be about it. The truth is, society is a Divine institution; and in serving it we do Gods work. Jesus Christ lived in
Nazareth to realize the Divine idea of a citizen, to reduce to actuality, to embody in a life, the thought as it existed in the Divine mind. Men had to see the perfect life acted out before their eyes. He was not of the world–not of it in its way of thinking, not of it in its way of feeling, not of it in its way of living; not of it, yet in it. Anti as He was, so are we–placed in the midst of society, and yet of a Divine citizenship. The highest ideal of Christian life is city life. Ye are a city set on a hill. The life of innocent humanity was a garden or rural life. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and put man there. It was a free, simple, country life. But ye are come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and your life henceforth must be city life.
III. JESUS CHRIST IN INDUSTRIAL LIFE. He went down with them, and came to Nazareth.
1. By thus entering into industrial life He shows that work may be made sacred.
2. He further shows that work is not incompatible with the highest religious attainments.
3. By following a trade, He further showed that the highest purpose of work is not fortune but discipline. I suppose we cannot all get on in this world of ours, and my text reminds us of another who worked very hard, who followed His trade diligently, but did not get on very well except towards Gethsemane, Calvary, and the grave. He can sympathize with you; He stands by your side, ready to share your burden; He stoops, He bends; may you have the grace to roll it on His shoulders! What is Christianity? God bending beneath and bearing aloft the burden of the world. If work does not better your earthly condition, it will improve your heart; if it does not add to your fortune, it will considerably augment your manhood; if it will not bring you affluence in this life, it will help to qualify you for a more abundant entrance on the rich, profound life on yonder side the grave.
IV. JESUS CHRIST IN HIS RELIGIOUS OR TEMPLE LIFE.
1. The context shows us that He was in His Fathers house, and that whilst there the blessed and glorious truth of His Sonship dawned upon Him. All rich natures, all deep and fertile natures, feel an attraction towards Gods temple. There is so much mystery appealing powerfully to the worshipful faculty, so much solemn grandeur subduing the heart and carrying it captive, such sublimity and loftiness in the service of the temple, though outwardly it be but a barn, that it gives ample scope for the imagination. Hence all rich, poetical natures find their proper food and their appropriate atmosphere in the service of Gods house.
2. He was in the Temple, asking and answering questions. His mind thirsted for knowledge. But as Christ was free from sin, His insight was quicker, clearer, deeper than ours. An intellect twelve years old free from sin will astonish intellects fifty years old tainted by the disease. The water-lily, growing in the midst of water, opens its leaves, expands its petals, at the first pattering of the shower, whilst other flowers in the same neighbourhood are quite insensible to the descent of the raindrops. Why? Because reared in water, it has quicker sympathy with rain. And so with the Lily of our Humanity: His soul, planted, as it were, in the midst of the ocean of omniscience, rejoiced in knowledge with a quicker and more refined sympathy than has ever been witnessed before or since in the history of our race.
3. Observe, further, His total absorption in His Fathers work. Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? Literally, in My Fathers business. Not about it, but in it. (J. C. Jones.)
The training of Jesus Christ
Observe, then, just where the real difficulty lies: it lies not in the fact of growth; it lies in the fact of incarnation, or the Divine birth itself. For the distance between the Babe of Bethlehem and the Man of Nazareth is infinitely less than the distance between man and God. But Christs growth, be it carefully observed, implies no sort of imperfection. It is no sign of imperfection in a peach tree that it does not bear peaches in spring. And this growth does not seem to have been marked by anything striking. Had it been, the presumption is that his biographers would at least have hinted it. The very silence here of the evangelists is thrilling, for it brings the Divine Man within the range of our human sympathies and affections, thoroughly identifying Him with our average humanity. He grew up, as grows His own kingdom, without observation. Wist ye not that I must be in My Fathers house, about My Fathers business? All these years the heavenly Plant has been unfolding, and now appears the first blossom.
1. There was the school of home. I do not refer here to the lessons consciously taught by parents so much as to the lessons unconsciously taught by the home institution itself. We are trained for the celestial home in the school of the terrestrial, learning the heavenly sonhood in the exercise of an earthly, the universal brotherhood in the sphere of a personal. Home–that is to say, true home–is the best soil for the germination and growth of large, solid, abiding character. Christs stay of thirty years beneath His mothers roof is an eternal glorification of the home institution.
2. There was the school of subordination. Loyalty is the mother of royalty.
3. There was the school of toil. There is no reason for supposing that Joseph and Mary were especially poor, and therefore that Jesus was brought up in absolute poverty. Ah, how this educates Him for sympathy with what must ever be the preponderating class of humanity, the working-class.
4. There was the school of society. No desert education was His, like that of His forerunner, John the Baptizer. He must feel the quickening, broadening, rounding power of society.
5. There was the school of isolation. What though He was brought up in society? Society comprehended Him not. Even His brothers, sons of His own mother, did not believe on Him. For the foundations of character are laid in moral solitude. Mans grandest victories are, and ever must be, won single-handed.
6. There was the school of the synagogue. Every day in the week, and three times every Saturday or the Jewish Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue, where He saw a model of the ark of the covenant, and the scrolls of the sacred books, and joined in the prescribed prayers, and listened to the reading of the two lessons–the one from the law, the other from the prophets.
7. There was the school of providence. Daily providence was His daily teacher.
8. There was the school of nature.
9. There was the school of routine. Doubtless it was the same unbroken, monotonous routine of family and workshop and synagogue, week after week, month after month, year after year. The frequent and tedious drill is the best preparation for the battle paean.
10. There was the school of delay. During those long thirty years Jesus doubtless often yearned to enter at once upon His glorious mission as the Christ of God and the Saviour of men. Not that enterprise and courage and energy are not praiseworthy. They are most noble traits. But there is such a thing as prematurity, and prematurity is apt to mean failure. This lesson of patience is especially needed in our times and land. It is an age of swift things, morally as well as physically. Young man, patiently abide your time. There is no heroism like the heroism of patience, no majesty like the majesty of self-confluence.
11. There was the school of temptation. And temptation is not only essential to character-disclosing, temptation is also essential to character-building.
12. There was the school of experience. For there is no education like the education of personal experience. Nothing can take the place of it: neither wealth, nor genius, nor splendid opportunities, nor indomitable will. And as in nature, so in morals: the slower the crystallization, the more perfect and abiding. And all this was as true for the Christ as it is for you and me. Such is the story of the home-life of the Divine Man. As that Greater than Solomon was rearing that temple nobler than Moriahs, no stroke of hammer, or axe, or any tool of iron was heard.
No workmans steel, no ponderous axes rung,
Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung,
The great lesson, then, of the home-life at Nazareth is this: Every-day life our training-school for heaven. (G. D. Boardman.)
First Sunday after Epiphany
But let us now direct our attention more particularly to the youthful Saviours visit to the Temple, as narrated in this days Gospel.
1. It appears from this record, that his parents were punctual and regular in their attendance upon the appointed services of religion. They were poor. They also lived very far away. By actual experiment, I found it two days and a half hard riding, upon active horses, from Nazareth to Jerusalem. But they found no excuse in these things for failing to be present in the holy city when the feast of the Passover came round.
2. It appears that, as soon as Jesus had reached His twelfth year, these pious parents took Him with them on their annual visit to the sacred city and Temple. At any rate, they took Him with them, an example which it would be well for all parents to note and follow.
3. It appears that this visit of the young Saviour to the holy city and Temple was the means of an enlarged and astonishing spiritual awakening to Him. Mind left to itself stagnates and fails of proper fruitfulness. The quickening spark needs to be applied to kindle it into living flame and power. New subjects were thrown in upon His human intellect. A new world opened to His soul and seized upon His heart, already in holy and peaceful harmony with the deepest underlying Spirit of all. It was not a conversion, for He needed no converting. It was not the implantation of the new life; for He never was dead to holy things. But it was the opening of His human faculties, the quickening of their activities, to grasp the objects which were to fill and enlist His powers, which marked the commencement of that higher consciousness and ampler realization of the truth, in meek and zealous obedience to which He from that time forward went forth, and which was the active principle of all His subsequent life and deeds as the Redeemer el the world. Brethren, will any one look these facts in the face and say, that there is no use for children to come to the temple of God! I know of a boy, who, at fourteen years of age, walked a series of miles from his home, to a strange place, to see a synodical convention. He started out in the morning, and returned at night, without partaking of a meal during his absence, and repeated the same on the day following. And from what he saw and heard during those two days, there was formed in his heart the purpose to devote himself to the gospel ministry. That purpose he also carried into effect, against the dissuasion of his bishop, the disapprobation of his father, and all the disadvantages of the absence of pecuniary resources. That contact with the assembled ministers of the Church, brought about by no particular object save to gratify a general desire for information, and without having spoken a word to any of them, touched a cord, and awoke a feeling, which gave shape and direction to his whole after life. And that boy is your preacher to-day! Nor can you know what living seeds of transforming power, and fruitfulness in virtue and grace, may be planted by a single visit of a youth to the temple of God! See to it, then, that your children are early brought into connection with all the ministrations of the sanctuary.
4. It also appears from this record, that even the pious Joseph and Mary expected much less from this carrying of the youthful Jesus to the temple, than actually occurred. Ah yes, there is often more going on in the hearts of children than their parents, who know them best, suppose or believe. The purest waters are those that run deepest under ground, before they show themselves; and there may be much more in our children, and in the very line of our most anxious desires, than we would for a moment think of ascribing to them.
5. Finally, it appears from this record, what that was which from earliest youth most powerfully absorbed Christs feelings and attention, and what in His view is the proper thing supremely to enlist and engage the young. How is it that ye sought Me? wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? He had relations in heaven paramount to all relations of kindred and blood on earth. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
The early years of Christ
Conceiving of Him then, as in a transition from childhood to manhood, as in a process of training for the highest of works, we ask what lessons are to be gathered from His silent years?
I. We shall conclude that GOD QUALIFIED HIS SON, BORN OF A WOMB, MADE UNDER THE LAW, FOR HIS FUTURE OFFICE, BY THE TRAINING OF THE FAMILY STATE. And was subject to His parents. The family state, we cannot doubt, was most happily devised, according to the original plan of uncorrupt human nature, not only for the preservation and physical welfare of the child, but also for the development of all the higher qualities of man. It is the beginning and the condition of society. He who passes out of its healthy training into the larger circle of fellow-citizens or fellow-men, has a foundation already laid for all social sympathies, for the conception of human brotherhood, for the exercise of good will in every form. It is also the condition of, and the preparation for, all law. The dependent being, trained up in it to listen to higher authority and wisdom, to give up self-will and practice self-control, becomes fitted for the loyal life of the citizen, and for obedience to God. Thus it was meant, according to the primaeval plan, that the infant mind should be disciplined in the family for a life of law and of love–law which should lead the soul up to the great central Lawgiver of the universe, and, love, which should embrace the brotherhood of souls, and God, the Father of all. His soul was fitted for its work by entering into the great relations of humanity.
II. JESUS PASSED THROUGH THE DISCIPLINE OF A LIFE OF HUMBLE INDUSTRY. Is not this the carpenter? Here we have two things to notice, the discipline of a life of industry upon the Son of Man, and the influence of the lowly position which He thus assumed among His brethren of mankind. We must conceive, then, that during these years of labour as a carpenter, the Son of Man had time, even amid His work, for noble and holy thoughts. Nor ought we to lay out of account the patience which sedulous manual labour would bring along with it. I may add, that the helpfulness of our Lord in His calling tended to strengthen the principle of helpfulness to mankind, or of unwearied benevolence. But the patient helpfulness of Jesus, as He did His work well in and for the family, inured His holy mind to the hard toils of that glorious life of love, in which we learn, on one occasion, that He had not time so much as to eat bread, and gave Himself up to works of mercy so earnestly that His friends thought Him mad. What other training could have equally encouraged His unwearied devotion to the hard, slow work of doing good? But the obscurity of the sphere in which Jesus moved, aided the graces of His character, such as meekness and lowliness, and also enlarged His power of usefulness. Here we notice only the last particular, leaving the others for future remark. It is often thought to add to a mans power among men, if he is born in a high place, and commands the respect of mankind as well by his ancestry and station, as by what he is. But the power to act upon men, so far as it depends on feeling with them, and being felt with by them, is generally abridged by position above the major part of mankind. Hence it is, that those monarchs who have risen from the people can know them better, and come closer to their admiration and their hearts, than such as have inherited the throne. Hence, too, those reformers are likely to be most successful, who add to other advantages that of a lively interest in and comprehension of the great mass of men, which their birth and early education has encouraged. The son of the miner, at Eisleben, with his homely, earnest peasant-soul, and his manly courage, was fitter to attract and mingle with his countrymen, was better able, when his mind had become enlarged by study, to spread the Protestant Reformation, than if he had been the son of an Emperor of Germany, or one of the princes of the empire. Such a personage, if he could have understood and preached the gospel, would have found that a gulf was fixed between him and his people.
III. THE SILENT YEARS AT NAZARETH ENABLED HIM TO MEDITATE LONG AND DEEPLY ON THE SCRIPTURES. A striking characteristic of our Lord, from the first moment of His public ministry onward, is His reverence for and familiarity with the Scriptures. Here, then, in this sequestered village, away from the emptiness of Pharisaical learning, and from Sadducean scepticism, He was reared on the Divine Word in its simplicity, was fortified by it against temptation, studied its promises of a coming Messiah, and became ready to apply it to the varying circumstances of practical life. He trained mankind through the Jews; He made His Son a Jew that He might build up on the old foundation the new truths of a religion for the world; and in order that Jesus Himself might be trained up for this work He chose this simple method of placing Him alone with the ancient Scriptures, away from human teachers and comments, that the pure truth of God might fill His mind.
IV. The life of retirement which Jesus led at Nazareth WAS FITTED TO NOURISH SOME OF THOSE MEEK AND UNPRETENDING GRACES OF CHARACTER WHICH SHONE BEYOND COMPARISON IN HIM. I name first patience, or willingness to wait until the right time was come. The same discipline which perfected the patience, perfected also the calmness of Jesus. His obedience grew, through His years of waiting, deeper and heavenlier became His calmness. This discipline of His still years gave strength also to His retiring spirit, or modesty. I only add, that the retirement of Nazareth was fitted to nourish simplicity of feeling and character. It has been made a definition of a wise and pure life to live according to nature. The simplicity and honesty of the man Christ Jesus were, no doubt, nourished and perfected in a simple, godly family, in a simple village, away from much of the gloss and falsehood which abounded in Judea. We might conceive of Divine wisdom taking just the opposite method of calling it forth, that of placing Jesus in close neighbourhood to formal and false Pharisees, so that His education should consist in loathing the characters which He should see around Him. That strength would come from such a discipline we cannot doubt; and yet the other plan, which was in fact chosen, seems the best for a harmonious perfection of the whole character, and especially for the predominance of the gentler virtues, ( T. D. Woolsey, D. D.)
The personality of Jesus
The Man in germ, the personality in the making, we see but once, yet the once is almost enough. The Child has come with His parents to Jerusalem. The city, the solemnities, the Temple, the priests, the sacrifices, the people, have stirred multitudinous new thoughts in the Boy tie becomes for a moment forgetful of His kin, conscious of higher and Diviner relations, and seeks light and sympathy where they were most likely to he found–in the Temple and with the doctors. It is an eminently natural and truthful incident. The Ideal Child, wise in His innocent simplicity, seeks the society of simple but learned age, feels at home in it, wonders only, when sought and found, that it could be in His mothers mind other than it was in His own. The light that streams from the question, Wist ye not that I must be among My Fathers matters, in His house, in search of His truth, mindful of His purposes? illumines the Youth and makes Him foreshadow the Man. For He, who as Boy, was anxious to be absorbed in His Father and His Fathers affairs, became as Man the conscious abode of God. Here, indeed, emerges the sublimest and most distinctive feature of His personality. In Him, as in no other, God lived; He lived as no other ever did in God. Their communion was a union which authorized the sayings, I and the Father are one; He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. His consciousness was full of God, was consciousness of God. (Principal Fairbairn, D. D.)
Glimpses of the Divine Childhood
This beautiful and only glimpse of the Boyhood of our Saviour is full of interest. It enables us to behold Jesus on this memorable occasion through the medium of others feelings. We can often more vividly represent to ourselves a scene, and take in its meaning, when we are told what thoughts and feelings it stirred in the minds of actual spectators. By simple and natural touches the story before us fixes our thought upon Mary and others, but especially upon the mother, and the changing feelings of her heart during these few days. By the side of Mary, then, let us first approach, and study the behaviour of the Divine Child, so perplexing at the time to her, so charged with significance in the reflection of after-days, and now so full of light and holy beauty to all disciples of Jesus and students of His life.
1. The story opens with a powerful stroke of pathos. A child is lost! A mothers heart is thrown into agony. Several details left to be filled up by the imagination. Caravan had set out early in morning. A large group of relatives and friends of Joseph and Marys house amidst the throng. Taken for granted that Jesus was among them until night began to fall, and it was time for Him to come to His parents tent to rest. Nightfall made the discovery all the more terrible. Let us picture to ourselves the state of His mothers mind during those three weary days that followed–perhaps not to the Temple that Joseph and Mary first bent their steps. Narrative seems to hint that they were quite at a loss to imagine where the Child was. At length, however, in the course of their search, their steps are directed to the Temple. There were connected with the sacred edifice a number of halls or class-rooms, where the Rabbis met and instructed their scholars. Amongst these Rabbis there arose from time to time true and weighty moral teachers, who directed attention to something more important than the curious mystical speculations and interpretations which form so large a part of the Talmud. Of these the most famous was Hillel, whose memory was quite fresh, and whose influence was still great in the Temple schools. There is little doubt that our Lord recognized a true spirit in this eminent Rabbi; and it has been shown that there are striking points of resemblance between their teachings. To that school Jesus went, and taking His seat among the scholars, proceeded to put His questions, and to listen to the teachers answers; for this was the customary mode of instruction in the Jewish schools; and a great part of the rabbinical books consists of the answers to such questions.
2. Here, then, a scene opens before us in the Temple school which is impressed upon us as a very remarkable one. We are invited to look upon it through the eyes of the bystanders, who, we are told, were filled with wonder and astonishment. But what was so astonishing 7 What was it that made this Child the focus of every gaze–that drew upon Him the profound attention of bearded sages, of venerable brows, that awakened the curiosity of young and old? Not, probably, the fact that a Boy of twelve was to be found in such a place and occupation; for at that age He would be regarded by the Jews as a son of the law. It was the extraordinary intelligence of His remarks and replies, His understanding, i.e., His mental grasp, His insight into things.
3. Joseph and Mary coming in were likewise amazed at the scene. In their case the wonder seems more difficult of explanation; and it is instructive to ponder the fact for a moment. Is it not often so, that parents or relatives are blind to that which is most significant in their children? Joseph and Mary must have been aware of the great destiny promised to Jesus; they could not possibly have forgotten all the Divine marks that were attached to His birth and infancy. And yet they were astonished when His destiny began to unfold itself before their eyes. Must we not all reproach ourselves with some such fault? Our eye rests so strongly on the outward, the circumstantial side of life that our interest is drawn away from the real and spiritual.
4. The contrast of the calmness of the Child with the astonishment of those around Him deepens our impression of the meaning of the scene. Why did ye seek Me? Did ye not know that I must be about My Fathers business? or, in My Fathers house? Where should you have expected to find Me, but in this chosen and beloved spot? This sense seems to us natural, suggestive, appropriate. If we take the phrase in the wider sense, a meaning is yielded only less suggestive. But either way a profound devotion to God and to His kingdom is expressed in the language of the Divine Child–an absorption in these high thoughts as all-commanding and supreme over ordinary relations and affections. His words were not understood, we are told, by those nearest to Him in earthly relation. There was in their idea of life no key to unlock the enigma of this mysterious Child. But the words were deeply treasured and pondered over in the mothers heart, till Divine Providence, gradually unclosing this bud of Heavenly growth grafted on an earthly stock, into a flower of immortal beauty, brought the long-hidden meaning of the scene to light.
5. Thus early, then, we behold our Saviour in His Divine and native relations to His Father, and to the kingdom of spirit; thus early we trace the signs of His indelible consecration to the service in which He was to spend His days and to shed His blood, and through which He was to rise to be spiritual and universal Lord. But what a completeness it gives to the picture, and how are we touched on the side of our human affections when we read that Jesus went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. Supremacy of His relations to His heavenly Father did not mean the forgetting or ignoring of lower relations.
6. Turn a parting glance at the scene, and read it, no longer by the light of others eyes, but by the light which the Holy Spirit has given us through the word of the gospel. Let us be thankful for the ministry of children. All that is simple and innocent, inquiring and truth-loving in them, should remind us of the Divine Child and of His ministry to our souls. When tempted to lose ourselves in the materialism of the age, or in the busy cares or pleasures of the present world, let us think of Him as, in the Temple, He seems with uplifted finger to be saying, I was born to other things! And so may grace be given us to follow Him, that we may be brought in the fellowship of the Spirit into childhood to God, and to dwell in the heavenly Temple of our Father, to go no more out for ever. (E. Johnson, M. A.)
Nazareth
Travellers tell us that the spot where Jesus grew up is one of the most beautiful on the face of the earth. Nazareth is situated in a secluded, cup-like valley amid the mountains of Zebulon, just where they dip down into the plain of Esdraelon, with which it is connected by a steep and rocky path. Its white houses, with vines clinging to their walls, are embowered amidst gardens and groves of olive, fig, orange, and pomegranate trees. The fields are divided by hedges of cactus, and enamelled with innumerable flowers of every hue. Behind the village rises a hill five hundred feet in height, from whose summit there is seen one of the most wonderful views in the world–the mountains of Galilee, with snowy Hermon towering above them to the north; the ridge of Carmel, the coast of Tyre, and the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean to the west; a few miles to the east, the wooded, cone like bulk of Tabor; and to the south the plain of Esdraelon, with the mountains of Ephraim beyond. The preaching of Jesus shows how deeply He had drunk into the essence of natural beauty and revelled in the changing aspects of the seasons. It was when wandering as a lad in these fields that He gathered the images of beauty which He poured out in His parables and addresses. It was on that hill that He acquired the habit of His after-life of retreating to the mountain-tops to spend the night in solitary prayer. The doctrines of His preaching were not thought out on the spur of the moment. They were poured out in a living stream when the occasion came, but the water had been gathering into the hidden well for many years before. In the fields and on the mountain-side He had thought them out during the years of happy and undisturbed meditation and prayer. (J. Stalker, L. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 39. They returned into Galilee] But not immediately: for the coming of the wise men, and the retreat of Joseph with his family into Egypt, happened between this period of time, and his going to Nazareth in Galilee. – Bp. PEARCE. But it is very likely, that as soon as the presentation in the temple, and the ceremonies relative to it, had been accomplished, that the holy family did return to Galilee, as St. Luke here states, and that they continued there till Herod’s bloody purpose was discovered to them by the Lord; which probably took some time to bring it to its murderous crisis, after the departure of the magi. After which, they fled into Egypt, where they continued till the death of Herod; and it is probable that it is of a second return to Nazareth that St. Matthew speaks, Lu 2:23.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If the wise men, mentioned Mat 2:1, had been with Herod before this time, it is more than probable that Herod would have made an end of Christ at this time, therefore certainly it was after this time. Luke saith nothing of what we have Mat 2:13-15,19-23, of Joseph going into Egypt upon the admonition of the angel, nor his coming back; but both Matthew and Luke agree in their dwelling at Nazareth, which he calleth
their own city, for there Joseph dwelt, Luk 2:4. How after this the wise men came to find him at Bethlehem, Mat 2:1-12, the Scripture hath not told us. It is very idle for any to say Joseph dwelt there, for then he would not have taken up his inn there, nor been put to such a stress as to have his wife bring forth in a stable; besides, it is apparent from Luk 2:4 and this verse, and from Mat 2:23, that he dwelt at Nazareth. God, who ordered the motion of the wise men, and their instructions to be sent to Bethlehem to look for Christ, could easily find Joseph some business to be done there at that time, whether some business of his trade, or some visit to his friends, we cannot say.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
39. Nothing is more difficultthan to fix the precise order in which the visit of the Magi, withthe flight into and return from Egypt (Mt2:13-23), are to be taken, in relation to the circumcision andpresentation of Christ in the temple, here recorded. It is perhapsbest to leave this in the obscurity in which we find it, as theresult of two independent, though if we knew all, easily reconcilablenarratives.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they had performed all things,…. Relating to the purification of Mary, and the presentation and redemption of her firstborn, and the sacrifices and ceremonies belonging thereunto:
according to the law of the Lord; which that directed to, and enjoined:
they returned into Galilee: not that they came from thence to Jerusalem, but from Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth, and her time for purification was now just expired: nor did they go now directly to Galilee; or, if they did, they soon came back again to Bethlehem, since here the wise men found them two years after; when by a divine warning, they went into Egypt, where they remained till Herod’s death, and after came into the land of Israel, into the parts of Galilee, and dwelt at Nazareth; for which reason it is here called their own city;
to their own city Nazareth: Bethlehem was their native city, the place of their birth, at least of their family; and Nazareth was the city of their habitation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To their own city Nazareth ( ). See on Mt 2:23 about Nazareth. Luke tells nothing of the flight to Egypt and the reason for the return to Nazareth instead of Bethlehem, the place of the birth of Jesus as told in Mt 2:13-23. But then neither Gospel gives all the details of this period. Luke has also nothing about the visit of the wise men (Mt 2:1-12) as Matthew tells nothing of the shepherds and of Simeon and Anna (Lu 2:8-28). The two Gospels supplement each other.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Nazareth. See on Mt 2:23.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
RETURN OF JESUS TO NAZARETH-SILENT YEARS V. 39, 40
1) “And when they had performed all things,” (kai hos etelesan panta) “And when they completed all things,” in connection with the circumcision of Jesus, Luk 2:21-24. There is an omission by Luke of the interlude and events of the Magi story, the flight into Egypt, the murder of male children by Herod, and the return of Joseph and Mary with Jesus from Egypt to Nazareth, Mat 2:1-23.
2) “According to the law of the Lord,” (ta kata ton nomon kuriou) “According to (requirements of) the law of the Lord,” with regards to -purification and the offering of the burnt offering and sin-offering, Exo 13:12-16; Num 8:17; Lev 12:8.
3) “They returned into Galilee,” (epestrepsan eis ten Galilaian) “They returned (or turned back) into Galilee,” after 1) The visit of the Magi, 2) The flight into Egypt, and 3) The massacre of the innocent children, which events were recounted by Matthew only, Mat 2:1-18.
4) “To their own city Nazareth,” (eis polin heauton Nazareth) “Into their own city Nazareth,” that a certain prophecy might be fulfilled, that He should be called a Nazarene, Mat 2:19-23. This also indicates that Nazareth, not Bethlehem was the true home of Joseph and Mary, Mat 2:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
39. They returned to Galilee The departure to Egypt, I readily acknowledge, came between those events; and the fact mentioned by Luke, that they dwelt in their own city Nazareth, is later, in point of time, than the flight into Egypt, which Matthew relates, (Mat 2:14.) But if there was no impropriety in one Evangelist leaving out what is related by another, there was nothing to prevent Luke from overleaping the period which he did not intend to mention, and passing at once to the following history. I am very far from agreeing with those who imagine that Joseph and Mary, after having finished the sacrifice of purification, returned to Bethlehem, to live there. Those persons are foolish enough to believe, that Joseph had a settled abode in a place where he was so little known, that he was unable to find a temporary lodging. Nor is it without a good reason that Luke says, with respect both to Joseph and Mary, that Nazareth was their own city We infer from it, that he never was an inhabitant of Bethlehem, though it was the place of his extraction. (207) As to the order of time, I shall presently give a more full explanation.
(207) “ Combien que ce fust le pays de ses ancestres;” — “though it was the country of his ancestors.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Butlers Comments
SECTION 3
Puzzles (Luk. 2:39-52)
39 And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44but supposing him to be in the company they went a days journey, and they sought him among their kinfolk and acquaintances; 45and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously. 49And he said to them, How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Fathers house? 50And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luk. 2:39-40 Progress: Luke omits the trip to Egypt, since Matthew had duly recorded it, and follows the progress of the Divine Infant from His presentation in the Temple directly to His boyhood home in Nazareth. It was more important to Lukes purpose to record certain information about the Babys boyhood. He uses some interesting Greek grammar to describe the first twelve years of Jesus boyhood. The verbs grew and became strong are both in the imperfect tense which indicates continued development, or, action in progress. As a youngster Jesus grew gradually but continuously in physique and strength. The present passive participle pleroumenon (filled) may be translated literally, And the child . . . was being filled with wisdom. In other words, His learning was concurrent with His physical development. Hobbs aptly says, We should not be shocked by these statements about Jesus. They do not in any sense detract from His deity. Rather they emphasize His complete humanity. Apart from sin, He completely identified Himself with man. He grew, gained strength, and learned as did any other child. It is just as great an error to deny Jesus humanity as to deny his deity.
Nazareth of Galilee was about 15 miles west and slightly south of the Sea of Galilee. Sepphoris, capital of Herod Antipas and the strongest military center in Galilee, was only five miles to the northwest. Many traders, soldiers, and emissaries of the Roman government were to be found in the stream of travelers going back and forth on this road. It was about fifteen miles to Tiberias, the city named in honor of the Roman emperor the Riviera of Palestine, and about as heathen as its namesake. Nazareth was nestled on the side of a Galilean hill in an area known for its fertility and beauty. It is estimated that some three million people lived in the surrounding cities and villages. The more learned and orthodox Jews of Jerusalem were contemptuous of Galileans considering them to be am-ha-eretz (Hebrew for people of the land) or ignorant hillbillies because of their colloquialisms, lack of formal education, cultural crudities, and questionable genealogical background. Most of the Galileans were, in fact, a genetic mixture of Jew and Gentile (a result of the importation of Gentiles into Galilee at the captivity of the Ten Northern Tribes by Assyria, see 2Ki. 17:24). They were a vigorous, homey, hard-working, liberty-loving people, however, and Jesus grew up in their midst. Jesus hometown was located at the crossroads of commerce and politics. At the foot of Mt. Tabor (across the valley and only about 5 miles east of Nazareth) passed the Roman road, the Way of the Sea, connecting Damascus (capital of Syria) with Palestines sea-ports. Another road near Nazareth ran southward to Egypt. Circling round the eastern base of Mt. Tabor was the caravan route to Jerusalem. Perhaps Jesus spent some of His boyhood hours watching the travelers on these roads, maybe even talking to them. From such observations and daily experiences He later drew illustrations for His divine message. Jesus did not isolate Himself from life as it was lived by man when He was an adult and we may assume He did not do so in His youth.
Luk. 2:41-50 Precociousness: The word precocious is from Latin, prae and coquere which means to ripen beforehand or exceptionally early in development. Jesus astounded the adult scholars in the temple and His mother and step-father later with His precocity.
In Luk. 2:40 Luke calls Jesus paidion, little child; in Luk. 2:43 he calls Him pais, boy or lad. Jesus is now twelve years of age. At that age all Jewish male children became barmitzvahs (bar means son and mitzvah means commandment). They were declared men and required to know the law and keep it, learn a trade, and attend the greatest of the Jewish festivals (Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles). This was probably Jesus first visit to Jerusalem since being taken there as a baby for presentation.
What an exciting experience for a lad of twelve. The journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem would take about three or four days. They would come in large groups or caravans of Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman empire headed toward the holy city. Jerusalem would be jammed with almost two million people, laughing, talking, buying, selling; sleeping on the flat roof-tops of the houses, in the alleys, in the animal shelters or anywhere safe lodging might be found. There would be the sights and smells of the temple court where thousands of animals poured out rivers of blood at sacrifice and the smell of burning flesh as the columns of black smoke floated to the sky. Family reunions with heated conversations of politics, economics and religion would permeate the city. We can imagine the wonder of it all to Jesus as He gathered with His family and listened as Joseph told the story of the Passover observance and the history of Israel. He would experience for the first time the roasted lamb and the bitter herbs (see comments on Luk. 22:1 ff for more details on the Passover feast). As impressive as all this might have been to Him, Jesus was deeply interested in another aspect of the goings on in Jerusalemthe didaskalon (teachers).
After seven days the feast ended and Mary and Joseph began the journey back to Nazareth. At the end of the first days journey, when they stopped for the night, they realized Jesus was not with the caravan. How could they have missed Him all day? In such caravans the men and women usually traveled separately. A boy who has become barmitzvah should be capable of caring for himself during a days travel. Mary probably presumed He was with Joseph and Joseph thought He was with Mary. But Jesus, fascinated by the aged scribes and teachers of the Law, and so immersed in listening and questioning about Gods Word, chose to be about His Fathers business rather than leave Jerusalem at that particular time. It is doubtful that Jesus forgot or made a mistake about the time of departure, for when chided by His mother, He indicated His actions were deliberately chosen and exercised. One day traveling from Jerusalem; one day traveling back; and one day looking throughout the city for Him; after three days absence they found Him in the temple courts (kathezomenon) sitting down at the feet of the teachers. The twelve-year-old Jesus was hearing, questioning and answering the teachers. The word eperotonta is an intensified form of a Greek word (questioning) suggesting that the one asking is on a footing of equality with the person whom he is questioning. It is the word used of a king in making request from another king, (Luk. 14:32). Jesus always uses this word in making request to His Father. The usual reaction of learned men toward a precocious lad would be at best amusement, if not scorn. Here they cannot conceal their amazement. Luke uses the Greek word sunesei to describe His understanding answers to the questions of the teachers. The word means to join the skills of perception to that which is perceived. At twelve Jesus had a grasp and comprehension beyond anything these teachers had ever seen. Mary and Joseph were also astonished when they found Him amazing the scholars.
Mary uses tenderness to rebuke Jesus. Teknon is a Greek word for child but it is different from the word huios (son) in that teknon emphasizes the special mother-child relationship of birth. Mothers always think of their children as their babies. Yet, there was probably a chiding note in Marys voice too. Literally translated, Mary said, Child, why did you to us thus? She also reminded Him of the sorrow (odunomenio pain) He had caused them when they thought they had lost Him.
Jesus reply shows surprise that His parents did not understand His uniqueness. He implies they knew or should have known He had a special mission; that His life was not going to be that of an ordinary person of His age. He was surprised they were surprised that He would be more interested in discussing Gods Law than in returning to Nazareth. They already had many signs about Him. Jesus expected the Jews to recognize in Him a uniqueness not to be found in other people and was disturbed when they did not (cf. for example, Luk. 24:25 ff).
The first recorded words from the lips of Jesus are these: Why is it that you sought me? Do you not know that in the things (affairs) of my Father it is necessary for me to be? The word house is not in the Greek text. For a twelve-year-old boy to say, I must be involved in the affairs of My Father is unique among all twelve-year-old boys. And, further, Jesus used here, as He always did, the definite article when speaking of God as His Father. He never used the definite article when speaking of God as the Father of anyone else. The Sonship of Jesus is uniquely different than that of any one else. John calls Jesus the monogenes (Joh. 1:14; Joh. 1:18; Joh. 3:16). Monogenes is translated only begotten but means more precisely, only unique Son of God. We may become sons by being born again; He is Son from eternity.
Did Jesus disobey His parents when He stayed behind to question the teachers? Hobbs makes it plain that He did not: In the first place, there is no evidence that either Mary or Joseph had told Him not to remain behind in Jerusalem. . . . In the second place, the record does not show that they had told Him to come with them. . . . In the third place, as a Son of the law Jesus was responsible within Himself for His religious obligations. . . . If there was any error here, it was that of Mary and Joseph, not that of Jesus. The Bible makes it plain that children are to obey their parents in the Lord. In other words, submission to parental authority can never mean a child must disobey the Lord. The will of God, when plainly revealed, is sovereign in every human life. There is no higher authority than that, and every human being capable of making moral choices rejects it at the peril of eternal damnation.
Luk. 2:51 Pliancy: Jesus returned to His village home with Mary and Joseph in Nazareth of Galilee. There He lived in obedience to them until He began His ministry at about the age of 30. The Greek word translated obedience is hupotassomenos and is usually translated subjection (Eph. 5:21; Col. 3:18). Hupotasso was primarily a military term meaning, to rank under; to subordinate. It is a term which stresses the chain of command relationship. G. Campbell Morgan says, . . . the perfect response of the Boy to the will of God meant for Him natural correspondence to ordinary conditions. Although Jesus was uniquely the Son of God, He was also son of Mary. It was Gods will that The Son should experience the full gamut of human subordination (cf. Heb. 2:14-18; Heb. 4:14-16; Heb. 5:7-9; Php. 2:5-11). In obedience to the will of God, He subordinated His life to the authority of the home. As we pointed out before, His obedience to the home was qualified by His obedience to Gods authority whenever it was clearly revealed that it was proper to do so. This is evident also from two other parental confrontations (cf. Joh. 2:4; Mat. 12:46-50; Mar. 3:31-35; Luk. 8:19-21).
Luk. 2:52 Perfection: The word increased is the Greek word proekopten and means literally, a striking or cutting forward, like a pioneer cutting his way through brush. Thayer says the word means to lengthen out by hammering as a smith forges metals. The word means to go forward chopping ones way by struggle or strenuous activity. It certainly does not infer a passive development. Jesus young manhood was a daily hammering out of His human life in the crucible of Gods will, Each day He chopped through the jungle of human experience, the divine Way, Truth and Life so that all who follow might find God. Jesus hacked out of the wilderness of human sinfulness a life of perfect sinlessness and walked completely in the will of God. He did so in boyhood, young manhood and adulthood. He did so mentally, physically and spiritually. He mastered all of life as He pioneered the Way in human flesh. The Greek preposition para (translated with) means, along side. Jesus did not start as a youngster with less favor and, growing up, become more and more a favorite with God and man. The preposition para indicates that as He cut his way forward each day He was constantly along side dwelling in the favor (grace) of God and man. The development of Jesus from Boyhood to Manhood was constantly along side or within the will of God and in proper relationship to man. This is manhood as God intends it for all men! Jesus demonstrated it is possible to live life in the flesh as God intended it. He suffered and experienced obedience to the will of God to bring us to the same glorious ideal manhood (cf. Heb. 2:10-18; Heb. 5:7-10). He is the pioneer and author of our salvation. Incidentally, the phrase and being made perfect, in Heb. 5:9 does not mean Jesus was less than perfect in the area of obedience to God. He was sinless in His relationship to God and man always. The word teleiotheis (perfect) means in His case, that at His crucifixion and resurrection He brought to completion the will of God as far as His temporary human experience was concerned. In His human experience Jesus progressed or advanced in a forward manner toward a God-appointed goal. He was born as a baby, developed as a child, cut forward along side the grace of God as a young man, and completed the goal for which God sent Him at the cross and the empty tomb. Thus He perfected His incarnation.
STUDY STIMULATORS:
1.
Do you think God had any specific purpose in Jesus living His young manhood (about 30 years) in the village of Nazareth in Galilee?
2.
What is a barmitzvah?
3.
Should we expect children of 12 or 13 years of age today to be held accountable for obeying the commands of the N.T. about becoming a Christian and living the Christian life?
4.
Did Jesus get lost in Jerusalem from childish inattention, or did He plan to stay and question the teachers in the temple?
5.
Did He disobey His parents in staying in Jerusalem?
6.
Did Jesus always do everything His parents thought He should do?
7.
Was Jesus a little less than He should have been in relation to God and men as He grew up?
8.
How did Jesus increase and become perfected?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(39) They returned into Galilee.Filling up the narrative from St. Matthew, we have to insert after the Presentation, the visit of the Magi, the massacre of the Infants, and the flight into Egypt. It seems probable that St. Luke was not acquainted with St. Matthews narrative, nor St. Matthew with St. Lukes. Each wrote from what he heard, or found in previous existing narratives, more or less incomplete, and hence cannot readily be brought into harmony with the other. Here the parents return to Nazareth as their own city. In St. Matthew the return appears to be determined by their fears of Archelaus. It is possible that, though previously domiciled at Nazareth, they may have thought of settling at Bethlehem, and were deterred from doing so by the cruelty of Herod and his son.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13 JESUS RETURN TO NAZARETH, Luk 2:39-40 . Mat 2:1-23 .
39. Performed all things returned Nazareth Between the finishing of the rites and the return to Nazareth most interpreters insert the entire narratives of the Magi, Herod, flight into Egypt, and return.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.’
Once they had fulfilled the requirements of the Law they eventually returned to their own town, to Nazareth in Galilee. The emphasis is on the fact that they had remained in Bethlehem so that they could ‘accomplish all things according to the Law’, before eventually finally returning to Nazareth, (from which they had set out prior to the birth), rather than on the date when they actually arrived in Nazareth. For Luke’s concern is to bring out that they pleased God in every way.
But either he deliberately ignores the visit of the Magi, and the stay in Egypt (Mat 2:1-12), or more probably it took place on a later visit to Bethlehem in the following year when, for example, they went up again from Nazareth for the Passover. Bethlehem was only five miles from Jerusalem so that a visit there was quite likely on such occasions, probably prior to going to the feast. And as it would seem that, whenever they could (it would not be possible in Egypt), they went to Jerusalem regularly for at least one of the regular feasts, as any good Jew would, a further visit to Bethlehem to see their relatives is not at all unlikely.
Thus whether they went immediately to Nazareth, or whether in fact their going was after a few years, (he is only interested in the fact that they finally landed up there ready for the next passage), depends on when the visit of the Magi took place (Mat 2:1-12). This could not have taken place before the forty days of purification were completed for immediately after the Magi’s visit they fled to Egypt (thus their visit could not have been on the ‘twelfth night’), and the result then would have been that Joseph and Mary would have been nowhere near Jerusalem at the end of the forty days. They would have been in Egypt. So either there was a period after the forty days in which they continued to stay in Bethlehem, and during which the magi visited them, followed by a period in Egypt, before they returned to Nazareth, or they returned to Nazareth, and then came back to Bethlehem from Nazareth on another occasion, during which visit the Magi arrived and they fled to Egypt. This latter is quite possible. Bethlehem would contain many of their relatives and visits to Jerusalem for the feasts would be a regular occurrence. What more natural than to take the opportunity to visit relatives as the children grew up?
It is fully understandable why Luke does not wish to introduce the Magi and the visit to Egypt in his portrayal. He has been at pains to stress that Jesus was welcomed by the meek and lowly, and lived in and returned to an ordinary home. The Magi and the stay in Egypt would merely have distracted from his purpose. It was different for Matthew who emphasises the Kingship of Jesus, and the identification of Jesus with Israel in the filling full of prophecy.
The question must also be asked as to why, if they lived in Nazareth, they remained in Bethlehem for forty days? Had Joseph been an impecunious carpenter struggling to make a living in Nazareth he could hardly have done so under ordinary circumstances, even granted that they received hospitality. Thus their remaining for forty days in Bethlehem (rather than their returning immediately to Nazareth) may have been due to the requirements of the enrolment, or due to a religious zeal that made them wish to present Jesus specifically in the Temple, or due to the pressure of extended hospitality, or due to Joseph having business interests in Bethlehem, or due to the fact that Joseph actually lived in Bethlehem, or any combination of these. After which they may have returned to Nazareth, being back next year for the visit of the magi (Mat 2:1-12).
Alternately Luke may here be summarising and saying that eventually at some time in the future they returned to Nazareth, which became their own town, the town that in future everyone would recognise them as ‘coming from’, meanwhile ignoring certain other events which took place in which he had no interest for his book. Luke regularly omits, without comment, what he does not feel essential to his message. Remember how he will later omit reference to resurrection appearances in Galilee, because he wants attention to be focused on Jerusalem, and omits mention of any dissension between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Here he wants attention focused on their presence in the promised land. He wants us to know that Jesus springs from Israel, not Egypt.
A Summary.
As we approach the end of this series of manifestations with regard to His coming we should recognise just exactly what they signify.
Firstly they reveal to any reader that Jesus has two parents who are both totally faithful to the Law of Moses.
Secondly they reveal that He has been vouched for by a priest of the Temple, a devout man of the Temple and a prophetess of the Temple. Thus there has been a threefold witness from the Temple.
Thirdly He has been vouched for by three angelic visitations, one to Zacharias, one to Mary and one to the shepherds, and thus by Heaven itself. There has been a threefold witness from angels.
Fourthly He has been vouched for by prophecy (if we include the host of angels as prophets) in a threefold way, both before His birth (Zacharias, Elisabeth, Mary) and after His birth (the angels, Simeon and Anna).
Fifthly the Holy Spirit is said to have given a threefold witness through Zacharias, Elisabeth and Simeon.
So a solid basis for His acceptance is given which is difficult to refute, and it is seen to be solidly Jewish, coming from faithful Jewish parents, from the Temple, from angels, from Jewish prophets and prophetesses, and from the Holy Spirit Himself. Salvation is coming, and it is from God and of the Jews.
Note also the contents of the prophecies:
Zacharias tells us that He is sending John as the preparer of the way to turn men to God (Luk 1:14-17 compare Luk 3:4).
Gabriel tells us that the One Who is coming after is the Son of the Most High, the greater David, the everlasting King, the Son of God (Luk 1:32-33), the One born through the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit (Luk 1:35).
Elisabeth declares in the Spirit that He is ‘My LORD’ (Luk 1:43).
Mary declares that He will come as the One who puts down the mighty and exalts the humble, and as fulfiller of the covenant with Abraham (Luk 1:46-55).
Simeon tells us that He comes as the One to Whom John will testify, and as the Horn (Mighty Weapon) of Salvation, to save His people from all enemies and to give knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of sins, and as the One Who will bring light out of darkness (Luk 1:67-79).
The unidentified angel tells us that He is the Messiah of the house of David, the LORD (Luk 2:10-12).
Simeon crowns it all by telling us that He will be a light to the Gentiles and a glory to Israel, preparing for the theme in Acts of going first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
So is the way prepared for what is to come in Luke and Acts.
One more constant we should draw attention to, and that is the emphasis on ‘salvation’. Mary speaks of ‘God my Saviour’ Who has saved her (Luk 1:47); Zacharias speaks of ‘a horn of salvation raised for us’ (Luk 1:69) and of ‘giving knowledge of salvation to His people’ (Luk 1:77); the initial angel speaks of ‘a Saviour Who is Christ the Lord’ (Luk 2:11); the host of angels speaks of ‘peace on those on whom His favour rests’ and thus of their salvation (Luk 2:14 NEB); and Simeon says ‘my eyes have seen your Salvation’ (Luk 2:30). The message of what is coming is therefore very much one of salvation and deliverance.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 2:39 . ] therefore not in the first instance again to Bethlehem. Of the Magi, of the slaughter of the children, of the flight to Egypt, Luke has nothing. They belong to quite another cycle of legend, which he has not followed. Reconciliation is impossible; a preference for Luke, however, at the expense of Matthew (Schleiermacher, Schneckenburger, Sieffert, and others), is at least in so far well founded, as Bethlehem was not, as Matthew reports (see on Mat 2:23 , Rem.), the original dwelling-place of the parents of Jesus, but became the birth-place of the latter on occasion of the . If Bethlehem had been the original dwelling-place, it was natural, considering the Davidico-Messianic tendency of the legend, that no change should be made under these circumstances. But, in opposition to the bold assumption of the more recent exponents of the mythical theory, [57] that Jesus was born in Nazareth, so that both the earlier residence of the parents at Bethlehem (Matthew) and their journey thither (Luke) are held to be the work of tradition on the basis of Mic 5:1 (but only Matthew bases his statement upon this prophecy!), see on Matt. l.c. Even de Wette finds this probable, especially on account of Joh 7:42 , comp. Luk 1:46 ff., where John adds no correction of the popular view. But to infer from this that John knew nothing of the birth in Bethlehem is unwarranted, since the tradition of Matthew and Luke, agreeing in this very particular, certainly suggests the presumption that the birth at Bethlehem was generally known among the Christians and was believed, so that there was not at all any need for a correcting remark on the part of John.
[57] See also Weisse, Evangelienfr. p. 181 f., who holds that the reference to the Lord’s place of birth by the name of Bethlehem is to be understood . Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 56 f., leaves the birth-place altogether doubtful; holding that the question is wholly indifferent for our faith, which remark, however, is inappropriate on account of the prophetic promise.
REMARK.
As the presentation of Jesus in the temple bears of itself in its legal aspect the stamp of history, so what occurred with Simeon and Anna cannot in its general outlines be reasonably relegated to the domain of myth (see, in opposition to Strauss and B. Bauer, Ebrard, p. 225 ff.), although it remains doubtful whether the prophetic glance of the seers (to whose help Paulus comes by suggesting, in spite of the remark at Luk 2:33 , communications on the part of Mary; and Hofmann, p. 276, by the hypothesis of acquaintance with the history of the birth) expressed itself so definitely as the account about Simeon purports. The hypothesis that Luke received his information from Anna’s mouth (Schleiermacher, Neander) hangs on Luk 2:36 f., where Anna is so accurately described, and consequently on so weak a thread, that it breaks down at once when we take into account the lesser degree of vividness and fulness of detail in the narrative of what Anna did.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(39) And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. (40) And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
I detain the Reader at those verses, in order to call, his attention to what is said of Christ concerning his growth in nature, and waxing strong in spirit. It forms a subject of interesting enquiry. I pray the Lord the Holy Ghost to guide the mind, both of Writer and Reader, into a proper apprehension of the mysterious subject.
Now let it be first considered, that Christ in his human nature was to stand in the precise state and place of that nature he came to redeem. It behoved him to be made like unto his brethren in all things. He came to redeem his people from the curse, being made a curse for them. Hence he is said to have been made in the likeness of sinful flesh. In the likeness of it only: not himself sinful, for he knew no sin; but was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Standing thus; though holy, in our nature, and the representative of all his people, the moment he entered our world, the consequences of the curse attached itself to him, and seized upon him. Hence, he took all the sinless infirmities of our nature; was born a child; became subject to misery and sorrow; to labor and travail; and as Adam’s doom for sin was pronounced upon him, and all his children, Christ in putting away sin b y the sacrifice of himself, subjected himself to eat bread, in the sweat of his brow, until he was brought into the dust of death. Psa 22:15 .
Hence, therefore, this explains at once, wherefore it became necessary for Christ to stand in the very state and place of the nature he came to redeem. It was as the representative and surety of his Church and People. The mere taking of our nature into union with the Godhead, without this, would not have answered the purpose. It would have been indeed a wonderful act of condescension in the Son of God so to have done: but then, had he came forth as the first earthly Adam came forth, in the perfection of his manhood at once, this would not have suited our case and circumstances; neither would it have answered for us in removing the curse. No! The Son of God, if he will be our surety, must put himself in our circumstances; must be born an infant; must gradually advance to manhood; must wax strong in spirit, and be filled with wisdom, and have the grace of God upon him. And these things blessedly prove to us, that it was a real and true body, the Son of God took into union with himself, in all points like ours, yet without sin: so that both in body and in soul he was manifested to be the same as we are.
From these premises let us go on further, and we shall discover, that agreeably to this assumption of our nature, for the purposes of redemption, Jesus became subject to all the sorrows of it, and to all the labors of it. His reputed father was a poor man, who worked for his daily bread. Jesus therefore did the same. Hence we hear him upbraided, Is not this the Carpenter’s Son? Is not this the Carpenter? Mat 13:55 ; Mar 6:3 . And so truly low in circumstances, that he could not, as the children of better condition among the Jews did, learn to read the Prophets, for the Holy Ghost from the mouth of his enemies hath given us this testimony, that he never learnt from human teaching. The Jews marvelled, saying, how knoweth this man letters having never learned? Joh 7:15 . And no doubt, though it is not recorded in so many words, but from the earliest period of his life, as soon as ability enabled him to work for his bread, to the time he entered on his ministry at the age of thirty years, his lot was cast among that class of labor which belongs to the greatest part of mankind. Reader! so far is this from lessening the dignity of our Lord’s character, that without it he would not have filled in the whole of the office of our great Mediator. The curse pronounced on the fall, comprized in it three grand points. First, a nature of frailty and infirmity. Secondly, a toilsome life, midst thorns and briers. And, thirdly, death. When the Son of God undertook to be his Church’s surety, and to redeem his Church, he engaged for all these, and all these he fulfilled. Oh! how precious to my soul is the consideration. He who knew no sin was made sin for me, that I (who know no righteousness in myself,) may be made the righteousness of God in him. 2Co 5:21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
IX
BEGINNINGS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE (CONCLUDED)
Harmony pages 10-11 and Mat 2:13-23
CLOSING PARAGRAPH OF MATTHEW’S BEGINNINGS Mat 2:13-23 In two respects the flight into Egypt is connected with the visit of the Wise Men: First a dream was sent to them not to return to Herod at Jerusalem, and another dream to Joseph to escape with the child into Egypt. Second, the Wise Men’s gift of gold provided the means of paying the expense of the Egyptian trip. Before leaving the subject of the Wise Men, you will recall my warning against the unhistorical accretions to the simple story of them by Matthew. Now, as some compensation for the caution against unworthy legends, I commend with pleasure and without reserve a little book by Henry van Dyke, entitled: The Fourth Wise Man. It makes no pretension to be either history or tradition but, like a parable, has the verisimilitude of history, and is one of the most exquisite portrayals of great abstract principle and truth known to literature. If any of you are puzzled to select an appropriate gift for Christmas, New Year, a birthday or wedding, you cannot do better than to select van Dyke’s little book, which contains The Fourth Wise Man, and other equally exquisite stories.
Dr. Maclaren, in his extended exposition of Matthew, calls attention, with modified approval, to the contention of Delitzsch that Matthew’s Gospel follows the plan of the Pentateuch, with a Genesis ending in a dreaming Joseph entering into Egypt to provide a nurturing home for Israel, Jehovah’s ideal son. Then an exodus from Egypt, here fulfilled again: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son,” followed by the Sermon of the Mount, which answers to the giving of the Law at Sinai; then the forty days of hunger and temptation of our Lord, answering to the forty years of -the wilderness wanderings in Numbers, etc. That there are points of striking correspondence between Matthew and the Pentateuch would naturally follow from the fact that our Lord is the ideal Son and Servant of Jehovah, of whom the national Israel was a type, and hence the history of ancient Israel is itself prophetic.
The whole paragraph, Mat 2:13-23 , naturally divides itself into three parts:
(1) The flight into Egypt, and the prophecy.
(2) The massacre of the Bethlehem babes, and the prophecy.
(3) The return to Nazareth, and the prophecy. We consider them in order:
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT, AND THE PROPHECY
This is the historic background of the symbolism in Revelation referring to a later persecution of the church and her converts. See the author’s exposition of Rev 12:1-6 . That passage must be interpreted as a symbol concerning future events, but it does prove that Satan, who here prompts the malice of Herod to drive Mary and her Son into Egypt, does there prompt a heathen emperor of Rome to drive the church into the wilderness and make war on her seed. The mistake to avoid is not, like Alford, to interpret the symbol so as to make it mean its historic background.
One acquainted with the Old Testament history may easily observe that for ages whoever fled from persecution in Palestine quite naturally went into Egypt. It was the best of all places for Joseph to take the family while the bloody-minded Herod lived.
It will be observed that from this time on it is the child, not Mary or Joseph, who occupies the chief place “take the young child and his mother.” They remain in Egypt until in another dream Jehovah notified Joseph “that those who sought the young child’s life were dead,” and directing him to return to the land of Israel, as Matthew says, “that the prophecy might be fulfilled, out of Egypt have I called my Son.” This expression is a plain historical statement in the book of Hosea, and yet Matthew is justified in calling it a prophecy merely because the whole history of ancient Israel was prophetic. As has already been said, national Israel was Jehovah’s typical son; Jesus was the ideal Israel, or the true Son of Jehovah. We observe that the latter part of Isaiah concerning “the servant of Jehovah,” finds its application in the antitype, Jesus, and not in the type, Israel.
THE MASSACRE OF THE BABES IN BETHLEHEM, AND THE PROPHECY
On this incident in the history of Matthew, we submit the following observations. Some critics have affected to discredit the historical character of Matthew’s incident because it is not mentioned in Josephus. The reply to the criticism is
The gospel historians, writing directly upon a more limited topic than Josephus, do not need any confirmation from him.
The greater part of the New Testament would have to be rejected if it must be proved from Josephus.
Bethlehem was merely a village, and the number of male children two years old and under would not exceed twenty. The killing of twenty babies by Herod was a small item in his bloody record, quite infinitesimal in comparison with many other of his deeds of cruelty.
Josephus was not merely a Jew, but a sycophantic admirer of the Romans. He would necessarily avoid many references to our Lord. One, however, rejected by some critics as spurious, is very striking. There is also an undisputed reference to John the Baptist, and another one to James, the brother of our Lord. These several passages from Josephus will be considered later, and at greater length.
First, the murder of these babies is in full accord, not merely with the general character of Herod, but particularly with his dying condition, jealous to madness of any one who would likely dispute the continuance of his dynasty, as he had arranged it in his will.
Second, in every age of the world, the bloody death of these babies has attracted the attention of the poet and of the artist, and has excited sympathy for these first martyrs, more perhaps than of any other of the long line of those who died bloody deaths on account of our Lord. They are even called “Little flowers of martyrdom, roses by the whirlwind shorn.” The great Augustine said, “Oh, happy little ones! just born, not yet tempted, not yet struggling, already crowned.” We see in their death an anticipation of Christ’s later words: “I come not to bring peace, but a sword.”
The powers of darkness would naturally seek to cut off his life at the beginning in order to frustrate the great purpose of his mission, and as we have already seen that the dragon, even Satan himself, was prompting Herod to take away the life of the long-promised Messiah. This much good at least resulted from the death of these children: Jerusalem, Herod, and even Satan himself, supposed that their object had been accomplished, and that the one “born King of the Jews” had perished in this massacre. Hence there is no other assault made upon him by the powers of darkness until at his baptism he is not only seen to be alive, but is declared by the Father to be his beloved Son, and at that point Satan renews the attack, but in a different form.
Third, the prophecy concerning this event is a quotation from Jer 31:15-17 : “Thus saith Jehovah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentations, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith Jehovah; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and thy children shall come again to their own border.” This declaration from Jehovah, by a vivid personification, represents Rachel, the mother of three tribes, rising from her tomb to bewail their captivity as they are dragged away by the Assyrian tyrant. It is not meant to teach that the departed have a personal interest in those that are left behind them, and bewail their faults and calamities. It is the purpose of Matthew to show that if Rachel could be so personified in the first great disaster to her children it would be fulfilled again in this instance, and the comforting words are much more appropriate: “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for they shall come again from the land of the enemy.”
Just how long Joseph, with Mary and the child, remained in Egypt, we do not know. But the angel who guided him comes again with these words: “Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead that sought the young child’s life.” We cannot help recalling a similar word to Moses, when he was recalled from Midian to Egypt “All the men are dead who sought thy life.” We cannot help being impressed with the guiding providence of God in protecting and caring for the child, and in the prompt and implicit obedience of Joseph to every admonition from the Lord.
This declaration, “They are dead that sought the young child’s life,” seems to be prophetic of all the future. Herod died in the horrors of madness, a rotting carcass. Jesus lived. In Act 12 his grandson Herod put to death James, the brother of John the apostle. But the chapter closes with this statement: “An angel of the Lord smote him, and he was eaten of worms and gave up his spirit, but the word of God grew and multiplied.” The apostate Roman emperor, Julian, who tried so hard to destroy the Christian religion and to falsify the prophecies concerning it, when he came to die is reported as saying, “Thou Galilean hast conquered.” Somewhat similar reports are made concerning the death of Tom Paine.
In any event, throughout all the ages of the Christian era the enemies of our Lord and of his kingdom have died and rotted, but the kingdom moved on conquering and to conquer.
And so it shall be until the words of the book of Revelation shall be fulfilled: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is to this thought that Psa 2 speaks when it says: Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, Against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Those words are quoted by the apostles when they were forbidden to continue to preach in the name of Jesus.
THE RETURN TO NAZARETH AND THE PROPHECY THEREON It appears from the record that Joseph intended to return to Bethlehem, but was troubled to learn that Archelaus reigned instead of Herod over ldumea, Judea and Samaria, as ethnarch, according to the Roman confirmation of Herod’s will. He was as mean and as cruel as Herod, though much inferior in capacity. When he went to Rome to have himself confirmed as king, five hundred prominent Jews followed him to protest against his kingly rule. The Romans allowed him to remain as ethnarch for about nine years, and then removed him permanently and banished him for just cause. In the meantime the angel comes again to relieve the perplexity of Joseph, and directs him to his old home in Nazareth. And here Matthew again finds a fulfilment of prophecies “That it might be fulfilled that he should be called a Nazarene.” There is no one prophecy in the Old Testament which contains those words, but there are many prophecies that speak of him as being under reproach, and the title “Nazarene” was always held by the outside world as a reproach to his claim to the messiah-ship. It was even inscribed on the headboard of his cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Nathanael said later, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” And without destroying at all the sense of reproach in the name, the special prophecy to which Matthew refers might be Isa 11:1 : “And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.” Here only a stump seems to be left of the ancient stock of Jesse and David, and the branch or shoot from the root is called nether. It is quite probable that the word “Nazarene” is derived from the same word, and as a proof of the reproach involved in the name, we have these words in Isa 53:1 : “Who hath believed our message and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of the dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and is one from whom men hide their faces; he was despised and we esteemed him not.”
So, whether we regard the term “Nazarene” as merely one of reproach, or whether we derive it etymologically from netzer, the thought is the same, and Matthew rightly construes the prophecy which so speaks of the Messiah.
Jesus lived at Nazareth and visited Jerusalem when twelve years of age (Luk 2:40-52 ). On this paragraph of Luke we observe:
The development of the childhood of Jesus: “And the child grew and waxed strong, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.” This is a clear proof of the humanity of our Lord. It shows the development of body, mind, and spirit.
The Law of Moses required all males to go up three times a year to Jerusalem to the great feasts. They did not scrupulously fulfil this law in their history, but even the Jews of the dispersion were accustomed at least to go up to the Passover Feast, and it is concerning attendance on this feast, which lasts a week, that our lesson speaks.
Jesus Twelve Years Old. Under the Jewish law the -child remained under the teaching of its mother till he was five years old, and then the responsibility passed to his father until he was twelve years old; and at twelve years of age he become what is called “a son of the law.” From this time forward the responsibility of his life rests upon himself more than upon his father or his mother.
It was every way appropriate, therefore, that when Jesus reached this critical period of his life that he should attend the Passover Feast, there to receive instruction not from father or mother, nor from the synagogue teacher, but from the great doctors of the law who held their school in the Temple itself. There were a number of illustrious Jewish doctors at this time in Jerusalem, including the great Hillel, and Gamaliel, the teacher of Paul. While there is no evidence that Jesus and Paul ever met face to face, yet they were about the same age, and Paul went from Tarsus, where he was born, to receive this rabbinical education in the famous Jerusalem schools. He says, “I was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel.” It was also about this time that the celebrated Philo, the Alexandrian Jew, was a pupil in this school of rabbis, though there is no evidence that he himself ever met Jesus face to face, Jesus being there only a short time.
That you may understand the story, there were at such a time as this, from every town and village in the land, pilgrims, grouped together, who would be marching up toward Jerusalem, singing the prescribed songs of the psalter. You will find them in the book of Psalms named, “The Songs of the Going Up.” It is easy to see, therefore, that when the parents started home, they would not notice the temporary absence of Jesus, supposing him to be in the great company. But when, at the end of a day’s journey, they missed him, and could hear nothing of him from any of the returning pilgrims, they themselves went back to Jerusalem to find him.
The record says, “And it came to pass, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions, and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” We have just noted in the first verse of this paragraph that Jesus not only grew in wisdom, but that the grace of God was upon him. Which not only means wisdom as applied to the development of the mind of ordinary persons, but a spiritual increase of wisdom through the grace of God resting on him. In a previous chapter we have noted that Christ could read and speak at least three languages, and that he, in his whole life up to this point, whether his mother, or Joseph, or the synagogue was his teacher, was learning the word of God and its meaning. The illumination given him by the Spirit would enable him to understand more than any of the great doctors who, according to their method, were catechizing him and allowing him to catechize them.
The lesson teaches that one taught of God is wiser than all who are taught of men. He himself later said that while Solomon was counted the wisest man in the world, he was greater in wisdom than Solomon. This is not the first instance on record where teachers have been instructed by their more enlightened pupils. It is related of the celebrated Dr. Blair, of Scotland, that his university teacher in theology was carried away with the wisdom of his answers. On one occasion, propounding three questions in Latin, which the student must off-hand answer in Latin, the last question was, Quid est caritas? (what is charity) and the reply came like the lightning flash, Ah, magister, id est raritas (ah master, that is rare).
It is to be deplored that great teachers of theology yield to a tendency to become mere professors, hair-splitting in their niceties of explanation, and gradually forgetting the spirit and power of all true theology. Never was this more noticeable than in the Sanhedrin, with its great Jewish doctors of the law. Only two of them are represented as becoming followers of Christ, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. The rest all perished in their learning.
You will recall how often I have emphasized the value of the catechetical form of instruction questions and counter questions. Nothing but my deafness has prevented me from resorting more to this method.
At this amazing juncture, the child instructing the doctors, Joseph and Mary came upon the scene, which astonishes them much, and with something of reproach his mother says, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I sought thee, sorrowing.” The answer of our Lord to his mother not only conveys a counter reproach, disclaiming Joseph as his father, but shows that he has reached a great epoch in his life, to whit: consciousness of his messiahship and the paramount claims of its duties over any earthly relations. His reply is “How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be in my Father’s house?” When he says “my Father’s” house, he disclaims the paternity of Joseph, which Mary had at least assumed, or by a marginal rendering, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” It is indeed a pregnant reply, and discloses at least the following things:
(1) That at least now, if at no earlier date, there was a full consciousness in his own mind of his messianic mission.
(2) It is strange that his mother should not have, from the past remarkable events of his life, which she had kept in her heart, understood this, and that from this time on the voice of God must be higher than the voice of his mother in determining his movements and actions. I know that some claim that consciousness of messiahship did not come to him until his baptism, but when we come to interpret the history of that baptism, the proof will be submitted that the consciousness preceded that occasion.
This incident is named by the book, to which your attention has been called, The Sorrows of Mary, as the third sorrow of her heart first, the words of Simeon; second, the flight into Egypt; and third, the announcement that from this time on the path of the child must be away from the family.
(3) We know that his mother did not fully learn the lesson, for twice later she is rebuked by the Son who is her Lord. Once, at the marriage of Cana of Galilee, he says to her interference, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” And still later, when the family learn that he was so absorbed in teaching and healing that he would not take time to eat, but his kinsfolk counted him mad, his mother and younger brothers came to call him off from his work, as it were under a writ of lunacy, and he replies, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” and resisted their interference with his messianic work.
Having thus stated the paramount law of his messiahship, the record says he went down to Nazareth with them and “was subject to them.” This subjection was another step like his circumcision and his presentation in the Temple in fulfilling to perfection all of the law. It shows that he venerated and observed the Fifth Commandment. In the later history we will consider other visits of our Lord to the Temple, and every time he comes into his Father’s house, his coming is signalized by mighty events.
Luke closes his paragraph by showing the development of his manhood, in these words: “Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” How few, as we have already learned, are the words of our historians concerning the greater part of the life of Christ. Let me repeat them to you again:
“And the child grew and waxed strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him” (Luk 2:40 ).
“He was subject to them” (Luk 2:51 ).
“And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luk 2:52 ).
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and he entered, as his custom was, into the Synagogue on the sabbath day” (Luk 4:16 ).
“Is not this the carpenter?” (Mar 6:3 ).
These, indeed, are few words, but they are mighty words. They show not only the physical, mental, and spiritual development of his childhood and his manhood, his observance of the Fifth Commandment in honoring his parents, his observance of the sabbath day in synagogue instruction, but his learning, as all Jews counted honorable, a trade. These were years of preparation thirty years of preparation in order that he might publicly labor three years. Only prepared men accomplish great things, and the greater the preparation the less need for long time in which to do great things. But our young people of the present day count wasted the time devoted to deep and thorough preparation for lifework. They are in haste to rush out, half equipped, for the strenuous battle of life.
QUESTIONS
1. In what two respects was the flight into Egypt connected with the Wise Men?
2. What little book is specially commended?
3. What of the contention of Delitzsch, concerning the plan of Matthew’s Gospel?
4. Cite some striking correspondences between Matthew and the Pentateuch.
5. What symbolism in Revelation finds its historic background in the flight into Egypt?
6. Into what new prominence in the family does the child Jesus now come?
7. What prophecy was fulfilled by the exodus from Egypt, and how do you prove that it was really prophetic?
8. Why do some critics discredit the historical character of Matthew’s account of the massacre of the babes in Bethlehem and your reply to the criticism?
9. What attention has this slaughter of the few babes in Bethlehem attracted in the after ages?
10. Mention one practical good at least that resulted from the murder of these children.
11. What was the prophecy in relation to this massacre, and how do you make it out to be prophetic?
12. What assurance was given to Joseph when the angel directed him to leave Egypt, and compare this with a similar statement to Moses in Midian?
13. How does this declaration, “They are dead that sought the young child’s life,” seem to be prophetic, and illustrate?
14. What danger would have occurred if Joseph had returned to Bethlehem?
15. What prophecy was fulfilled in the return to Nazareth?
16. In what two ways can you show that this would be a term of reproach?
17. What has Luke to say concerning the development of the child hood of Jesus at Nazareth?
18. How often were male Jews required to go up to Jerusalem?
19. How long was a mother responsible for the spiritual instruction of her child? How long the father? and at what age did the Jewish child become a son of the law?
20. What higher instruction was given at Jerusalem for those who were the sons of the law?
21. Cite some of the great Jewish rabbis who taught these sons of the law in the Temple.
22. Name two illustrious men who were under this instruction about the same time with Jesus.
23. When the Jews from the villages and towns of the Holy Land went up to Jerusalem, what hymns of the psalter did they sing on their pilgrimage?
24. How was Jesus qualified to astound the great rabbis in the Temple?
25. How many of the Sanhedrin became Christians?
26. What were the words of Mary to Jesus when she found him in the Temple with the doctors, and his reply?
27. What makes this a great epoch in the life of Jesus?
28. What were the words of Luke to show the development of Jesus into manhood?
29. Repeat again the five short passages that constitute the only story of the greater part of the life of Christ?
30. What do they show?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
Ver. 39. According to the law of the Lord ] This is often recorded of them in this chapter, that they observed the law exactly, to their singular commendation. The law is to be kept as the apple of one’s eye, Pro 7:2 . Count nothing little that God commands. It is as much treason to coin pence as twenty shilling pieces. And they were commanded not to eat of the blood, as ever they looked for God’s blessing.
They returned into Galilee ] After they had first fled down into Egypt, Mat 2:12-23 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
39, 40. ] RETURN TO NAZARETH.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
39. ] Certainly the obvious inference from this verse is, that Joseph and Mary returned from Jerusalem to Nazareth direct. But it is only an inference , and not the assertion of the text. This part of the gospel history is one where the Harmonists, by their arbitrary reconcilements of the two Evangelistic accounts, have given great advantage to the enemies of the faith. As the two accounts now stand , it is wholly impossible to suggest any satisfactory method of uniting them; every one who has attempted it has, in some part or other of his hypothesis, violated probability and common sense. But, on the other hand, it is equally impossible definitely to say that they could not be reconciled by a thorough knowledge of the facts themselves; and such an assertion, whenever made, shews great ignorance of the origin and course of oral narration. How many things will a relator say, being unaware of certain important circumstances outside his narrative, which seem to preclude those circumstances? How often will points of time be apparently brought close together in such a narration, between which, events most weighty to the history have occurred? The only inference from these two accounts, which is inevitable , is, that they are wholly independent of one another. If Luke had seen the Gospel of Matthew, or vice versa, then the variations are utterly inexplicable; and the greatest absurdities of all are involved in the writings of those who assume this , and then proceed to harmonize . Of the dwelling at Nazareth before the Nativity, of the circumstances which brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, of the Presentation in the temple, Matthew’s account knows nothing; of the visit of the Magi, the murder of the Innocents, the flight to Egypt, Luke’s is unaware. In all the main circumstances of the Conception and Nativity they agree, or are easily and naturally reconciled (see further in note on Joh 7:42 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 2:39-40 . Return to Nazareth . , their own city, certainly suggesting that Nazareth, not Bethlehem, had been the true home of Joseph and Mary.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 2:39-40
39When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. 40The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Luk 2:39 “When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord” Jesus and His parents were orthodox Jews in every sense. They completely fulfilled the Mosaic requirements due at the temple for themselves and their child.
“returned to Galilee” This was Jesus’ initial area of ministry, which was predicted in the OT (cf. Isa 11:1). This would have been the first part of the Promised Land, which was invaded and defeated by Syria, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.
“Nazareth” The village where Jesus grew up was called Nazareth. It is not mentioned in the OT, the Talmud, or in Josephus. It apparently was not settled until the time of John Hyrcanus (i.e., Hasmonaen), who ruled from 134-104 B.C. The presence of Joseph and Mary from this village implies that a clan of David’s line settled here.
There may be an etymological connection between the names Nazareth and the Messianic title Branch (cf. Mat 2:23, “called a Nazarene”), which is netser in Hebrew (cf. Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12; Rev 5:5; Rev 22:16). See Special Topic at Luk 4:34.
It was apparently a term of reproach because of its location far from Jerusalem in a Gentile area (cf. Joh 1:46 and Act 24:5, even though this, too, was prophecy [cf. Isa 9:1]). This may be why “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was inscribed on the placard which was placed on the cross above Jesus’ head.
Luk 2:40 “The Child continued to grow” Jesus developed normally as a human child (as did John, cf. Luk 1:80) physically, emotionally, and spiritually (cf. Luk 2:52, see Special Topic at Luk 1:80). This may be an anti-Gnostic statement. He obviously attended synagogue school with the other children.
See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: GNOSTICISM
“the grace of God was upon Him” The Greek term charis has a wide semantic range. Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, vol. 2, p. 262, list “kindness, gift, thanks, and good will” as possible translations. The sense in which it is used in this verse is unique to the Synoptic Gospels. The term is used several times in Luke’s Gospel, but only here in the sense of “grace.”
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
performed = ended.
Nazareth. See note on Mat 2:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
39, 40.] RETURN TO NAZARETH.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
performed: Luk 2:21-24, Luk 1:6, Deu 12:32, Mat 3:15, Gal 4:4, Gal 4:5
they returned: Luk 2:4, Mat 2:22, Mat 2:23
Nazareth: Nazareth, now Nassara, was a small town of Zebulun, in Lower Galilee, according to Eusebius, fifteen miles east of Legio, near mount Tabor, and, according to D’Arvieux, about eight leagues, or according to Maundrell, seven hours, or about twenty miles se of Acre. It is one of the principal towns of the pashalic of Acre, containing a population of about 3,000 souls, of whom 500 are Turks, the remainder being Christians. It is delightfully situated on elevated ground, in a valley, encompassed by mountains.
Reciprocal: 2Ch 34:14 – the law Isa 53:2 – he shall grow Luk 2:51 – came Luk 4:16 – to Joh 1:31 – I knew Joh 7:28 – Ye both
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
Luke omits the flight into Egypt from Judea before the return to Nazareth. Mat 2:13-15 should be read in connection with this verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 2:39. They returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. Of itself this suggests that Joseph and Mary went directly and immediately from Jerusalem to Nazareth. But this is not expressly stated. It is, however, difficult to suppose that Luke had seen Matthews account, or vice versa.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here we see the truth and reality of Christ’s human nature: he grew as we do, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth and manhood. To his divine nature no accession or addition could be made, for that which is infinite cannot increase. The Deity was infinite in Christ, so was not the humanity, but capable of additions: and accordingly as Christ grew up in the stature of his body, the faculties of his mind increased, through the grace and power of God’s Spirit upon him.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luk 2:39-40. And when they Namely, the parents of Jesus; had performed all things according to the law Which they made conscience of doing, that they might fulfil all righteousness; they returned into Galilee, &c. Full of admiration, doubtless, at the glorious testimonies that were given to their child; to their own city Nazareth Which was the place of their usual residence, and where this blessed infant passed the days of his childhood and youth. And the child grew, &c. In bodily strength and stature; and waxed strong in spirit The powers of his human mind daily improved; filled with wisdom By the light of the indwelling Spirit, which gradually opened itself in his soul; and the grace of God was upon him That is, the peculiar favour of God rested upon him, even as man.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XV.
THE CHILD JESUS BROUGHT
FROM EGYPT TO NAZARETH.
(Egypt and Nazareth, B. C. 4.)
aMATT. II. 19-23; cLUKE II. 39.
a19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was “made like unto his brethren” ( Heb 2:17), and being a child, “he spake as a child” ( 1Co 13:11), and not as an oracle] appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt [Joseph had obeyed the command given at Mat 2:13, and God kept the promise contained therein. God ever keeps covenant with the obedient], saying, 20 Arise [Happy Joseph! his path was ordered of God. Let us also seek such ordering. “in all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths– Pro 3:6] and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel [The phrase “land of Israel” originally meant all Palestine, but during the period of the kingdom of the ten tribes it was restricted to their portion of the country. After the captivities and the return of Judah from Babylon the phrase resumed its original meaning, and hence it is here used to include all Palestine. As Jesus was “not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” ( Mat 15:24), it was fitting that he return thither from Egypt]; for they [“They” is doubtless the plural of majesty; though it may include others unknown to us, who were employed by him or advised him] are dead [How prophetic the words! Christ’s enemies die, but he lives on. How innumerable this host of opposers! Persecutors, oppressors, infidels, critics, literatures, [53] organizations, principalities, and powers, a vast and motley array of forces, have sought the life of Jesus, have made a great noise in the world, and died away in silence. Pharoahs, Neros, Diocletians, many a Charles, Torquemada and Bloody Mary have come up and gone down, but the king of Israel lives on] that sought the young child’s life. 21 And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came [The length of his sojourn in Egypt is uncertain. It is variously estimated at from two weeks to more than seven months] into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard [Joseph heard this on entering Palestine. As he knew of Herod’s death by revelation, and hence before any one else in Egypt, there was no one there to tell him who succeeded Herod] that Archelaus [By his last will and testament Herod divided his kingdom among three of his sons, and Augustus Csar consented to the provision of this will. Archelaus, under the title of Ethnarch, received Juda, Iduma, and Samaria; Antipas, under the title of Tetrarch, received Galilee and Pera; and Philip, under the title of Tetrarch, received Trachonitis (with Itura), Batana, and Auranitis. Each of these sons bore the name of Herod, like their father. Augustus withheld from Archelaus the title of king, promising it to him “if he governed that part virtuously.” But in the very beginning of his reign he massacred three thousand Jews at once, in the temple, at the time of the Passover, because they called for justice upon the agents who performed the barbarities of his father’s reign. Not long after this a solemn embassy of the Jews went to Rome, and petitioned Augustus to remove Archelaus, and make his kingdom a Roman province. After a reign of nine years, Archelaus was banished to Vienne, in Gaul, where he died in A.D. 6. After him Juda had no more native kings, and the scepter was clean departed from Judah. The land became a Roman province, and its governors were successively Quirinius, Coponius, Ambivius, Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus, and Pontius Pilate] was reigning over Juda in the room of his father Herod [These words sound like an echo of those employed by the [54] embassy just referred to, for it said to Augustus concerning this man, “He seemed to be so afraid lest he should not be deemed Herod’s own son, that he took special care to prove it”], he was afraid to go thither [As Matthew has spoken of Joseph residing at Bethlehem (and he did reside there for quite awhile after the birth of Jesus), the use of word “thither” implies that Joseph planned to return to that town. Mary had kindred somewhere in the neighborhood ( Luk 1:36, Luk 1:39, Luk 1:40), and doubtless both parents thought that David’s city was the most fitting place for the nurture of David’s heir]; and being warned of God in a dream [God permitted Joseph to follow the bent of his fear. Joseph’s obedience shows him a fit person for the momentous charge entrusted to him], {cthey returned} ahe withdrew [From the territory of Archelaus to that of Antipas, who was a man of much milder disposition. As the brothers were on no good terms, Joseph felt sure that in no case would Antipas deliver him and his to Archelaus] into the parts of Galilee [It means “circuit.” It is the northern of the three divisions of the Holy Land. Its population was very dense, and was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. Hence all Galilans were despised by the purer Jews of Juda], 23 and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; ctheir own city [This town lies on a hillside, girt in by fifteen higher hills. It is a secluded nook. Here Jesus grew up in obscurity till he reached his thirtieth year. Here he spent about nine-tenths of his earthly life. Sweet humility! Lowliness is as rare and precious a virtue as pride is a plentiful and repugnant vice] athat it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets [Matthew uses the plural, “prophets,” because this prophecy is not the actual words of any prophet, but is the general sense of many of them. We have noted three kinds of prophecy; this is the fourth kind, viz.: one where the very trend or general scope of Scripture is itself a prophecy], that he should be called a Nazarene. [The Hebrew word netzer means “branch” or “sprout.” It is used figuratively for that which is lowly or despised ( Isa 17:9, Eze 15:1-6, Mal 4:1). [55] See also Joh 15:6, Rom 11:21. Now, Nazareth, if derived from netzer, answered to its name, and was a despised place ( Joh 1:45, Joh 1:46), and Jesus, though in truth a Bethlehemite, bore the name Nazarene because it fitly expressed the contempt of those who despised and rejected him.]
[FFG 53-55]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
THE HOLY FAMILY RETURN FROM EGYPT
19-23, & Luk 2:39-40. And Herod having died. We do not know how long they remained in Egypt, but evidently the period was brief. Scarcely has the wail of the slaughtered infants died away on the air of Bethlehem till the cruel old king, becoming quite ill, goes to Jericho, where he had a palace and a pool, that he may avail himself of the sanitary warm baths for the recovery of his health. Even there he slays Antipater, his only surviving son by his first wife, Mary Anne, whom he had slain, with her other two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus; this dark crime only preceding five days his own exit to meet God and enter upon the awful retributions of eternity. Behold, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream in Egypt: Arise, take the young child and His mother, and go into Israel, for those seeking the life of the young child are dead. And he, rising, took the young child and His mother, and came into Israel. And hearing that Archelaus rules over Judea in the room of Herod his father, he feared to go thither. Archelaus, being the only surviving son of Herod, received the government nominally by inheritance. We must remember that after the battle of Actium, which left Augustus Caesar sole proprietor of the Roman Empire, which had conquered the whole world, consequently no king in any country could reign till he went to Rome and received his crown at the hand of the emperor; consequently, immediately after the death of Herod, Archelaus went away to Rome, a long and perilous journey for those times, in order that the emperor might crown him king of the Jews. Now it is a simple fact that the emperor positively refused to crown him, so that Archelaus was really never king of Judea. On the contrary, the emperor sent Coponius to Judea, in the capacity of proconsul, thus dismantling the kingdom, and turning it into a Roman province, no longer having its own king, but simply a governor, sent out by the Roman emperor, to rule that country as a Roman province. Now why did this transition take place at this peculiar time? Why, it was a fulfillment of prophecy, which says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh [i.e., Christ] comes. Now do you not see this wonderful fulfillment of prophecy? Augustus Caesar had crowned Herod king of the Jews, and why not now crown Archelaus, and let the Jews have their kingdom, instead of reducing them to a state of vassalage by taking away their kingdom, and making them a Roman province? The solution is plain. Shiloh had already come, and the scepter had departed from Judah. Though the Roman emperor knew nothing about these prophecies nor their fulfillment, yet arbitrarily taking the bit in his teeth, he proceeded, undeviatingly, literally to fulfill the prophecies. So are wicked worldly people this day fulfilling the prophecies with astounding accuracy.
Being warned in a dream, he departed into the regions of Galilee. Having come, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth; in order that the word spoken by the prophets may be fulfilled, that He shall be called a Nazarene. (Isa 11:1.)
The village of Nazareth was so obscure and insignificant as never so much as to receive a mention in all the Old Testament Scriptures. It was proverbial for ignorance and poverty, so that the maxim obtained, No good can come out of Nazareth; thus illustrating the universally patent fact that this world is upside down, human estimation all wrong, and the very opposite of the Divine and true. Though Nazareth in human estimation was the most worthless place on the earth, it has come to the front, more celebrated and honored than all the time-honored metropolises on the globe. The same is true of the people. Examine all history. Those who have risen to true eminence have emanated from utter obscurity; while the high-born, as a rule, dwindle into insignificance, never amounting to anything. I did so much enjoy my sojourn in Nazareth, happily reached by Jewish and Christian enterprise, now quite flourishing, with a population of seven thousand. How I did enjoy walking through the house where Jesus dwelt thirty years; visiting Josephs carpenter-shop, where He labored with him at the work-bench; and the old synagogue, where He actually worshipped the God of Israel thirty years! The primitive Christians were called Nazarenes.
And the little child grew and became strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (Luk 2:40.) No wonder the body of Jesus grew and symmetrically developed with rolling years, as He had no physical infirmities, superinduced by the fall. Consequently He never had any sickness to impede His growth, His physical life throughout being like that of Adam before the fall, perfectly healthy, natural, and free from all ailments of any kind. This conclusion follows as a legitimate sequence from the very fact that He took our nature, without sin and its consequence; i.e., without infirmity. His spiritual development was truly marvelous, from the simple fact that His intellect was perfectly clear and cloudless, never muddled, nor confused, nor in any way thrown off its equilibrium. His affections were perfectly pure, and never contaminated by anything vile. His memory was perfect, so that He never forgot anything, while His judgment was infallible, even while in childhood. Hence He was actually filled with the true wisdom of God peculiar to the heavenly state; while the grace of God, not only filled, but crowned Him.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 39
The flight of Joseph and Mary into Egypt, as recorded by Matthew 2:13-15, took place before their return to Nazareth. It is not easy to account for Luke’s omitting all mention of so important a transaction, when we remember the words of his preface (Luke 1:3.)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5. Jesus’ development in Nazareth 2:39-40
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Luke again noted Mary and Joseph’s careful obedience to God’s will as revealed in the Mosaic Law. He omitted their flight to Egypt that Matthew recorded. It illustrated another fulfillment of messianic prophecy. However the fulfillment of prophecy was not as important to Luke as it was to Matthew.
"There was a general contempt in Rabbinic circles for all that was Galilean." [Note: Edersheim, 1:225.]
"Making every allowance for exaggeration, we cannot wholly ignore the account of Josephus about the 240 towns and villages of Galilee, each with not less than 15,000 inhabitants." [Note: Ibid., 1:224.]