December 28 - Return to Nazareth

December 28 - Return to Nazareth - Matthew 2:19-23

It's a good thing that Joseph was open to hearing from an angel or who knows what might have happened to that little family?! But, the angel ensured that he knew Herod was dead and it was safe to return to Israel.

Notice in Matthew 2:20 that the angel does not specifically tell Joseph where to go - he was just told to go to Israel. Joseph gets up from the dream, packs his family up again and returns to Israel.

It looks as if, in Matthew 2:22, he was planning to return to Bethlehem in Judea. However, after Herod's death, his son, Herod Archelaus came into power. Archelaus was insane - probably from great inbreeding among the family. Caesar Augustus refused to give him the title 'king' until he could prove himself. Ten years later, cruel tyranny and defiance of Jewish law, brought so many complaints from the people about him, that he was banished and Judea became a Roman province.

Joseph was afraid to return to Bethlehem due to Archelaus' reign, so the angel returned a last time in a dream and told him to go on home to Galilee, to Nazareth.

There are many questions regarding the end of Luke's story regarding the young family and this portion of Matthew. They seem to be in conflict. However, many commentaries and scholars agree that just because the story is told differently, doesn't mean that they necessarily conflict with each other.

There is every probability that Joseph planned to stay in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. They obviously had family there, since both of them were required to register for the census. I'm certain that with the arrival of a baby, new friends were made and relationships cemented. Bethlehem was also very close to Jerusalem and Mary probably would have liked to raise God's son close to God's temple. As Luke closes his story, Joseph could very well have returned to Nazareth to gather their belongings and then returned to Bethlehem. This would very likely have happened before the Magi showed up and the young family had to move to Egypt.

In Matthew 2:23, he mentions that the return to Nazareth fulfilled prophecy. This sentence has actually confused scholars. There is nowhere in scripture that specifies the Son of God would live in Nazareth. They feel it is likely he is referring to Isaiah 11:1. The word 'shoot' is the Hebrew word 'netzer' which is the root of the name Nazareth. The town of Nazareth was such a small village that the scholar Josephus never mentions it in any of his writings and it was never mentioned in the Old Testament. John 1:46 asks the question, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

And yet, in this insignificant community, our Lord, grew as a young boy.