Expert: Brenda Martin - 6/5/2009

Question
Brenda,

First let me praise you on your scriptural insight, your witness, and disciple making work!  I can imagine only only place that you have obtained such knowledge, and I too am taping into the wonderful provision from God.

My question to you is:

When I read Matthew.. specifically Matthew 2:13-15 .. it specifically refers to an infant Jesus, and his earthly family, Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt, and in doing so fullfilling prophesy..

13 After they had withdrawn, look! Jehovah’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying: “Get up, take the young child and its mother and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I give you word; for Herod is about to search for the young child to destroy it.” 14 So he got up and took along the young child and its mother by night and withdrew into Egypt, 15 and he stayed there until the decease of Herod, for that to be fulfilled which was spoken by Jehovah through his prophet, saying: “Out of Egypt I called my son

Now notice Luke...Chapter 1 verses 1-4..  here Luke, being a physician is stating that he thouroughly researched these things...

1 Whereas many have undertaken to compile a statement of the facts that are given full credence among us, 2 just as those who from [the] beginning became eyewitnesses and attendants of the message delivered these to us, 3 I resolved also, because I have traced all things from the start with accuracy, to write them in logical order to you, most excellent The·oph´i·lus, 4 that you may know fully the certainty of the things that you have been taught orally


Now I read Luke 2:39-40

39 So when they had carried out all the things according to the law of Jehovah, they went back into Gal´i·lee to their own city Naz´a·reth. 40 And the young child continued growing and getting strong, being filled with wisdom, and God’s favor continued upon him

So in Matthew... Joseph and Mary left from Bethlehem, went to Egypt, and then went to Galilee at some later unspecified time.  However in Luke, they were in Jerusalem, and then left directly (or so it appears) and went to Galilee.

Given the detail that Luke recorded, it almost seems like he spoke at length with Mary to get very personal details of events... how is it that he could have missed or omited the trip to Egypt.  Do you have any thoughts on this matter?  

Answer
MATTHEW 2:13-15; LUKE 1; 1-4; LUKE 2:39-40

"MATTHEW SAYS-- JOSEPH AND MARY LEFT FROM BETHLEHEM, WENT TO EGYPT, AND THEN WENT TO GALILEE AT SOME LATER UNSPECIFIED TIME?"

Lets get this story in its proper order first;—Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a manger that’s true; but ONLY the shepherds, not the “three kings” so often represented in Nativity scenes, visited Mary and Joseph and beheld this innocent baby lying in a manger.—Luke 2:15-20.

About a month after the child’s birth, Joseph and Mary present him at the temple in Jerusalem in obedience to the Mosaic Law, they make an offering there of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” (Luke 2:22-24)

Matthew’s account --A number of months have passed, and Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are now LIVING IN A HOUSE IN BETHLEHEM. They receive an unexpected visit from a number of foreigners. Despite what countless Nativity scenes depict, Matthew does not specify how many of these men came, nor does he call them “wise men,” much less “three kings.” He uses the Greek word ma′goi, which means “astrologers.” This alone should give the reader a clue that something evil is at work here, for astrology is an art that God’s Word condemns and that faithful Jews scrupulously avoided.—Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Isaiah 47:13, 14.

These astrologers have followed a star from the east and are bearing gifts for “the one born king of the Jews.” (Matthew 2:2) But the star does not lead them directly to Bethlehem. It draws them first to JERUSALEM and to Herod the Great. Disturbed to hear of the birth of a future “king of the Jews,” he dispatches the astrologers to find that One in BETHLEHEM. As they go, something strange happens. The “star” that led them to travel to Jerusalem seems to move!—Matthew 2:1-9.

This “star” was not from God. With sinister precision, it leads these pagan worshipers right to Jesus—a child vulnerable and helpless, protected only by a poor carpenter and his wife. The astrologers, Herod’s unwitting dupes, likely would have reported back to the vengeful monarch, leading to the child’s destruction. But God intervenes through a dream and sends them back home by another route. The “star,” then, must have been a device of God’s enemy Satan, who would go to any lengths to harm the Messiah. How ironic that the “star” and astrologers are portrayed in Nativity scenes as emissaries of God!—Matthew 2:9-12.

Still, Satan does not give up. His pawn in the matter, King Herod, orders that all infants in Bethlehem under two years of age be killed. But Satan cannot win a battle against Jehovah. Matthew notes that God had long ago foreseen even this vicious slaughter of innocent children. Jehovah countered Satan again, warning Joseph through an angel to flee to EGYPT for safety.

Matthew reports that some time later Joseph again moved his little family and finally settled them in NAZARETH, where Jesus grew up with his younger brothers and sisters.—Matthew 2:13-23; 13:55, 56.

"LUKE, THEY WERE IN JERUSALEM, AND THEN LEFT DIRECTLY (OR SO IT APPEARS) AND WENT TO GALILEE?"

Though Luke 2:39 may seem to indicate that Joseph and Mary went to Nazareth right after presenting Jesus at the temple, this text is part of a condensed account. Some time after the presentation at the temple, Oriental astrologers (Magi) visited Mary and Jesus in a house at Bethlehem. Divine intervention prevented this visit from bringing death to Jesus. After the Magi withdrew, Jehovah’s angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him: “Herod is about to search for the young child to destroy it.” As usual, Joseph heeded divine direction and took his family to Egypt.—Matthew 2:1-14.

HOW IS IT THAT LUKE COULD HAVE MISSED OR OMITTED THE TRIP TO EGYPT?

Luke simply omits the intervening events (the return from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the astrologers’ visit and the flight to Egypt), even as Matthew says nothing of the shepherds or the trip to Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna saw Jesus.

15 years after Matthew wrote his gospel account, Luke penned his Gospel. While much of it is similar to Matthew’s account, 59 percent is additional. Luke recorded six of Jesus’ miracles and more than twice that many of His illustrations not mentioned by the other Gospel writers.

Apparently just a few years later, Mark wrote his Gospel, placing emphasis on Jesus Christ as a man of action, a miracle worker. While Mark mostly related events previously covered by Matthew and Luke, he did record one parable that they did not. In that illustration, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to seed that sprouts, grows tall, and bears fruit gradually.—Mark 4:26-29.

Then there was John’s Gospel, written more than 30 years after Mark wrote his account. John threw a stream of light on Jesus’ ministry, particularly through many references to His prehuman existence! Only John provides the account of Lazarus’ resurrection, and he alone gives us many of Jesus’ fine remarks to his faithful apostles as well as his heartwarming prayer on the night of his betrayal, as recorded in chapters 13 to 17. In fact, it is said that 92 percent of John’s Gospel is unique.

While the four are parallel and often cover the same incidents, they are by no means mere copies of one another. The first three Gospels are often called synoptic, meaning “like view,” since they take a similar approach in recounting Jesus’ life on earth. But each one of the four writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—tells his own story of the Christ. Each one has his own particular theme and objective, reflects his own personality, and keeps in mind his immediate readers. The more we search their writings, the more we appreciate the distinctive features of each and that these four inspired Bible books form independent, complementary, and harmonious accounts of the life of Jesus Christ.

All the best
Brenda