Matthew 2

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:11

Worshipping a Babe. The word "worship" is a confusing word. It is applied to human beings, and it is applied to God. It means, "offer homage as to a king;" it means, "reverently acknowledge as Divine." Really the word seems only to mean, " acknowledge the worth of." We speak of magistrates as "your worship." We speak of the service of the Churches as "worship." But when we use the word carefully, we limit it to "paying Divine honours," "venerating with religious rites." We cannot,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:11

Representing ourselves by our gifts. Traditions have gathered round this story. The Magi are said to have been three. Their names are given—Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar. Their gifts were threefold; each had a symbolic meaning, and each was the representative gift of the individual who presented it. The details of the tradition are given in Farrar's 'Life of Christ.' No great value can attach to it, but it does emphasize the facts on which we now dwell, that the gifts of the Magi were ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:11-12

Gentile worshippers. Guided by the providence of God, the devout scientists from the East, who inquired in Jerusalem for the King of the Jews, are arrived at Bethlehem. Now they enter the house of the carpenter. Let us also enter, that we may see and worship with them. I. WHAT DO THEY SEE ? 1 . They behold the King of the Jews. 2 . They see him veiled in humanity. (a) The reality of our interest in his mission and work. (b) The reality and perfection of his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:12

And being warned of God ( καὶ χρηματισθέντες ; cf. Bishop Westcott, on Hebrews 8:5 ). And , not "but;" this is joined to the threefold "and" of Matthew 2:11 , and is the final example of God's mercy and grace towards them, preserving them from probable death at Herod's hands. In a dream ( Matthew 1:20 , note). That they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. Perhaps eastwards by Bet Sahur and Mar Saba and Jericho. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:12

The blending of the ordinary and the special in Divine dealings. These men had been led, by the ordinary exercise of their minds, on certain natural, if unusual, phenomena which they had observed in the heavens. But now they were led by special Divine intervention and direct Divine communications. This is the fact that seems to be suggestive. That very remarkable blending of the ordinary and the special, the natural and the miraculous, we find reappearing everywhere in the Divine dealings... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:13

The deliverance of Jesus by flight into Egypt. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:13

And (Revised Version, now ) when they were departed . The flight was not by their advice, and they were not even entrusted with the secret. Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream ( Matthew 1:20 , notes). The present tense ( φαίνεται ) is here more vivid. Saying , Arise ( Matthew 2:14 , note), and take the young Child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word ; Revised Version, I tell thee ( ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:13-15

System in providence. It were a truism to say that there is wisdom in providence; for otherwise providence could not be Divine. In that wisdom there is what Paul describes as a manifoldness ( Ephesians 3:10 ). And this appears in a system of developments and correspondences, evincing at the same time unity of plan. The text furnishes striking illustrations. It suggests— I. THAT THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WERE CHRIST TYPICAL . 1 . For Hosea 's allusion is historical. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:13-22

The providence that befriended the earliest life of Jesus. Three times in this chapter, as well as once in the preceding ( Matthew 1:20 ), do we thus read of the intervention of particular Divine directions given to Joseph in the interest of the infant Jesus. The grand head under which events of this kind must seek and find their classification is that of providence. The next greatest fact to creation is providence, without which creation itself would soon have proved a still-born thing,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 2:13-23

The Lord's infancy. I. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT . 1 . The dream of Joseph. The visit of the Wise Men, with their adoring worship and their costly gifts, is followed by persecution and distress. The opening life of the Lord exhibits those vicissitudes which were to occur again and again in the history of his Church and in the lives of individual Christians. The bright sunshine of success and popularity is soon clouded by seeming failure, by perplexity and persecution. It is what we... read more

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