To prove that Jesus fulfilled prophecy, the synoptic gospels sometimes cite Old Testament scripture that was not written as prophecy. That’s a problem.

Consider Matthew 2:14-15 declaring that Jesus spent his childhood in Egypt:

Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”

Only Matthew’s gospel mentions Egypt. Mary and Joseph leave their home in Bethlehem for Egypt. Luke says Mary and Joseph have a home in Galilee (they visit Bethlehem due to a census), and Jesus was raised in Galilee. That’s a contradiction.

Matthew places Jesus in Egypt due to Hosea 11:1: “...and out of Egypt I called my son.”

But Hosea 11:1 is not about a future messiah. God famously called the nation of Israel out of Egypt during the Exodus--that “fact” is part of Jewish culture.

Hosea refers to Israel as God's son since these words were spoken to Pharaoh: "Israel is my first-born son; let my son go, that he may serve me.”

By putting Jesus in Egypt, Matthew seems to indulge in “prophecy historicized,” not history remembered. “Prophecy historicized” means that early Christians searched Hebrew scripture for predictions about what would be true of the messiah. They created stories about Jesus based on these predictions.

The problem here is that no prophet said the messiah would come out of Egypt. Matthew is too eager to prove that Jesus is the messiah.

Weak evidence is always counter-productive since it brings into question an author’s credibility. Matthew’s gospel has many problematic passages, so I assume that very little in Matthew’s gospel literally happened.





Jesus in Egypt? Matthew's gospel is wrong on Hosea 11:1 -- prophecy historicized hurts credibility