Points to Ponder in Matthew 2 and Luke 2

August 7, 2022

To accompany your Come Follow Me study January 9-15

In addition to reading the indicated chapters, you may wish to:

If you would like a Kahoot game related to this material which you could use for personal study or use with your family or your class, click here:   https://create.kahoot.it/share/matthew-2-and-luke-2/6e3c0d11-1568-4d61-9a2f-b7eaa9772092.     (To use it with a group, after clicking on this link, you will need to log into Kahoot, creating a free account if you have not done so previously, then click on the blue “Start” button.)

Points to Ponder in Matthew 2 and Luke 2

1. Try to find up to fifteen common misconceptions in the following account of the birth of Jesus:   

Exactly 2022 years ago last spring, Mary and her fiancé and future husband, Joseph, undertook a compulsory journey to Bethlehem to pay their taxes.  Having neglected to make reservations, they found all the inns full upon their arrival, whereupon they accepted the offer of an anonymous innkeeper to spend the night in his stable, a small and dirty building behind his house.  There Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and laid him in a cute little wooden manger, like we see on Christmas cards.  The first visitors to the new king were some nearby shepherds, who heard angelic choirs announcing the birth of the Savior.  (In addition to the opportunity to see the newborn Messiah, the shepherds must have felt grateful to get inside for even a few minutes out of the cold winter night.)  The shepherds had barely left when in came the three Wise Men, kings from the East who had followed a bright new star which went before them, much as a pillar of fire had guided Israelites of old.  (This “star” was most likely a comet, or a conjunction of planets.)  When the Wise Men refused to return to King Herod, as they had promised, the wicked king got so angry he killed thousands of babies throughout the Holy Land in an effort to make sure Jesus was among them.

2. D&C 88:6 indicates that Jesus “descended below all things.”  How many aspects of Jesus’ birth and early life can you point to in substantiation of that idea?

3. Can you identify up to fifteen journeys that young Jesus and his parents undertook before Jesus was 12?

4. What is known of Jesus’ early life, after the family settled in Nazareth? 

5. Matthew is noted for pointing out how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.  How many Old Testament prophecies can you find in Matthew 2, and what is the original source of each?

6. How many separate miracles or revelations can you identify in this week’s reading?  Which one is often not recognized as such?

7. What are the most significant contributions of the Joseph Smith Translation to our understanding of these two chapters?

8. In a nutshell, what are the “good tidings of great joy” to which the angel referred? 

Possible Answers to Points to Ponder in Matthew 2 and Luke 2

1. Try to find up to fifteen common misconceptions in the following account of the birth of Jesus:   

Exactly 2022 years ago last spring (1), Mary and her fiancé and future husband (2), Joseph, undertook a compulsory journey to Bethlehem to pay their taxes. (3)  Having neglected to make reservations (4), they found all the inns full upon their arrival, whereupon they accepted the offer of an anonymous innkeeper (5) to spend the night in his stable, a small and dirty building behind his house. (6)  There Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and laid him in a cute little wooden manger, like we see on Christmas cards.  (7) The first visitors to the new king were some nearby shepherds, who heard angelic choirs (8) announcing the birth of the Savior.  (In addition to the opportunity to see the newborn  , the shepherds must have felt grateful to get inside for even a few minutes out of the cold winter night.) (9)  The shepherds had barely left (10) when in came the three (11) Wise Men, kings (12) from the East who had followed a bright new star which went before them, much as a pillar of fire had guided Israelites of old.  (This “star” was most likely a comet, or a conjunction of planets.) (13)  When the Wise Men refused to return to King Herod, as they had promised (14), the wicked king got so angry he killed thousands (15) of babies throughout the Holy Land in an effort to make sure Jesus was among them.

1In spite of the opinions of some Church members, there is no agreement among Church leaders and scholars concerning the birthdate of Jesus.  It seems the only reason to believe in an April 6, 1 B.C. date is D&C 20:1, which can be interpreted in other ways.  Bruce R. McConkie and J. Reuben Clark, for example, did not believe in the April 6, 1 B.C. date, in part because of historical evidence that King Herod died in the year we now call 4 B.C.

2By now they were married.

3The scriptures indicate they went to comply with census requirements, not to pay taxes as such.

4Presumably there was no way in those days to have made advance reservations.

5The scriptures say nothing about such an offer.  Possibly Joseph and Mary simply entered the stable area without anyone’s knowledge or specific permission.

6It is more likely that it was a limestone cave, of which many were used in that area in those days to keep animals. The scriptures make no mention of a stable.

7Most likely the picture wasn’t that pretty.  The environment was probably dirty, dark, and primitive. And the manger was almost certainly made of stone, not wood.

8The scriptures say nothing about any singing, only that the angels were “saying” their message.

9Probably it was not winter, or the sheep would not have been out in the fields and hillsides surrounding Bethlehem.

10The arrival of the Wise Men was at least several weeks or months later, and they found the “child” in a “house.”

11We have no information about the number of the Wise Men.

12It is simply a tradition without scriptural support that these Wise Men were also kings.

13Evidently this was not a normal star or at least not a spectacular star but a special vision given to the Wise Men.  For example, King Herod had to ask them when the star had appeared.

14The scriptures never say the Wise Men made any such promise.

15Perhaps dozens, but not thousands.  He killed only the children around Bethlehem, a small village of perhaps 1000.

2. D&C 88:6 indicates that Jesus “descended below all things.”  How many aspects of Jesus’ birth and early life can you point to in substantiation of that idea?

  • The contrast between what he had in His premortal life and what He experienced in mortality is striking.  Comparing it to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company resigning, donating all his wealth to the poor, and working thereafter as a janitor or trash collector doesn’t begin to illustrate the “condescension” of Jesus, the premortal Jehovah, coming to earth as a mere mortal.
  • He was sent to the wickedest of all His creations (Moses 7:36) and to the wickedest nation on the earth.  (2 Nephi 10:3)
  • He was born in Bethlehem, a small town of 1000 or so shepherds and poor peasants.
  • He was born in a dark, dirty cave in the side of a hill, as there was no room for Him in the inns.
  • His earthly parents were so impoverished they could neither secure decent lodging in Behlehem nor afford a temple sacrifice above that authorized for the poorest of the poor.
  • He came at a time when there were none of today’s material conveniences—electricity, computers, modern means of communication and transportation, etc. 
  • His first visitors were despised hireling shepherds.
  • His first two years were spent as a refugee in order to escape Herod’s attempt to kill Him. 
  • He grew up in Nazareth—a negligible little village not even mentioned in the Old Testament the writings of Josephus, or the Talmud.  Nathaniel’s question, “Can any goo thing come out of Nazareth?”, reflected the attitude of many.
  • He grew up doing manual labor, subject to His mortal parents, and with siblings who did not initially believe He was anyone special. 
  • He lived in a country in political bondage to Rome. 
  • He grew up with the stigma of supposed illegitimacy. 

3. Can you identify up to fifteen journeys that young Jesus and his parents undertook before Jesus was 12?

  • Joseph and Mary’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem with the unborn Jesus to comply with Caesar’s registration requirements.
  • Their journey to nearby Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord.  (Luke 2:22.)
  • Their flight into Egypt to avoid Herod’s edict.  (Matthew 2:13.)
  • Their return from Egypt to Nazareth after Herod’s death.  (Matthew 2:22-23.)
  • Annual trips from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.  (Luke 2:41.)  Presumably, Jesus went with them each year, as He did in the specifically detailed account of when He was twelve.  If these annual pilgrimages began when Jesus was three, there would have been eleven such trips before Jesus turned twelve, making a total of fifteen journeys, if we count the first one before He was born.

4. What is known of Jesus’ early life, after the family settled in Nazareth? 

  • He “grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom:  and the grace of God was upon him.”  (Luke 2:40)
  • He was well-rounded, increasing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”  (Luke 2:52.)  In other words, he grew appropriately in the intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social dimensions.
  • He was “subject” to Mary and Joseph, presumably meaning he was not only an obedient child but that He worked in Joseph’s carpentry shop.  (Luke 2:51.)
  • He had four brothers, named James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, and at least two sisters.  The Bible does not mention their names, but tradition says they were Mary and Salome.  John 7:5 tells us that Jesus’ siblings did not initially believe He was the Messiah, though some of them later became leaders in the Church. 
  • The Joseph Smith Translation version of Matthew 2:23 adds the following intriguing material:  “And it came to pass, that Jesus grew p with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.  And he served under his father, and he spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that any man should teach him.” 
  • Similarly, the JST version of Luke 2:46 tells us that Jesus was not at age 12 in the temple hearing the doctors of the law and asking them questions, but rather “they were hearing him, and asking him questions.”
  • In summary, despite Jesus’ obvious capabilities as a twelve year old, there is no reason to believe that Jesus was so unusual as a child that he never cried when hungry, never tripped and fell, never got his face or clothes dirty, or never made a grammatical mistake.  We hold that He was morally perfect, but in other respects, as John tells us in D&C 93:12, “he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace.”  No doubt He was an unusually pleasant and competent child, as well as intellectually and spiritually brilliant.  But He was not so notably so that His own siblings had any idea He was their Lord and God, much less His friends and neighbors!

5. Matthew is noted for pointing out how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.  How many Old Testament prophecies can you find in Matthew 2, and what is the original source of each?

  • Matthew 2:6:  Quotes Micah 5:2. 
  • Matthew 2:15:  Refers to Hosea 11:1.
  • Matthew 2:17-18:  Refers to Jeremiah 31:15. 
  • Matthew 2:23:  Refers to an unknown passage which said the Messiah would be called a Nazarene.  That’s why footnote “b” refers the reader to the subject of Lost Scriptures in the Topical Guide, supporting the Latter-day Saint position that the Bible as we know it does not pretend to include all of God’s words or even all of His once recorded words. 

6. How many separate miracles or revelations can you identify in this week’s reading?  Which one is often not recognized as such?

There are probably at least 11:

  • Matthew 2:2, 7, 9:  The star seen by the Wise Men was clearly a spiritual phenomenon, in spite of religious astronomers’ efforts to identify it as a natural phenomenon.  It wasn’t visible to Herod, or he wouldn’t have had to ask the Wise Men what time the star had appeared.  And nothing known to astronomy moves across the sky to stand unmistakably over where a newborn baby is lying.  Any ordinary star, or even an extraordinarily bright star high in the heavens, would appear to be overhead to thousands, even millions of people. 
  • Matthew 2:12:  The Wise Men are warned in a dream not to return to Herod.
  • Matthew 2:13:  An angel warns Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.
  • Matthew 2:19:  An angel tells Joseph to return with his family to Israel.
  • Matthew 2:22:  God warns Joseph in a dream to go to Galilee rather than Judea.
  • Luke 2:10:  An angel announces Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.
  • Luke 2:13-14:  A multitude of angels join the first one.
  • Luke 2:26:  Simeon learns through revelation that he would live to see the Messiah.
  • Luke 2:27:  Simeon is prompted to go to the temple on the day Jesus is to be there.
  • Luke 2:36-38:  Anna, “a prophetess,” likewise recognizes Jesus through revelation.
  • Luke 2:40:  Jesus’ waxing strong in spirit is a miracle in itself and is part of what is meant by “the grace of God was upon him.” 

7. What are the most significant contributions of the Joseph Smith Translation to our understanding of these two chapters?

There are probably three that are more significant than the others:

  • Matthew 2:13, 19, 22:  The Lord and the angel appeared to Joseph on these specified occasions in visions, not merely dreams.
  • JST, Matthew 3:24-26 (compare Matthew 2:23) adds the following: 24 And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come. 25 And he served under his father, and he spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that any man should teach him. 26 And after many years, the hour of his ministry drew nigh.
  • Luke 2:46:  The JST indicates that the doctors were hearing Jesus and asking Him questions, nor vice-versa. 

8. In a nutshell, what are the “good tidings of great joy” to which the angel referred? 

In brief:  Jesus’ birth and what followed make possible our own victory over death, with the opportunity to have eternal bliss, in addition to being able to be forgiven of our sins and enjoy the sweet, joyful presence of the Holy Spirit here and now.  For a longer answer, see any of my articles on the subject on my website at https://latterdaysaintandhappy.com.