The Daily Bible

The wise men find Jesus and offer him gifts.  There is a lot of meaning in these gifts.  Gold was a gift for royalty, frankincense was used for priests, and myrrh was for anointing.  These give us big clues to the kingship, humanity, and divinity of Christ.

In today's passage the wise men obey the orders of Herod and depart to find the newborn king of the Jews.  They see the star that guides them and they go with great joy.

In today's passage we read about Herod summoning the wise men for a secret meeting.  He tells them to locate the Christ child so he can go worship him, but this is a lie and a big ruse.

In today's passage Matthew gives us a quotation from Micah 5:2 and 2 Samuel 5:2.  The passage gives us a glimpse into the importance of the birthplace and kingship of Jesus.

Today we continue in the infancy narrative of Jesus to see  concerned Herod who begins to obsess over the the baby Jesus.  Why?  He knows that his power is illegitimate and Matthew firmly established the kingly lineage of Christ in 1:1-17.  

In today's passage we read about Jesus being born in Bethlehem.  This was the city of David and where David was anointed king.  It is also known as "House of Bread" and Jesus would call himself the "Bread of Life".  We are also introduced to the Herod, the Magi, and a peculiar backdrop from the book of Numbers. 

This passage is one commonly used by our Protestant friends to say that Joseph had relations with Mary.  Is that the case?  Not really.  In today's episode we take a deeper look.

In today's passage Matthew gives us the first of the Old Testament prophecies that are fulfilled in the incarnation.  Jesus is coming to save the people from their sin.

In today's passage an angel appears to Joseph in a dream to reassure Joseph of Mary's pregnancy.  There are interesting backgrounds at play that would not be lost on Matthew's audience.  They all point to Jesus as the promised Messiah.