THE RETURN TO NAZARETH

Flight to Egypt by Giotto di Bondone, 1302-03

 (Sometime Later After 4 BC)

Matthew 2:19-23 and Luke 2:39b; 1:80; 2:40

But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.”

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus [Herod Archelaus, 23 BC – Circa 18 AD. Ruled 4 BC – 6AD] did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go toward that place: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside.

There is as usual some historic debate over the rule by Herod Archelaus. He is said to have ruled from 4 BC through 6 AD. There are historians who say he ruled for a period while his father Herod the Great was still alive. There is also support for the idea that Herod the Great did not die until 1 BC, rather than in 4 BC. Herod the Great had two of his son murdered, and he may have planned the same fate for Archelaus, but something changed this ending. At any rate, Herod the Great had named his son Herod Antipas, from wife number four, Malthace, to succeed him. He then executed another son, Antipater III from his wife Doris in 4 BC and changed his will again, naming Herod Archelaus to the kingship. It is quite possible that Herod the Great gave over rule in the final days of his terrible illness to Archelaus before he actually died.  Herod Archelaus had a reign filled with constant turmoil and riot.

Herod the Great had Judas and Matthias, two teachers, along with their students burned alive for removing Roman Eagles from the Temple entrance as idols. This resulted in Archelaus facing angry mobs demanding rehabilitation of the teachers’ reputations. He had three thousand of these Jews executed during Passover.

Archelaus then went to Rome to have himself crowned king and while there men, a robber named Judas, a slave named Simon and a shepherd named Athronges led a number of riots. These three men may have been presenting themselves as the Messiah. Remember, the Jews were expecting the Messiah around this time and there were a number of people who made claim on the title before Jesus. Archelaus’ own army was unable to successfully quell these uprising and Rome had to step in and Two thousand people were crucified as a result.

Archelaus’ was so unpopular that he accomplished some unity between the Jews and the Samaritans who jointly petitioned Rome for his being de-throned. Augustus acceded to this in 6 AD and Herod Antipas was made the King.  Archelaus ended up banished to Gaul and died sometime before 18 AD.

No wonder Joseph hesitated to return to Bethlehem from Egypt. He was once again warned in a dream not to go there, but to take the family to Nazareth in Galilee.

They returned into the parts of Galilee and he came to and dwelled in their own city, a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene”.

Note this states “the prophets”, not “a specific prophet”. What is being said is that various prophets predicted Jesus would be despised or considered common. A Nazarene was a person looked down on, a prejudice of the time. Look to Nathanael’s question in John 1:46 (NIV): “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?) But don’t look for the quote in any particular prophet. However, keep in mind the Gospel writers, as well as the religious scholars of that day did have interpretations about the Scriptures (Old Testament books) and this reference could be to such prophetic passages as Isaiah 4:2: In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. (NIV)

The name Nazareth can be translated as Town of the Branch. Jesus as the Son of God was the Branch of God.  (Do not confuse Nazarene with Nazirite, who was someone that had taken a special vow to God, such as Samson.)

It is not clear how long Jesus was kept in Egypt, but he is described as a young child here. “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.”