A PROBLEM WITH DATES

Portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout, 1623

When was William Shakespeare born and when did he die? What did he look like?

These should be pretty knowable things. After all, Shakespeare breathed his last less that 400 years ago and nearly 1,600 years after Jesus Christ was crucified. This is not ancient history. Shakespeare lived after 1500 AD; the year generally considered the beginning of modern civilization.

There is his familiar likeness above and schoolbooks tell us he was born on April 23, 1564 and died on his fifty-second birthday, April 23, 1616.

Except we really don’t know for certain what he looked like and those birth-death dates, which are probably close and possibly correct, are merely conjecture, not established fact. The portrait above appeared on a Folio of Shakespeare’s work seven years after the playwright’s death rendered by a man who, in all likelihood, had never seen Shakespeare.  Every likeness since has been based on that portrait. There is no written description of Shakespeare’s looks or contemporary portrait in existence. (There have been a couple of paintings unearthed in recent years with claims of being made during Shakespeare life, but these are not authenticated.)

The portrait on the right is known as the “Chandos portrait”, after the 

former owners, the Dukes of Chandos. The painting has been attributed to John Taylor, but also to Richard Burbage. No one really knows if it was either or someone else. It is believed to been painted from life between 1600 and 1610 – it is believed, but not certain. It fact, it isn’t even absolutely certain subject is Shakespeare, although the National Portrait Gallery feels it probably is  -- meaning it possibly isn’t. It is noted that subsequent, posthumous portraits of the author were most likely based on the Chandos Portrait. 

As to the dates, his birth has been conjectured as April 23, 1564 because there is a baptism registry at Holy Trinity Parish Church in Stratford dated April 26, 1564. Since it was a common practice to baptize three days after birth, it is assumed his birthday was on the 23^rd. However, common practice is not certainty. Infants were sometimes baptized on the day of birth and sometimes not baptized until months later. 

Somewhat the same reasoning is used in establishing his death. His burial is registered in the same Stratford Church as April 25, 1616. How long before his funeral did he die? Well, April 23 makes for a convenient date because it is St. George’s Day and St. George is the Patron Saint of England.  What better date for England’s greatest writer to have been both born and died? Of course, there has been a long debate if Shakespeare actually wrote those plays that earned him that accolade.

The death of Julius Caesar occurred on the Ides of March (the 15^th), 44 BC or at least that is the preponderance of acceptance (notice I said acceptance, not evidence). There may be one problem if the writings of Pliny the Elder are accurate. Pliny was born the closest to the death of Julius than the other ancient historians, especially Plutarch, who we depend upon. Plutarch was born in 46 AD and Pliny was born in 23 AD. 

According to Pliny there was a solar eclipse in the year of Julius’ death sometime after he was dead. There were no visible solar eclipses in the Roman Empire during 44 BC or the immediate years around it. There was such an eclipse in August 49 BC.

Pliny also quotes Augustus Caesar as saying he saw, soon after Julius’ death, a comet in the northern skies over a period of seven days. Such a comet was recorded in 49 BC, but not in 44 BC. So was Julius Caesar actually assassinated in 49 BC instead of 44 BC?

I don’t know? Can we rely on the writing of one ancient historian? (Unlike other issues discussed throughout this document where multiple sources support the statements made, I have only found one source so far claiming that Julius Caesar died in 49 BC, Biblical Chronology. The information about solar eclipses and comets is supported elsewhere, but that these occurred during the year of Caesar’s death seems to rely mainly on the writings of Pliny the Elder. I would want further documentation on this one. The picture of Julius Caesar used here is part of a statue by Nicolas Coustou done in 1696. Did Julius really look like this?)

We do know Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by 23 men and his last words were, “Et tu Brute?” Right?

Well, maybe, maybe not. We really aren’t sure of Julius’ last words. Suetonius wrote they were “You too, child?” Plutarch wrote Julius uttered no last words. It was Shakespeare who put the words “Et tu Brute” into Caesar’s mouth, you know the guy who may or may not have been born and died on April 23 and may or may not have written “Julius Caesar”.

How many men assassinated Julius Caesar? One credible source says 23 men, another says 37 did and yet another says 60 men were involved. More honest accounts admit the number isn’t known.

Let’s step back even further in our list of great men to Alexander the 

Great. We hear much about this man with little question as to the veracity of the accounts of his life. It is interesting that critics attack the accuracy of biographies of Christ’s life because they were written dozens of years after his departure, but except willingly the biographies of Alexander written 500 years after his death. (To this day, exactly how Alexander died is uncertain.) His date of birth is categorically given as either July 20 or 21 of 356 BC. This is based on Alexander being born on the Hecatombacon Sixth of the Athenian Festival Calendar. However, the Athenians were very sloppy calendar keepers or we should say calendars, for they had a second calendar for the political year. Hecatombacon was the first month of the Festival calendar and in theory began on the first new moon after the summer solstice. We say theoretically because the astrological, civil and religious calendars did not agree on when the months began, how many there were in a given year or how many days long they were. Despite the statement that Alexander was born on July 20 or 21 of 356 BC, the truth is it is impossible to really know.

This raises the subject of our own modern calendar and the birth of Jesus, whom it is supposedly based upon. After all, BC stands for “Before Christ” and AD is short for “Anno Domini”, which means “In the Year of Our Lord”. (You will notice I stand by these designation rather than the more recent attempts to secularize the division by using BCE “Before the Common Era” and CE “Common Era” (although these designations still have their division based on the life of Christ, but don’t tell the secularists who deceive themselves into believing changing the name changes the facts.)

It is problematic establishing conclusive dates, especially dates in ancient history. Obviously we can have difficulties because there was not always a standardized calendar, as we have seen with the Greeks. Various countries and people had their own means of counting time. The Jews and Romans, for instance, based their calendars on moon cycles, while we use a calendar today based on the earth’s orbit of the sun. 

The standardized worldwide calendar of our time is called the Gregorian calendar.  There was a partially standardized calendar prior to the Gregorian called the Julian calendar. Although both are based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, they did have a slight difference in the count of days and had to be adjusted. Both require a leap year every four years. However, leap years were erroneously added every three years early in the use of the Julian and this over time resulted in a loss of ten days.

Although the Gregorian corrected some of the errors of the Julian calendar, it presented some problems of its own. Years in the Gregorian were dated from the birth of Christ. Years after his birth were counted forward and those before his birth were counted backward. The span of someone who lived in AD would be shown as 1900-1970 AD, while a person born in BC would be shown as 1970-1900 BC. There is no year zero, which further adds confusion. Some people think 2010 is the first year of a new decade, but in reality it is the last year of the current decade; 1999 was not the last year of the previous century, 2000 was. Our current century began on January 1, 2001.

Furthermore, 1 AD is not correct as the first year of Christ’s life, which is a matter of considerable dispute.

The Julian and Gregorian Calendars are not that old relatively. The Roman’s had a rather messy Calendar up to Julius Caesar. One big problem with it was politicians and others would change it to curry favor, thereby making exact dating difficult. This Calendar had become such an unreliable tool by the time of Julius Caesar that he had a new Calendar created. This was the Julian calendar. It was created in 46 BC and went into use in 45 BC. This was replaced by our modern calendar in 1582 under the auspices of Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it is named.

One of those fringe issues that divert people’s attention to the Gospel truths about Jesus is the debate over his birth date.  Information given by Luke and Matthew about certain personages is often used to try and pinpoint the year.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was {governor} of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. Luke 2:1-3

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2

There isn’t much doubt that Caesar Augustus, Quirinius and Herod the Great were contemporaries around the period where BC ended and AD began. However, one question raised is the status of Quirinius during the time prior to 1 AD. It is accepted that Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was Governor of Syria by 6 AD, but not earlier. Remember though, we are dealing with ancient times fraught with questionable histories and dating procedures, not to mention missing or unknown records. Still, there are several possible answers to the Quirinius Question.

The word translated in Scripture as “governor” was  “hegemon”, which means “ruling officer or procurator”. Quirinius did not become actual governor {legatus – different word} until later, but there is no reason to dispute Luke calling him a ruling officer at this time. Quirinius was serving in an official governing position in the last decade of BC (and there were many censuses taken during this period of time, any number of which could have been this one).

Other legitimate possibilities have their defenders. One is that Quirinius served as governor more than once and there is archeological evidence to the effect he did so serve during the later years of BC. A second proposition is there was another man named Quirinius. (Names are another area of confusion in ancient times and two people are often mistaken as one and the same. Sometimes one individual is also thought to be two different individuals because they went by more than one name.) Another argument is that Luke’s Greek was translated wrongly and should have been translated as “before Quirinius was governor of Syria.” Yet, another argument is that Jesus was actually born between 5 and 8 AD.  This argument hinges on the theory that Herod the Great died in 8 AD, not 4 BC and there are proponents who make a case for 8 AD. (Personally, I am not among those who place Christ’s birth that late.)

Now, why does Herod’s death date come into the discussion?  Because Herod (pictured right as portrayed in “The Bible Series on History”) was alive 

when Jesus was born according to Matthew. It was commonly accepted that Herod died in 4 BC and thus estimated that Jesus was born in 5 or 6 BC. (It is sometimes assumed Jesus must have been a child about two years old when the Magi visited and told Herod when the Star first appeared. Why? It was assumed so because Herod ordered all boys in Bethlehem up to the age of two to be killed. This is only conjecture. Herod may very well been playing it safe, overkill as it were, and Jesus may have still been an infant when the Magi came. I personally believe Jesus was closer to two.) 

But nothing is set in stone when we deal with dates two thousand years ago. So when did Herod die? Well, pick a year: 6 BC, 4 BC, 1 BC or 8 AD. In many reference books it will say he died in 4 BC. However, more recent evidence suggests he died in 1 BC. 

Part of the difficulty is much about Herod relies upon the works of Titus Flavius Josephus (37 – 100 AD – pictured left). Josephus wrote a twenty-volume history called “The Antiquities of the Jews” and an eight-volume history called “The War of the Jews”.  Josephus wrote two accounts concerning the life of Herod the Great, but these contain inconsistencies and discrepancies on events and the age of Herod at the time events occurred.

There are very good arguments based on known information that Herod died later that 4 BC and I am leaning toward the persuasions that he died in 1 BC. (You can find more information supporting this in the Catholic Encyclopedia, in Novum Testamentum by Andrew E. Steinmann or at www.bethlehemstar.net among others. (I recommend bethlehemstar as a very thought provoking theory that Christ was born in June of 2 BC, the Magi arrived in Bethlehem in December 2 BC (on the 25^th no less) and that Herod died in 1 BC.)

I believe all the swirling debates over dates are inconclusive, circumstantial and speculative, and do not affect the truth or accuracy of Scripture. I trust the Scriptural account more than any questionable opinions written by men, including my own. I take the stand the account of Jesus’ life is true and accurate according to the Word of God. We should concentrate on the story of salvation, rather than be diverted into irresolvable bickering over dates. There exists enough evidence to support any apologetic of supposed conflicts within the Bible to render criticism mote and inconsequential.

One final consideration, in looking backward from a distance, we mustn’t forget contemporary acceptance. Certainly we have record of those enemies of Christ who brought accusations against him, the Apostles and the early Church. These included calling Jesus and his Disciples drunkards, claiming Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier and spreading a rumor his disciples stole the body from the tomb. These are smear campaigns much as we see today between political opponents. There are theological debates and arguments within the church over procedural and devotional matters. But there isn’t dispute over historic facts. 

Luke addressed both his Gospel and Acts to Theophilus, for instance (refer to “Luke’s Introduction” ).  If Luke’s information about the personages mentioned or issues such as the census were incorrect, Theophilus most likely would have caught the error and informed Luke of it. Why would Theophilus be receptive to a second volume, Acts, if he saw major errors of recent history in the first volume? 

We mustn’t lose sight that when Luke and the others wrote their accounts and letters there were those alive familiar with the facts. If a biographer of John F. Kennedy wrote that Mark Chapman assassinated him in Denver in 1959, there would be many, many people quick to complain to the publisher about these errors because they had been alive at the time and remembered it was Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas in 1963. Subsequent editions of the biography would correct this or the book would soon be assigned to the junk heap and oblivion. Why would we think grievous errors in Luke or by any other Gospel writer on the daily news of their times would escape contemporary notice?

INTRODUCTION

Adam and Eve by Raphael (Raffaello Santi of Urbino), 1509-1511.

When God created Adam and Eve the world was good. They fell into disobedience and sin was brought into the world. This tainted everything and brought death to all. But before the creation God had a plan in place to restore mankind. Even as he put a curse on the world, he made this promise of a future redeemer:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15

Although created by God, Adam and Eve inclined toward their own desires and by listening to Satan man became the Devil’s adopted offspring. But there would be a future offspring of woman, one not of any man, who would eventually crush the head of evil. His name would be Jesus.

However, in those early times, men grieved God so much by their depravity he considered wiping all off the face of the Earth. Still, he remembered his promise of The Redeemer and God never breaks a promise. God found one righteous man and his family to save a sample of each living creature. Noah was not the promised Redeemer of course. Noah did not redeem mankind. He merely preserved it and allowed it to start anew. The sinful nature that began with Adam was preserved along with mankind and the promise of a coming Redeemer was still needed.

Among the survivors, of the Flood God had used to destroy his creation were Noah’s three sons. All the people living upon the planet today descended from those three.

The inhabitants of what we call the Middle East basically descended from Shem. Thus they are known as Semites.  Shem’s grandson was Eber. Jewish tradition holds that Eber refused to help in the building of the Tower of Babel and he was allowed to retain his own language, the original language of mankind. Eber’s descendents were Eberites. However, the name Eber was sometimes shown as Heber (I had an Uncle Heber named for him) and in time his descendents and their language was called Hebrew. A further descendent of Eber was Abrams, who was renamed by God as Abraham. He was to become the great patriarch of the Hebrews and they were God’s Chosen people from whom the Redeemer would one day come and they were to show God’s way to the world. (The name Jew referred to those of the Tribe of Judah, but the name eventually came to mean all those of the Hebrew faith.)

Despite the fresh start, as the population grew, people again turned to wickedness, even the Chosen People. God sent prophets to warn them and call them to repentance, but they ignored and sometimes even killed these messengers. Finally, God dispersed the Hebrews and sent many into captivity in Babylon. The country of Israel and Judah was taken from them and Jerusalem and the temple destroyed. The Law itself was lost to the people for decades.

In 539 B.C., King Nabonidus surrendered Babylon to the Persian King Cyrus without a fight.  Within the year, the first Jews were allowed to return to their former homeland. By 516 B.C. a new temple had been built.

Ezra, accompanied by about 5,000 former exiles, arrived out of Babylon in 458 B.C. Nehemiah was overseeing the building of a reconstructed wall around Jerusalem, and after its completion in 445 B.C., Ezra stood and read the Law of Moses to the assembled people. (The Book of the Law had been rediscovered during construction.) Since the Law had been lost, the people were overjoyed at hearing it again. They forsook idols and returned to accepting the One and Only Mighty God.

Despite these incredible events, a mere 15 years later the Jews had strayed again. They were sacrificing blemished animals, showing their disrespect to God, and they were marrying foreigners. Why was it bad to marry foreigners? Because God had promised a redeemer and he had promised this redeemer would be a direct and unblemished descendent of Abraham and of David. If the Jews continued to marry with foreigners that ancestry would be lost and God’s plan could not be fulfilled.

So in 430 B.C., God raised up a prophet named Malachi who warned the Jews of coming judgment if they didn’t repent. His prophecies came with assurances of God’s love for them and a promise of salvation. And so it was with these words in Malachi quoting God that the Old Testament comes to an end:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6

We have 400 silent years between the Old and New Testaments; between the prophesies of Malachi and the Birth of Our Lord, Christ Jesus. Much changed in the world in those years.

Alexander the Great defeated Persia in 331 B.C. King Darius was killed by his own men. Alexander went on to rule the known world until 323 B.C., when he died under mysterious circumstances.

His empire was divided among four of his top generals and split into four sectors ruled thusly: Seleucus (Asia), Ptolemy (Egypt), Lysimachus (Thrace) and Cassander, son of Antipater over Macedonia/Greece. (Many think of Cleopatra VII [69 B.C. - 30 B.C.] as Egyptian, but she was Macedonian/Greek being the last Ptolemy ruler of Egypt, which upon her death became part of the Roman Empire. Her father was Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes his sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena, was most likely her mother. (Cleopatra VII was married to two of her own brothers, before having her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.)

The Jews, after Alexander, came under Seleucid rule. However, when the Seleucid King Antiochus defiled the Jewish Temple in 167 B.C. (a foreshadowing of the future Antichrist), Judah Maccabeus led a Jewish Army, which defeated the Seleucids. This began what is called the Hasmonean Rule of Palestine. However, in 63 B.C., the great Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and Israel once again lost its independence and came under Roman Rule.

In 42 B.C., Mark Antony appointed Herod tetrarch of Galilee. The Jews resented him because he wasn’t a Jew. He was an Idumean with an Arabian mother. (Idumea was the Greek name for Edom, which bordered Judea on the south. This was a land populated by the descendents of Esau, Edom being another name of his. Esau was the brother of Jacob. The Edomites were perpetual thorns in the side of the Israelites. Given the history between Israel and Edom, it is no wonder the Jews were not happy to have Herod named their king.)  During the Parthian War, Herod had to flee because the Jews sided with the Parthians. But after the war and order was restored, Rome reinstated Herod as the sole ruler of Judea. Thus in 37 B.C., Herod the Great was King of the Jews. He was ruling when Jesus was born.

During the Hasmonean Rule arose three important factions among the Jews: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes.

The Pharisees were spiritual leaders to the extreme. They not only embraced the Law, but also began to add to it their own interpretation and traditions. They did, however, believe in an afterlife, the judgment of the wicked and a coming Messiah.

The Sadducees were an elite priestly group, yet liberally embraced Greek ways into their lives. They insisted on a literal interpretation of the Law rejecting the ideas of the Pharisees, including resurrection. Their lives revolved around ritual and the Temple. They disappeared from history with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

The Essenes didn’t like either of the other two groups. They became monks, moved to the desert and strictly obeyed dietary laws and being celibate. They are associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

During this time a body came into existence known as the Sanhedrin (sitting together). It was a ruling institution for the Jews, a sort of Supreme Court and legislature rolled into one. It consisted of 71 Jewish elders and was presided over by a President and a Chancellor. Members of the Sanhedrin did not gain a seat by election. The supplanted a sitting member on the council be establishing superior knowledge of the Law. (Nicodemus and Saul [Paul) held seats in the council at times.) Both Pharisees and Sadducees were members of this group.

Another group often mention is Scripture were the Scribes. These were akin to attorneys.

So when we come to the beginning of the New Testament and the birth of Jesus, the world is quite different than it was when Malachi talked of a coming prophet like Elijah. The Persian Empire has been replaced by the Roman Empire. The King of Judea is not of the line of David, but a non-Jew named Herod. The Jewish religion and tradition is not being directed by God’s chosen prophets, but is in the hands of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. It is also a time when many Jews are earnestly expecting the promised Messiah to come as a king that will defeat Rome and rule as David once did. This is the world at the time the Christ came.

THE VISIT OF THE MAGI

The Adoration of the Magi by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1632

Matthew 2:1-12

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod [the Great, 73 BC – 4 BC] the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him?”

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the princes of Judea: for out of you shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’ [Micah 5:2].”

Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

A possible natural explanation of the behavior of this star is this. The Magi were familiar with the heavens and the constellations. They had interpreted a triple conjunction of the planet Jupiter with Venus and the “king star” Regulus. They had then been following the movement of Jupiter until they arrived in Bethlehem at the time of its retrograde; that is, the point when Jupiter would begin its turn back on its orbit. To the naked eye this would appear as if the planet (or wandering star as it would have been called) had stopped. [Google www.bethlehemstar.net for more on the triple conjunction of Jupiter and its orbit.]

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

But who are these Magi?

The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. "O king, live forever!" she said. "Don't be alarmed! Don't look so pale! There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king, I say—appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. This man Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means." Daniel 5:10-12 (NIV)

The old crèche we have is misnamed because what we have is a cardboard stable with a tiny crèche (manger) to place inside and a number of plaster figurines to position around the baby Jesus. (Actually the stable is probably inaccurate as well. Most likely Jesus was born inside a cave where the innkeeper sheltered his livestock, rather than an outbuilding of any kind.) Three of these figures are of men dressed in lavish clothes with crowns on their heads and each holding a gift. One is kneeling, one is standing and one leans down atop a camel.

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Following yonder star.

-- Rev. John Henry Hopkins 1857                         

This is a popular Christmas Carol. It was probably heard more when I was growing up than today (after all that was a lot closer to 1857 when it was written than now). It was one of my favorites as a boy. Unfortunately these guys weren't kings, there were probably more than three and there are some questions about that 'yonder star' as well. They also weren't there at the manger right after Christ was born, nope, not even six days later on Epiphany (the twelfth day of Christmas). So let see what Matthew 2 had to say about these guys

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)

The Magi were priests, not kings. They were in fact "king-makers". They most likely traveled from Persia to Jerusalem after seeing astrological alignments that indicated the time predicted for a coming great king had arrived. The distance they came was perhaps a thousand miles and by camel (although they probably traveled on horses) in those days took a large part of a year’s journey. For such a trip, three guys wouldn't have set out alone. There most likely was a group of Magi accompanied by a small army of armed bodyguards making the trek. Just because they brought three gifts doesn't mean there were only three givers. Assuming they saw this "star" on the night Christ was born, much as the Shepherds saw a great light and then Angels in the sky, and given the time to travel the distance, then Mary and Joseph would have been living in a house by the time they arrived to worship.

But why would they be looking for this event and why make such a trip? They weren't Jewish. First of all, there was a lot of anticipation throughout the East at the time of some expected world king. The Jews certainly were anticipating their Messiah in these years. Ancient historians noted the anticipation of such an event: 

"There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world " (Suetonius, Life of Vespasian, 4: 5). 

 "(T)here was a firm persuasion ... that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire " (Tacitus, Histories, 5: 13).

The Jews believed "about that time one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth” - (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 6: 5, 4).

We must also consider that the Magi may be very well aware of Daniel's timetable for the appearance of the Messiah. We have to remember that Daniel was once the Chief of the Magi and would have had great influence upon them (See Daniel 5:10-11 quoted earlier in this chapter).

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ‘And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, are not the least among the princes of Judea: for out of you shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel’”

I bet King Herod was disturbed! If there already was murmurs about a coming King of Judea, who would rule the world, having people of the stature of the Magi pop in and ask where he was born must have really knocked Herod back on his heels. 

The man wasn't exactly the people's favorite. Herod wasn't actually even Jewish  and he had half bribed and half manipulated his way into the Kingship. He wasn't a man above  killing his own family to protect his crown; he certainly didn't want to hear about some upstart king threatening his rule.

Knowing the nature of King Herod is probably what got all of Jerusalem disturbed. Plus, a lot of people in high places were surely as corrupt as Herod and knew how things went with him would effect how things went for them. A new King could cost them, too. 

The Priests and Scribes knew where the Messiah was to be born. There was no hesitation and no lack of knowledge on their part. No surprise here about a Messiah. He was to come from the line of Jesse, from the great King David and from David's city, Bethlehem. (Note that Bethlehem means "house of bread" and from it would come the "Bread of life".)

Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

Do you notice something here? Herod met the Magi secretly. He was plotting and didn't want any one getting suspicious. He got some vital information, the time of when the star first appeared, which he would later use to his own end. Then he tried to get the Magi to make it easy for him and come back to say exactly where this newborn king could be found.

They didn't come back and tell him, so he ordered all male babies age two and under in Bethlehem killed.  Why two and under? Just to be on the safe side? Perhaps or It could be the date he was given for the star's appearance was two years earlier.

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

There is some strange behavior on the part of this "star". The Magi saw it in the east when Jesus was born and followed it. But somewhere along the way, the star disappeared. This is why they came to Herod and inquired about the birthplace. Why did they need direction if the star was guiding them all the way?

But then after they left Herod and headed for Bethlehem, the star appeared again and took them to the house (see, Mary and Joseph were now in a house) where they worshiped Him.

Now, many have speculated on this star. Some have though it was a comet or a meteor or some other natural occurrence. I believe it could be a divine light, perhaps an Angel that led them. Why need we look for natural phenomena to explain this? God led the Hebrews through the desert as a pillar of smoke and fire, why couldn't he provide a miraculous guide to the Magi?

However, there is the possibility it was a natural occurrence designed by God for that exact moment when He created the universe. The Magi could have observed a triple conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and Regulas and then followed the orbit of Jupiter across the skies to Judea. At the point of retrograde over Bethlehem, the planet Jupiter would appear to the naked eye as stopping. (Planet comes from the Greek “planetes”, which meant wanderer. In ancient times planets were viewed as stars, which wandered.) There was such a conjunction in the years 3 and 2 BC. If research that indicates that Herod the Great died in 1 BC, rather than the previously conjectured 4 BC (see the notes on dates at the beginning of this work), this would fit into the birth of Jesus quite well. For a fascinating explanation of this and other heavenly phenomena at the same time go to www.bethlehemstar.net.

Here we have the Magi presenting their gifts. Because three kinds of gifts were given, one representing kingship, one representing priesthood and one representing the saving sacrifice, we always just show three Magi handing over a gift. It says they presented him gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. There could have been more than one package of each.

The gifts of the Magi not only symbolized the roles Jesus would fill, King, Priest and Sacrifice, but they provided means for Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt and survive there until they could return home. See, God provides for our necessities in whatever our situation. 

THE ESCAPE TO EGYPT

Flight Into Egypt by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1923

Matthew 2:13-18

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be you there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt have I called my son”. [Hosea 11:1 (Greek: egontos, eks aiguptou ekalesa ton huion mou meaning, “Out of Egypt have I called the son of Me”.)  Matthew was saying the statement was made perfect in Christ.]

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not [Jeremiah 31:15]”.

This was an act true to Herod’s nature. He had obtained great power in his lifetime and he maintained it through the use of murder and terror. He had had wives and sons murdered as well as anyone else he deemed a threat to his throne. The monastery of the Essenes at Qumran had been violently destroyed by arson in 8 BC and Herod was the prime suspect. During these last years of his life, two teachers urged their pupil to remove the gold eagle, the symbol of Rome, from the Temple. Herod had these two teachers and their pupils burned alive.

The Jewish scholars were already anticipating the Messiah because they believed the Messiah would come in the seventy-seventh generation since creation and they believed the seventy-sixths had just passed. The Messiah was viewed as a deliverer who would free them from Rome and sit on David’s throne as King. What Herod thought of these Jewish ideas is hard to say. He himself was not Jewish. His father was Idumean (Edom) and his mother was Arabian. He had been made King of the Jews by Rome and conquest. This made him unpopular with the Orthodox, religious and political parties of the Jews. He was unpopular for his support of Rome, his flaunting of the Law of Moses and for heavy taxation. Obviously, knowing this, he would be leery of any talk of a new King of the Jews.

Amidst such rumors, along come the Magi, people known as “King Makers”. Asking where this new king was born. This must have scared Herod to death. His action of mass murder of children is certainly something he would have considered to nip any threat to his throne in the bud. One must remember, Herod when knowing his death was imminent ordered his followers to arrest all the leading men of the city and imprison them with orders that upon his death they were all to be killed. His reasoning was he was so hated by his subjects no one would mourn for his death and on the day he died he wanted to assure the people mourned. Such a man is capable of any depravity.

Josephus wrote that Herod suffered excruciating pain in his final days. From what Josephus described, modern doctor believe chronic kidney disease and Fournier’s gangrene (a necrotizing infection affecting the genitals). The visible worms and putrefaction he suffered were probably scabies or a form of lice. 

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.”

IMPRISONING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

St. John the Baptist in the Prison by Juan Fernández de Navarrete, 1565-70

Machaerus in the Autumn of 27 A.D.

(Matthew 14:3-5, Mark 6:17-20 and Luke 3:19-20)

But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him [John the Baptist] for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife for he had married her.

This gets very convoluted. The Herod being spoken of here was Herod Antipas. He was the son of Herod the Great. His wife, Herodias, was the daughter of Herod Antipas’ stepbrother, Aristobulus. To even further complicate the matter, Herodias had been married to Philip (or Herod-Philip), who was another stepbrother of Herod Antipas and who was the father of Salome. To even add more to this alphabet soup, Herod the Great had yet another son, by Cleopatra, named Heroal-Philip, who was the husband of Salome. Whew! (Source: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915)

Whatever the actual tangle of links in this mess of a family, John the Baptist had been taking Herod to task for marrying Herodias and committing adultery. This didn’t sit well with Herodias and she nagged Herod into having John arrested.

Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison for John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”

Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him but she could not for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

Herodias wanted to go even further and have John executed, but Herod still believed John was a holy man and feared doing anything to him. When Herod finally reached the place where he would have agreed to kill John, he hesitated now because he was afraid what the people might do. 

In the meantime, John languished in prison.

This is rather in conflict with the portrayal of John’s imprisonment in “The History Channel

Series The Bible,” where John is depicted being slapped around by Herod and his prison guards. 

The Scripture tells us Herod actually visited John and listened to him. Herodias, however, would have John killed; yet Herod was not willing to do this. Although Herod Antipas ruled over Judea and Perea, he was not really of Jewish heritage. He was aware of Jewish tradition and beliefs and may have been curious, just as others were whether John was the Messiah. He was certainly curious about John and wanted to learn more. We will see this same type of curiosity and interest shown in the future when Jesus is arrested and brought before him.

At any rate, Herod resisted his wife’s will to have John killed and it took an act of opportunity on Herodias’ part to trick him into the act.