The eternal Word through whom all things were made entered the world as a child. An angel spoke to a young woman in Nazareth, a census sent a family to Bethlehem, shepherds heard the news first, and wise men came from the east. John says simply that the Word became flesh and lived among us.
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John's Gospel begins where Genesis begins, "in the beginning", and tells us that the Word who was with God and was God became flesh. Luke and Matthew tell the same truth from the ground: a betrothed girl in Nazareth, a carpenter who obeyed a dream, a census that brought the family to David's town, and a newborn laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the guest quarters.
The details matter. Bethlehem is where Micah said the ruler would come from. Immanuel is the name Isaiah gave. The child is born into David's family, which is why both Matthew and Luke stop to give His lineage.
The Old Testament threads in this chapter show how the birth narratives are woven from promises made centuries earlier.
Events in this chapter
- Event
The annunciation to Mary
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to tell Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son named Jesus, who would receive the throne of David and reign forever. Mary answered as the Lord's servant.
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Mary visits Elizabeth
Mary hurried to the hill country to her relative Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant with John. At Mary's greeting the child leaped in Elizabeth's womb, Elizabeth blessed Mary and her child, and Mary sang the song of praise known as the Magnificat.
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The birth of John the Baptist
Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and against family expectation both parents insisted his name was John. Zechariah's speech returned and, filled with the Holy Spirit, he prophesied that the child would go before the Lord to prepare His way.
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The birth of Jesus
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea to Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, during the reign of Herod the Great. Luke records the manger and the angels' announcement to shepherds; Matthew records Joseph's obedience and the visit of the magi.
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The presentation in the temple
Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and offer the sacrifice the law required of a poor family. Simeon, promised he would see the Lord's Christ, took the child in his arms and called Him a light for the nations; the prophetess Anna gave thanks and spoke of Him to all who waited for redemption.
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The visit of the magi
Magi from the east followed a star to Jerusalem asking where the king of the Jews had been born. Herod's scribes pointed them to Bethlehem from Micah's prophecy, and the magi found the child with Mary, worshiped Him, and gave gold, frankincense, and myrrh before slipping home by another road.
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The flight to Egypt
Warned in a dream, Joseph took the child and His mother to Egypt by night. Herod, enraged at the magi, had every boy in Bethlehem two years old and under killed. After Herod's death Joseph brought the family back to the land of Israel and settled in Nazareth in Galilee.
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The boy Jesus in the temple
When Jesus was twelve, His family went up to Jerusalem for the Passover. On the way home His parents realized He was missing and found Him three days later in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers. Asked why, He replied that He had to be in His Father's house.
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Old Testament threads 9
Promises and patterns in this chapter
Matthew 2:6 quotes Micah 5:2
Direct quotationHigh confidenceWhen Herod asks where the Christ is to be born, the chief priests and scribes answer by quoting Micah's word about Bethlehem. Matthew presents the quotation as the accepted reading of the prophecy.
Evidence:Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14
Direct quotationHigh confidenceMatthew quotes Isaiah's sign of the virgin who conceives and bears a son called Immanuel, and applies it to the conception of Jesus.
Evidence:Other responsible views
- Near fulfillment in Isaiah's day: Many interpreters read Isaiah 7:14 as also having a near referent in Ahaz's time, with Matthew seeing a fuller fulfillment in Jesus. This is a widely held view and does not deny Matthew's use of the text.
Matthew 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1
Direct quotationHigh confidenceMatthew quotes Hosea's line about Israel's exodus and applies it to the child's return from Egypt. In Hosea the son is Israel; Matthew reads the Son as retracing Israel's story.
Evidence:Other responsible views
- Hosea speaks of Israel, not the Messiah: Hosea 11:1 refers to the nation's exodus. Matthew's use is widely understood as typological: Jesus relives Israel's history as the true Son. This reading does not deny Hosea's original sense.
Matthew 2:18 quotes Jeremiah 31:15
Direct quotationHigh confidenceMatthew quotes Jeremiah's picture of Rachel weeping for her children to describe the grief of Bethlehem after Herod's killing of the boys.
Evidence:Other responsible views
- Jeremiah's context is the exile: In Jeremiah the weeping is for the exiles led away from Ramah, and the chapter goes on to promise their return. Matthew's use evokes both the grief and the hope of that chapter.
Luke 1:46-55 echoes 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Strong allusion or echoHigh confidenceMary's song follows the shape and themes of Hannah's: rejoicing in God's salvation, the humble raised and the proud brought down, the hungry filled and the rich sent away.
Luke 1:17 alludes to Malachi 4:5-6
Strong allusion or echoHigh confidenceGabriel says John will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to children, the language of Malachi's closing promise.
Evidence:Luke 2:32 alludes to Isaiah 49:6
Strong allusion or echoHigh confidenceSimeon calls the child a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for Israel, echoing the servant songs' light for the nations.
Evidence:Luke 2:23 quotes Exodus 13:2
Direct quotationHigh confidenceLuke cites the law that every firstborn male is consecrated to the Lord as the reason for the presentation.
Evidence:Matthew 2:23 alludes to Isaiah 11:1
Disputed interpretationDisputedMatthew says the settlement in Nazareth fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets, that He would be called a Nazarene, but no Old Testament verse contains those words. The most common proposal hears a play on Isaiah's Branch (Hebrew netzer) from the stump of Jesse; others hear the prophets' theme of a despised Messiah, or the Nazirite of Judges 13. FaithGraph records the question as open.
Other responsible views
- The Branch of Isaiah 11:1: Nazareth and the Hebrew word for branch, netzer, share consonants; Matthew may be pointing to the Branch from Jesse's stump.
- The despised one: Nazareth was an obscure village, and several prophets speak of a Messiah despised and rejected; Matthew may be summarizing that theme.
- Nazirite: Some connect the word to the Nazirite vow of Judges 13:5, though Jesus was not a Nazirite.
Explore the layers
People, places, themes, and passages in this chapter
- Event
The exile and the return
Babylon burned the temple and carried Judah into exile, apparently ending the line of David. Jeremiah had promised that after seventy years God would bring the people back, and the decree of Cyrus of Persia opened the way home and the rebuilding of the temple.
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Gabriel
Gabriel is the angel who explains visions to Daniel and who, in Luke, announces the births of John to Zechariah in the temple and of Jesus to Mary in Nazareth. He describes himself as one who stands in the presence of God and is sent to bring good news.
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Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary was a young woman of Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, who received the angel Gabriel's announcement that she would conceive a son by the Holy Spirit and name Him Jesus. Luke records her consent and her song of praise; John places her at the cross.
Focus this layer - Place
Nazareth
Nazareth was a small village in Lower Galilee where Jesus grew up, which is why He is called Jesus of Nazareth. Luke records the annunciation to Mary there and Jesus's later rejection in its synagogue.
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Promise and fulfillment
Promise and fulfillment is the pattern by which the New Testament reads the Old: God speaks in advance through prophets, patterns, and covenants, and the Gospels show those words coming true in Jesus. FaithGraph labels each such link by the kind of evidence behind it.
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The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is God's active reign, promised through Israel's prophets and announced by Jesus as having come near in Himself. Jesus taught its character in parables, displayed it in healings, and said it would grow until His return.
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Elizabeth
Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron, the wife of the priest Zechariah, righteous and childless until old age. God gave her a son, John the Baptist. When the pregnant Mary visited her, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed Mary as the mother of her Lord.
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John the Baptist
John the Baptist was the prophet who preached repentance in the wilderness of Judea and baptized in the Jordan River. He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, baptized Him, and was later imprisoned and executed by Herod Antipas.
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Zechariah, father of John
Zechariah was a priest of the division of Abijah serving in the temple when Gabriel told him his elderly wife Elizabeth would bear a son named John. Because he doubted, he was silent until the child was named. His speech returned in a prophecy about the dawn from on high visiting God's people.
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