As I was reading Matthew 1-4 again I discovered that I had not noticed a few things in my prior readings. I also started to ask questions I had never asked before. The following is a list of my questions, the answers I have come up with and a summary of the chapters.
Questions:
1)Where is Egypt in relation to Bethlehem? How many miles away? Egypt is 300 miles South of Bethlehem
2) Where was Herod located? Jerusalem
3) How far away from Herod was Bethlehem? Jerusalem is 5 miles North of Bethlehem
4)Were the Magi sent by Herod? NO, they came and Herod attempted to trick them into telling him the location of Jesus
5)Where did the Magi come from? They came from the East; possibilities include Persia 1050 miles and Babylon 720 miles to the East of Bethlehem
6) How long did it take the Magi to get to Jesus?
7)Why does 2:11 say the Magi came to a house? They had to travel along way to see Jesus so it is likely that Mary and Joseph had a house before they came to visit
8) Why did Herod kill the babies that were 2 and under? Was Jesus between 1 and 2 years old when the Magi came? Herod questioned the Magi about when they first saw the star. The Bible does not say how long it took the Magi to leave for the West and it does not say how long it took them to travel to the West. Herod made his decision based on how the Magi answered his question about when they first saw the star. It is possible that Herod added a little bit of time to cover finding and killing Jesus and it is possible that he picked the age of 2 because Jesus was older than one and younger than 2. Picking the age of 2 would have been easy for the soldiers to remember when deciding if a child was to live or die. The Bible is not clear on the answer to this question
9) Who is Rachel in 2:18?
10) How long was Jesus in Egypt as a young child?
11) Were Jesus and John related? Elizabeth, John's mother and Mary, Jesus' mother were cousins. This means John and Jesus were also cousins
12) What is the baptism by fire in 3:11?
13)What does the axe in 3:10 represent and does it mean that the axe is at our feet and when we die is then the tree is cut down? Does it mean that we are pruned as we make bad choices?
14) Who is John speaking to in 3:7-12?
15) Was John tempted in the wilderness like Jesus was? (See Luke... The Bible is not clear on what happened to John in the wilderness)
16) What does Jesus teach us through His example while being tempted?
17) Why/How did angels minister to Jesus (4:11)? Why did that happen? What was the purpose? Do angels minister to us as well or just Jesus?
18) Jesus started off with 5 disciples, how long did He travel with them before picking up the rest?
19) Why did Jesus pick 2 sets of brothers to be His first disciples?
20) Did Jesus' followers come from all the areas in 4:25 to follow Him or did the follow Him to all these areas?
Summary:
The genealogy of Jesus reveals that He is a descendant of Abraham and David through His earthly father Joseph...not Mary. There were 42 generations between Abraham and Jesus. Mary was a virgin until after Jesus was born which and she was married prior to Jesus' birth. Mary and Joseph were married less than a year when Jesus was born.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem while Herod was ruling Judea from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is 5 miles North of Bethlehem. The magi came from the East following the star to see Jesus and stopped in Jerusalem where they spoke to Herod. Herod deceived them and asked them to reveal the location of Jesus when they found Him. The magi left Jerusalem and went to Bethlehem where they found Jesus. Jesus was likely between 1 and 2 years old. God warned the magi to not tell Herod where Jesus was located because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. The wise men left and went home a different way than when they came. God also warned Joseph and he left with Jesus and Mary before morning to go to Egypt where Herod was not a ruler. Herod killed all the baby boys 2 and under. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus stayed in Egypt until after Herod's death. Herod died in either 4 or 5 BC. When Joseph, Mary, and Jesus left Egypt they went to Nazareth which is 63 miles North of Jerusalem. Joseph was afraid of Herod's son who was now ruler. God came to Joseph in a dream and Joseph left for Nazareth.
John the Baptist was preaching about the coming of Jesus. Jesus was John's cousin...Mary and Elizabeth (John's mother) were cousins. Jesus is related to John through Mary. This is very interesting to me that both Mary's family and Joseph's family were in the prophesies regarding Jesus. Jesus was born of a royal bloodline through His father, Joseph and His mother's family prepared the people for His coming. John baptized Jesus and the Spirit came down to Jesus as a dove. God's voice said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus went into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. He fasted while in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan tempted Jesus to make bread from stone and Jesus replied, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Then Satan asked Jesus to fall and call the angels to keep Him from falling. Jesus said, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Finally Satan promised to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He would bow to Satan. Jesus commanded Satan to go saying, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Then angels came to Jesus and ministered to Him. Jesus went to Galilee when He heard that John was arrested. He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum where He preached and found His first 5 disciples. He called 2 sets of brothers. First there was Simon, Peter, and Andrew. Then there was James and John. All of the first 5 the disciples were fishermen. Jesus and the 5 went through all of Galilee preaching and healing. They went through all Syria and large crowds followed Him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
