… bring me word again that I may come and worship Him.” Matthew 2:8 KJV
…report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” Matthew 2:8 NASB
… they gave large (much) money unto the soldiers … Say ye, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept'” Mattew 28:12, 13 KJV
… they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.'” Matthew 28:12,13 NASB
Matthew’ bookends’ his Gospel record with two incidents. At the beginning, we have Herod, who, in fear of the news of a rival King, plots His murder. We are all familiar with the visit of the Magi, their inquiry in the court of Herod, the directions given by the scribes, and Herod’s malevolent plot. Subsequently, when the forewarned Magi fail to return, Herod is filled with rage. Feeling himself mocked, he vents his anger and fears on all the children in the coasts of Bethlehem, from two years of age and down. His broad slashing sword intended to allow no margin of error in eliminating any potential rival.
This is the Herod who thought little of putting a wife or sons to death. What were a dozen or more children when added to Herod’s litany of murders?
Violence was a way of life, a necessary way, or so he conjectured. The title of King had been costly –fiercely and bitterly obtained by Herod. He could not allow a rival to exist. If violence and blood shedding were necessary, then so be it.
The bookend at the end of Matthew’s gospel concerns the plots and intrigue of the Jews. The fearful soldiers returned to the chief priests to recount the events surrounding the resurrection. Instead of bowing in contrition and repentance, the leadership of the nation further extends their machinations by “buying” the silence of the soldiers. The price for their deed has now escalated from 30 pieces of silver for His betrayal to “much money.” Their plot does not involve violence. Theirs is one marked by deceit and guile. Words, plausible perhaps to the unthinking, were placed into the mouths of the soldiers in an attempt to explain the empty tomb.
Thus, Matthew begins with an act of violence and concludes with an act of guile. Our minds instinctively travel to Isaiah 53:9, “He had done no violence, neither was guile found in His mouth.” How different was this unique Man, Israel’s Messiah! He did not need to display any abuse of power – violence – to accomplish His purposes. He did not stoop to the ruse of weakness – guile – as well. He was able to control His tongue (James 3:2) as would be expected of this perfect Man. His omnipotence was marked by self-control: He did no violence. Despite provocation and abuse, injustice and reproach, He never was guilty of violence or deceit. Herod and his ilk will come and go; chief priests and their disciples will grace the landscape of this world for only brief periods of time. But the Man Who did no violence and never stooped to guile will be the eternal object of our worship.
Check out a short heaven4sure Idiom Video: Beat Around the Bush
Consider:
Why do you think the story, open to so many objections, was believed among the Jews so readily? What does it reveal of human nature?
Some have objected to the story of Matthew 2 on the basis that secular history does not relate the massacre of the children in Bethlehem. But so great were Herod’s atrocities that Matthew 2 was a small event in his sordid career.