And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child … and fell down and worshiped Him. Matthew 2:11 KJV
After coming into the house they saw the Child…and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him… Matthew 2:11 NASB
And He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed … Matthew 26:39 KJV
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed… Matthew 26:39 NASB
In writing primarily for Jewish readers, Matthew recounts the visit of Gentiles, Magi from the East, who came from a great distance to find the Child, born King of the Jews. As they entered the house, it was not Mary or Joseph that commanded their attention. They saw the young child and worshiped Him.
As Matthew introduces the Lord Jesus into history, the scene he presents with his pen is that of men prostrating themselves before a small child, worshiping and presenting gifts to Him. Here is One eminently worthy of worship. The proper place for any person is at His feet, bowing in worship.
It is only Matthew who tells us of the worship and wealth of these visitors. Luke’s account, differing both in time and in purpose, will tell of visitors from the lowest rung of society, shepherds, who came and found the Babe, “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” They brought no gifts to the One Whom they came to see as “the Savior.”
Thus, Matthew’s record is unique among the Gospel writers. As well, it is only Matthew who gives us the detail of the Lord Jesus falling on His face in the garden, faced with the awesome reality of Calvary, bowed to the ground in His grief.
Wise men were prostrate at His feet at His coming into the world; the Lord Jesus was prostrate in the garden at the close of the Gospel. We might well linger to admire the symmetry of Matthew’s Gospel with events in the early chapters balanced by events in the final chapters. Much could be said about the structure of the Gospel accounts under the supervision of the Spirit of God. But structure and symmetry must recede before the reality of the tremendous contrast between the scene in the home and that in the garden.
Matthew 2 rightly depicts One worthy of worship, adoration, and all the valuable gifts which can be laid at His feet. Immanuel, “God with us,” evokes from every redeemed heart our reverential awe and wonder. That He should come and visit this mere speck of dust revolving around the sun in a small galaxy estranged from its maker is a stimulus to worship
But travel to the Garden scene. The One before whom men fell in worship is now “exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” His soul, passing as a man, through the events of time, is now faced with the overwhelming reality of suffering, shame, and separation. If I understand His words aright, so great was His sorrow that it would have taken a natural man to his grave. He endured that sorrow. The contrast between the Lord on His face in the garden and men falling before Him in worship reflects the grace of the Lord Jesus.
But mark the words: “He went a little farther.” He moved beyond the “exceeding sorrow” of the garden to the reality of Calvary. If the grief of Gethsemane was a sorrow sufficient to bow a man in death, what must the further sorrow of Calvary have been for His sensitive holy soul? To see the Creator of this earth bowed with His face to the earth because of the sin of the men of this earth is reason to worship afresh.
Consider:
Mark tells us that the Lord fell on the ground (Mark 14:35), Luke that He kneeled (Luke 23:41), while John does not mention His posture or His prayer.