One of the frustrating things about the Gospel accounts of the early days of Jesus’ life is trying to pin the events on a historical timeline. As we’ve discussed before, we tend to merge everything from the birth of Jesus to the Magi to the flight to Egypt into a short, compact series of events. We know that isn’t the case. They had to have occurred over at least several years.
We do have two markers. We know that the Magi couldn’t have come to see Jesus before the Presentation in the Temple because Mary and Joseph made an offering of two doves, not a lamb. If they had already received the expensive gifts from the Magi, they would not have been considered poor. In good conscience, they would have purchased and offered a lamb. Plus, Herod ordered the killing of boys under the age of two. So, we can assume that the Magi came sometime in the first year or year-and-a-half of Jesus’s life.
The second marker is found in Matthew 2 in the account of Joseph’s dream in which an angel told him to return to Israel with Mary and Jesus. This marker tells us this happened “When Herod had died . . . [and] . . . Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod” (Matthew 2:19, 22). Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly when Herod died. He could have died as early as 5 B.C. or as late as A.D. 1, but most scholars think it was somewhere between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1. To complicate matters, Archelaus dated his reign from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6, but he probably was a co-ruler with his father for at least some of that time.
What does this meandering in the weeds of history have to do with Joseph and the Holy Family? Once again, it highlights how the Gospels are not intended to be historical accounts in the secular sense. Instead, they are intended to be spiritual accounts of salvation. This is most clear in the words of the angel: “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead” (Matthew 2:20).
The writers of the Gospel didn’t care so much that Herod was dead or when he died, but rather that Jesus’ life echoes that of Moses. Moses fled from Egypt because Pharaoh wanted to kill him but was told to return to Egypt “for all those who sought your life are dead” (Exodus 4:19). Jesus fled into Egypt and returned to Israel—a reverse parallel. Since this parallel was essential to the story of salvation, Joseph played a pivotal role. He needed first to get Jesus to Egypt and then later get him back to Israel.
Quotation
“Joseph’s faith does not falter, he obeys quickly and to the letter.” –Saint Josemaria Escriva
Prayer
Saint Joseph, many things happen in my life for which I do not fully understand the purpose. Help me to trust that there is a purpose and do the next right and loving thing. Amen.
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