When was Jesus presented in the Temple? I am totally confused

[Holly3278]

Hi everyone. We all know that the infant Jesus was presented in the Temple by his parents, Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother, Mary. But this is where I get confused at. Didn’t an angel (I think it was the Archangel Gabriel) appear to Saint Joseph in a dream or vision the night after Jesus was born to tell him to flee to Egypt? If they had to flee immediately to Egypt, how did they have time to present the infant Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem 8 days after his birth? Is it possible that the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem took 7 or 8 days? Please help me clear this up.

 

[Brendan]

Bethlehem is a ‘suburb’ of Jerusalem. The distance is about 5 miles, so one could walk to Jerusalem, do business and return within the same day.

The flight to Egypt would have occurred AFTER the Presentation.

Remember, Herod would not have known or realized that the Magi left via another route. I would have taken him nearly a week to send out messenger looking for them, and days more to plan the massacre.

 

[anodos]

By the time the magi showed up and made Herod mad, Jesus would have probably been a toddler. The imagery of 3 wise men arriving with the shepherds and angels at the nativity scene is not chronologically accurate.
(The shepherds in Luke find the child laid temporarily in a manger; Matthew mentions the magi coming to see Mary and her child in “the house”.)

 

[Todd_Easton]

From the age of the Bethlehem boys ordered killed by King Herod, Jesus may have been up to 2 years old when the Magi visited him and when the Holy Family fled to Egypt. (Matthew 2:16)

 

[bogeydogg]

I have always been thought the star appeared when Christ was born. Thus it would have taken them some time after His birth to arrive as they would have been travelling with a caravan and not as three lonely travelers. After all three men alone would have been exceptionally prone to being robbed.

That being said there is further evidence that time had passed because Matthew says that Herod asked them when the star appeared and then, when he realized the Magi had left by another way, sent his troops to slay all the males under two years.

So clearly it seems that Jesus, who would have been presented and circumcised on the eighth day, would have had plenty of time to have been circumcised, gone back, raised to an age old enough to travel safely and then flee with his father and mother.

There is further evidence from extra Biblical sources with Josephus declaring Herod had died around 1BC, and not 4BC as later translations have put it, and the census was taken around 5BC, then that would mean Jesus was actually born around 4BC, which is where many Biblical scholars date it as well as astronomical researchers who put the “Star” which was possibly a convergence with Jupiter, and a star in Aries (the Ram being the astrological sign for Israel) occurred late in the year 5BC into early 4BC which would also line up. Of course some do not think this was the “star” and I don’t know but thought it was interesting.

Anyway if He was born in four, the Magi come in 3/2 Herod dies when He is 3/4 years old then He returns passing by Bethlehem at 4/5 years old.

Lines up pretty well I think.

God Bless

 

[Evan]

So clearly it seems that Jesus, who would have been presented and circumcised on the eighth day, would have had plenty of time to have been circumcised, gone back, raised to an age old enough to travel safely and then flee with his father and mother.

According to Luke, the presentation of the Lord was 40 days after the birth. So the two are not at the same time. We celebrate the Circumcision on Jan 1(8 days) and the Presentation on Feb 2 (40 days, the traditional end of the Christmas season).

 

[bogeydogg]

OK.

 

[Holly3278]

Thanks everyone! I understand better now. I was under the understanding that they had to flee the night after Jesus was born.

 

[steve53]

I have always been thought the star appeared when Christ was born. Thus it would have taken them some time after His birth to arrive as they would have been travelling with a caravan and not as three lonely travelers. After all three men alone would have been exceptionally prone to being robbed.

That being said there is further evidence that time had passed because Matthew says that Herod asked them when the star appeared and then, when he realized the Magi had left by another way, sent his troops to slay all the males under two years.

So clearly it seems that Jesus, who would have been presented and circumcised on the eighth day, would have had plenty of time to have been circumcised, gone back, raised to an age old enough to travel safely and then flee with his father and mother.

There is further evidence from extra Biblical sources with Josephus declaring Herod had died around 1BC, and not 4BC as later translations have put it, and the census was taken around 5BC, then that would mean Jesus was actually born around 4BC, which is where many Biblical scholars date it as well as astronomical researchers who put the “Star” which was possibly a convergence with Jupiter, and a star in Aries (the Ram being the astrological sign for Israel) occurred late in the year 5BC into early 4BC which would also line up. Of course some do not think this was the “star” and I don’t know but thought it was interesting.

Anyway if He was born in four, the Magi come in 3/2 Herod dies when He is 3/4 years old then He returns passing by Bethlehem at 4/5 years old.

Lines up pretty well I think.

God Bless

Ouch!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I think that Herod calculated from the Magi’s information that Jesus was about a year old. Being the cautious, or maybe thorough, type, he killed all within a year of that.