Faith First Media

The following is an excerpt from the book Does the Bible Have Contradictions? by Matthew Elton, copyright 2009 Matthew Elton.

Question:

Did Joseph flee with the baby Jesus to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23), or did he calmly present him at the temple in Jerusalem and return to Galilee (Luke 2:21-40)?

Answer:

Herod ordered all baby boys to be killed. After this, he would think that he had killed the messiah, so there was no threat to his position as king. During this time, Joseph could present Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem without any danger, because Herod was no longer hunting the messiah down. But after a short while, Herod realized that the messiah was still alive, and then Joseph fled with Jesus to Egypt.