When did the Holy Family actually settle down at Nazareth?
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We see at Luke 2: 22- 39 the presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Holy Family to Nazareth :
" When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ...........When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth "
Matt 2:21-23 narrates the settling of Holy Family at Nazareth in a different context, that is, after the visit of the Magi, the Holy Family's escape to Egypt and its return from that place :
" Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
Jesus was dedicated in the Temple when He was just 40 days old, as was required by Leviticus 12:1-4 . On the other hand, the visit of Magi is believed to have taken place when Jesus was older , say two years (given by the massacre of children upto the age of two by Herod ) . Apparently, the return of Holy Family to Nazareth as mentioned at Luke 2:39 took place after a considerable gap of time .My question therefore is: How does the Catholic Church explain the gap between the time of Jesus' presentation at the Temple and that of His Family's return to Nazareth ?
Asked by Kadalikatt Joseph Sibichan
(13704 rep)
Feb 3, 2020, 04:29 AM
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Last activity: Dec 18, 2023, 04:42 AM