They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:
   It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
      no longer bringing up the rear.
   From you will come the leader
      who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel." Matthew 2:5-6 (TM)

Three times in the second chapter of Matthew the author quotes Old Testament prophecy about Jesus. Underlying the familiar story of Jesus’ birth is an important lesson that Matthew does not want us to miss: Jesus was the fulfillment of what the prophets had been proclaiming for centuries. It is more than mere coincidence. It is a summons to weigh the evidence. Jesus is who He claimed to be.