From the record of Matthew we see that all things related to Christ took place outside of religion. In that day, Judaism was the genuine religion, the religion founded according to God's Holy Word. But everything concerning Christ took place outside of that. In other words, Christ had nothing to do with religion.
The record of Matthew chapter 1 tells how the birth of Christ was accomplished outside of Jerusalem, away from the temple, having nothing to do with the holy priests. God did not send the angel Gabriel to the family of the priests; God did not send Gabriel to someone praying in the temple in Jerusalem. God sent His angel to a little town in a despised country, Nazareth of Galilee. He sent him to a girl, a virgin, in a poor family. Practically everything related to this girl and her situation was outside of Jerusalem, the temple, the holy priesthood, the typical and genuine religion. The birth of Christ has nothing to do with religion; it is absolutely accomplished outside of religion.
You may say that Jesus was conceived in Nazareth, but born in Bethlehem. But if we look into the record carefully with the light of the Holy Spirit, we see that this was accomplished in a hidden way. We may even say that He was born there "sneakily," just to fulfill the prophecy. He was suddenly brought to Bethlehem to be born, and then, just as suddenly, He was brought away. The birth of Christ has nothing to do with anything religious.
Matthew chapter 2 then proceeds to tell us how people found this Christ. He was not found in religion, neither was He found by any religious people. He was not found in Jerusalem, He was not found in the temple, neither was He found by any priest or any holy people. We are all familiar with the account of the heavenly star appearing in a pagan country to people with no Bible and no genuine religion. We know also how those heathen wise men exercised their natural mind, concluding that the King of the Jews should be born in Jerusalem. In so doing, they caused many young lives to be taken. But eventually they found Jesus. They found Him mainly not according to Biblical knowledge. You remember that when they came to Jerusalem, King Herod called the scribes and the Pharisees, those who had the knowledge of the Bible. They all gave Herod the proper and exact quotation, Micah chapter 5, verse 2, telling that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. They had the knowledge, they had the exact scriptural references, but none of them went to see Christ. They were for the Scriptures, they were for the Bible, but they were not for Christ. They paid attention to Micah 5:2, foretelling the coming of Christ and even the birthplace of Christ; yet, when the news came of Christ's birth, none of them went to behold it. The Christian religion today is exactly the same in principle. People talk about the Bible and have the knowledge concerning Christ, but rarely do you find one who really cares for Christ. They care for the Bible, they care for the prophecies, but they do not care for Christ.
Praise the Lord, there were some pagans from a pagan land who did care for Christ. The record of Matthew tells us that after they departed from Jerusalem, the star appeared to them again. I tell you, when you leave the denominations, when you leave the Christian religion, the star is there. Hallelujah, the star is there! When you get into religion, you miss the star, you miss the mark. When you go to the religious people, when you attempt to follow the dead letter of the Scripture, you miss the heavenly star and can never find Christ. When the wise men departed from Jerusalem, lo, the star appeared. Hallelujah! How good it is to have a heavenly star! Then they found Jesus. The finding of Jesus is absolutely outside of religion.