Presented to Trinity UMC, December 28, 2025
Reading:
Matthew 2: 13-23
Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
“On the road again, I can’t wait to get on the road again.” Bill and I love a road trip! If you’ve known me for very long, you know that we climb into our little old RV several times a year, sometimes for a short journey of a day or two, sometimes for a week or two. What new sights and sounds, what new adventures are waiting for us out there somewhere? We’re always looking for new natural habitats to explore, beaches to walk, new birds or animals to spot.
When we set off on a trip, the only thing we are fleeing is dreary weather or boredom. That was not true for Joseph and his little family. Their road trip had a much more somber purpose. They were fleeing for their very lives.
Joseph was a dreamer, like the first Joseph. God had come to him before in a dream, had told Joseph to marry his beloved Mary and accept responsibility of being the earthly father to the son who would be called Jesus, who would be the Messiah. What a big ask! but Joseph trusted that his dream came from God. He trusted God and said yes. God came to him again, after Jesus was born, and instructed him to take Mary and the baby and seek refuge in Egypt because his family was in danger from Herod.
Joseph trusted God and left that very night. It was not their first road trip. They had made the four day walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem before Jesus was born. Now they picked up and set off on another trip, at least 3 days walk to the border of Egypt where they would be out of Herod’s reach. They didn’t have the luxury of a small, 30-year-old RV with a bathroom and comfy beds and a refrigerator. They are often pictured with Mary riding a donkey, but it is more likely that they walked, even if they had a donkey to carry their stuff - food and clothing that they would have needed for such a trip. Maybe Joseph even carried his carpenter tools so he could earn money along the way. And so, Joseph and Mary and little Jesus became refugees, fleeing the political terror inflicted by Herod, the massacre of innocent children. We don’t know how long they stayed in Egypt, but history tells us that Herod died not long after Jesus was born. Again, through a dream, God revealed to Joseph when it was time for them to go home, and to settle in Nazareth.
Just a few days ago, we were singing Hallelujahs with the angels and worshiping in awe with the shepherds at the birth of the Christ child. Now we are weeping over cruel deaths of little boys. Matthew tells a very different story than the one we find in Luke’s gospel. Luke’s story is full of light and joy. Matthew tells a dark story.
Why did Matthew tell this particular story? It is not found anywhere else in the early writings. It is not included in any of the official Roman records and they were great record keepers. It is not confirmed by any contemporary historians such as Josephus. So why, what is the point of including this horrible story immediately following the birth of Jesus. (And by the way, why do we tell it out of order, before we even tell of the visit of the Magi.)
As you may remember, the focus of Matthew’s gospel is to connect the Jesus story with the history of the Jewish people. His audience is a Jewish one. He begins in chapter one with the genealogy of Jesus, connecting Jesus through 28 generations all the way back through David to Abraham.
You may also remember, that this is not the first road trip to Egypt undertaken by Israelites seeking refuge. The first was Abraham himself, along with Sarah his wife and all his family. They went to Egypt to find refuge in a time of famine. You can find that story in the 12th chapter of Genesis. Joseph, the first one, didn’t flee to Egypt; rather he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He, too, was a dreamer, and his dreams and interpretation of dreams led him from slavery and prison to great wealth and power in Pharaoh’s court. He was able to provide a safe refuge for his brothers and all their families during a time of famine. But Egypt as a place of safety eventually became a place of bondage, so that after more than 400 years, Moses was called by God to bring his people out of Egypt and back to the promised land. You remember that Moses’ story, too, involved the slaughter of innocent baby boys. Yet again, during the time of the prophet Jeremiah, when the Israelites were taken on the road into captivity in Babylon, some fled to Egypt, despite Jeremiah warning against it. Even into modern times, the Jewish people have been on the road, migrants and refugees, often fleeing persecution
This story is told by Matthew to connect Jesus to the stories of the Jewish people, who had been refugees and would again be refuges. Through these stories, Christians and Jews alike are reminded again and again, throughout both the Hebrew scripture and the New Testament, that they are to welcome and love the stranger, for they were once strangers in the land of Egypt.
This story is told to fulfill prophecies of the Messiah. He referenced 3 of those in today’s readying.
This story is reminder of how God is and always has been at work in and through history.
This story challenges us to not get too caught up in a sentimental, starry-eyed view of Christmas.
This story reminds us that Jesus was born, God became flesh, in a broken world, a world in which war and famine are ever-present; a world in which children starve and are killed because of political conflicts; a world in which families are forced to seek refuge in foreign places; a world in which people take great risks to provide a safe and better life for their children. In other words, he came into the world as it is, not as it should be.
This story reminds us that tyrants will do anything to protect their power. This story reminds us that tyrants will go to any lengths to destroy that which they find threatening. A famous tyrant of the 20th century killed millions because he didn’t like their national origin. There are such tyrants and would-be tyrants still at work in the our world. All around the world today, fathers and mothers are looking for places, for ways and means, to hide their children and protect them from violence and hunger - in Ukraine, in Gaza, Somalia, Nigeria, in Central and South American and, yes, even in our own country.
This story, maybe more than any other of our Bible stories, places Jesus in solidarity with the persecuted and the dispossessed.
This story connects Jesus not only with the past, but also with the present, with the refugee, the stranger, the hungry and homeless. He has experienced it all. Those of us who seek to follow the way of Jesus, are called to do as he did, to reach out to the outsider, to welcome the stranger, to serve the “least of these,” the poor, the hungry, the homeless, all of whom are our neighbors. Now, let us remember the greatest commandments, Love God and Love Our Neighbor. May God strengthen our resolve to put hand and feet, heart and resources as we “go and do likewise.”
AMEN.
Benediction:
Merciful God, horrible things happen every single day, but you always make room for your love, joy, peace, and hope. Help us see your presence amid the suffering in our world. Guide us to be instruments of your grace everywhere we go and empower us to become the people you want us to
be. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment