Out of Egypt I called My Son

Joseph warned in a dream - 11th cent., Ateni Sioni church, Georgia

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."

When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

- Matthew 2:13-15

The Wise Men from the East, or the Magi, have departed by way of an alternate route, in order to avoid King Herod, after having been warned in a dream to do so. We have been told that King Herod, having heard of the news of the birth of a King, has been desperately seeking information about this child. Herod asked the wise men to find the child, and return to his palace so that he may also worship the child. But their dream warned them not to do this.

Today we have yet another warning in a dream, and this time it is to Joseph, Jesus' earthly father and caretaker, Mary's husband. Joseph has had a dream once before, in which an angel spoke to him and told him not to be afraid to marry Jesus' mother, and that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was also told that the child's name should be Jesus. The message to Joseph from the angel in a dream was also explained to have been in order to fulfill a prophecy, by Isaiah. Today we repeat the pattern. Joseph is warned via an angel appearing to him in a dream - and again the message is explained as a fulfillment of prophecy. This time the prophet is Hosea. "Out of Egypt I called My Son."

In the profoundly poetic ways of the gospels, we have new things to marvel at in this scripture. The manifestation of Jesus' life in the world is in some ways parallel to that of the development of Israel itself. We understand that Jesus is to be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and we have seen through the blogging of the gospels in passages such as those of the Beatitudes and other teachings, how this is so. But in these early days of Jesus' life, we have all the readings of Manifestation: God's hand in the world, creating for us the story and the images we have of this Divine Creation at work in our world, in Jesus' incarnation and early life. Today we examine another aspect of the poetry in the manifestation of the divine will. My study bible notes: "Egypt is where Israel once took refuge and was made captive. As the Israelites fled from Egypt ..., so Joseph flees into Egypt, by night." There is also a note that it is probable that the gifts of the Magi paid for the journey. The note continues as follows: "Some of the first steps of Jesus are taken in exile. This is one of a number of instances in Scripture where God's people must elude civil power in order to do His will." I think it's quite important to note the continuation and manifestation of themes that we've been writing about which have been building up in these stories: the conflict between civil (or "worldly") and spiritual power. The elements of these early stories of Jesus' birth also come together in the fact of exile: the ones who have peopled our story with faith, who act by virtue of the leading of the Spirit, are outsiders in one way or another. They are not the powerful, do not hold high office in either the civil or religious institutions. They are not insiders. They are the faithful aged Simeon and widow Anna who spend their days in the temple, the shepherds living out in the fields, childless Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Wise Men who come from the East outside of Israel, and those for whom there was no room at the inn. One way or another, this is a story of "lifting up the lowly," a story of the outsiders, and extended now into a story about those in exile.

"Out of Egypt I called My Son" refers to Israel in Hosea 11:1. The "son of God" in the Old Testament, my study bible notes, is Israel. But here Jesus, fulfillment of the Law and Prophets as will be so explicitly laid out by Matthew - writing for a primarily Jewish audience - becomes, or rather is, the true Israel. The prophecies reflect back to Him. The elements of the experience of faith will be manifest through his life and teachings. My study bible notes: "He reenacts in His own life the history of Israel, without falling into sin." We must take note of the reality and power of the manifestation of the divine will in the world. We are given this story, this child, these elements in the story. A conflict of worldly and divine power, the leading by the Spirit of those who will help to welcome and shepherd this child into the world and to protect Him, and the worldly powers that be which are already seeking to destroy Him.

In the Eastern understanding of "icon" (which means "image") there is a very special thing to note: we are given images by God in the divine manifestation of this life of Jesus. The elements and events of Jesus' life are there for a reason. They are not simply a made up story or a myth in the conventional sense of the word. The hardships of the life of faith are not the stuff of fairy tales! Clearly, and what I think is of particular importance, all of Jesus' life is a great paradox. The images or "icons" we associate with Christ call us to seek to understand spiritual reality that may hit us with many different meanings and dimensions. We don't know the infinite limits of the reality of God, and as manifestation in our world and to our worldly eyes and ears and comprehension, these images that come to us call us to all of that unlimited reality. So, we are given paradox in the depth of manifestation that reaches to us across those dimensions: exile, outsiders, the great conflict between the worldly and the spiritual. There is, always, the image of the Cross, the great paradox itself, the "foolishness to the Greeks and stumbling block to the Jews." And there is also Resurrection. But here, we begin with exile, mirroring and duplicating - even in a reverse order - the patterns of the history of Israel itself, and the spiritual books that we inherit as a backdrop and preparation to these gospels. It's important to remember that all of these elements teach us about Spirit, spiritual life, and a life of faith in the world. A child is manifest as "image" for us to think about, to learn from, a gift to the world. How does he begin - and how do all of these elements touch your life and your world, and maybe reflect something of your own experiences in faith?