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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."
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all his its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
"A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more."
Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."
- Matthew 2:13-23
In yesterday's reading, we were told that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'" Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also." When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
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." My study bible tells us: "Egypt is where Israel once took refuge and was made captive. As the Israelites fled from Egypt (Ex. 12:31-42), so Joseph flees into Egypt, by night. It is probable the gifts of the Magi paid for this journey. 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."
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." This saying refers to Israel in Hosea 11:1. My study bible also cites several other verses, and adds, "In the Old Testament the son of God is Israel; here Jesus is the true Israel. He reenacts in His own life the history of Israel, without falling into sin."
Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all his its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." Herod's ruthless cruelty is a sort of mirror image (a type) of action from the Old Testament, in which Pharaoh tried to kill all the male children of Israel when Moses was born (Ex. 1:16, 22). The quotation is from the prophet Jeremiah. My study bible says, "Jeremiah recorded the people of Jerusalem being led away to exile (Jer. 31:15). On their sad pilgrimage to an alien land, they passed Ramah, where Rachel, wife of Jacob lay buried (1 Sam. 10:2). In his prophecy Jeremiah pictures Rachel, who had long been dead, weeping even in her tomb for the fate that had befallen the people, her children. Now, the mothers of Bethlehem weep for the slaughter of their children, the Holy Innocents . . . As Rachel was told her children would return from exile in Babylon (Jer. 31:16-17), so Jesus will return from His exile in Egypt."
Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Herod the Great (also known as a builder, who rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple to its magnificent proportions) died in 4 B.C. My study bible concludes that the dating of the A.D. (Anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of the Lord") calendar was based was off by several years. It says that "Archelaus was banished by Augustus Caesar to Gaul in A.D. 6, when the Jews, protesting the cruelty of Archelaus' rule, petitioned his removal. That very cruelty is foretold by the Lord as a warning to Joseph; hence the detour to Nazareth, a town in Galilee governed by another son of Herod, called Herod Antipas."
And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene." A note here says, "This prophecy cannot be conclusively identified. It has been taken variously as a reference to the Branch (Hebrew neser) of Isaiah (Is. 11:1) or to the Nazirite (Hebrew nazir) of Judges (Judges 13:7; see also Numbers 6:1-21). Or Matthew may be alluding to passages which speak of the Messiah as despised, since Nazareth did not have a good reputation among the Jews (John 1:46). Nazarene later became a designation for followers of Jesus, especially in the Semitic world, although 'Christian' was the more common name." Many Church Fathers comment that the words "spoken by the prophets" indicate a general saying, and not necessarily a canonical single reference from Scripture (quoting one prophet); thus they generally interpret the sense that a Nazarene is a holy one, set apart; an alternative meaning is a "branch" or "flower" of Jesse -- also of the holy ones.
Again the events of mystery and paradox surround and shape Jesus' life. We note His father, Joseph, who responds to warnings from dreams (as did the wise men), and departs with Jesus and His mother Mary, to exile in Egypt. Of course, as my study bible points out, this exile is a kind of type of the exile of the Israelites in Egypt. But we get a deeper sense, once again, of the conflict from the start between worldly power and the power of the Holy One. And, once again, as my study bible notes, this is a parallel to Old Testament Scripture: "God's people must elude civil power in order to do His will." Again, in a parallel to Old Testament Scripture, all the male children are slaughtered, the Holy Innocents, by the ruthless power of Herod in order to make sure there is no threat to his throne. In many traditions of the Church, these children are considered martyrs and saints. Again, Joseph takes heed from an angel in a dream to return to Israel; yet another dream warns him not to return to Bethlehem. And so Jesus is raised in Nazareth of Galilee, fulfilling a prophecy of holiness -- and yet this contains a paradox, a kind of mystery in its double meaning of the town's reputation among the Jews. From the beginning, the Messiah's story is complex, shadowed by evil intent and harm from the official worldly powers, the hardship imposed on His parents to care for Him through flight and exile, the first martyrs are the children who are killed for His sake, and Joseph's final settling not in his hometown but rather in Nazareth in Galilee. God's plan takes many people, many forms, a struggle and a kind of shadowy pursuit of Jesus from His birth: there are those who also come from a foreign land to worship Him (the wise men of yesterday's reading), who are also outsiders. Exile, the pursuit of evil forces, death, and still another type of exile in Nazareth, the outsiders who recognize Him (the wise men in Matthew's Gospel, the poor shepherds of Luke's), these are the elements that surround Jesus' birth, His advent into the world. And then there are the dreams, and we understand that His protectors and those who recognize Him are the ones who are capable of being warned by God, who heed the voice of the angels, who have the capacity for this kind of discernment and understanding. The world is populated in these stories not by miraculous perfection, but in the reality of Jesus' picture of weeds and wheat which He will use in His parables (later on in Matthew's Gospel). From the beginning, our Savior's life is shadowed by evil and forces which malign Him, making His journey difficult and His parents' one of sacrifice and hardship. There is slaughter and death, and a kind of homelessness which shadows Jesus all of His life, in which He remains in a kind of exile, even rejected by those in His hometown (recorded as Jesus' saying in all four of the Gospels). This is a story that gives us the reality of the world, populated by those who would use and abuse power and position, who harm the good, and by those who can heed the voice of the good that calls them in all kinds of ways, and suffer for that good. Can we see our world in His story? Can we make the sacrifices we may be called to do for the good, for the reality of that Word that calls us in all kinds of ways? Where does our loyalty lie, and how do we discern where it calls us in ways that no one else hears or knows? Can we have that kind of faith?
