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"

Flight into Egypt - Gentile da Fabriano, 1423

 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 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

 Now 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 the 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 says that Egypt is where Israel once took refuge; as Joseph of the Old Testament once saved God's people by bringing them to Egypt (see Genesis 37, 39-47).  In this story of the infant Christ, his stepfather Joseph finds safety for the Savior in Egypt.  My study adds that it is likely the gifts of the magi (see yesterday's reading, above) paid for their journey.

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."  Out of Egypt I called my Son is a reference first to Israel being brought out of captivity (Hosea 11:1).  My study bible adds that in the Old Testament, "son" can refer to the entire nation of Israel.  In this case, Jesus fulfills this calling as the true Son of God by coming out of Egypt.

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 its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  My study bible tells us that the cruelty of Herod was prefigured by Pharoah.  Pharoah, as does Herod, attempted to destroy the power of Israel by commanding the death of all the newborn Jewish boys (Exodus 1:16, 22).

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."  The quotation is from Jeremiah, who recorded the people of Jerusalem being led away to exile (Jeremiah 31:15).  On their way into captivity, they passed Ramah near Bethlehem, where Jacob's wife Rachel was buried.  In his prophecy, my study bible says, Jeremiah saw Rachel, even from the grave, moved with compassion for the fate that had befallen her descendants.  Here Rachel is once again weeping for her children, which shows that the saints in heaven have both awareness and compassion for those still in the world.  It is also noted that these slaughtered children are regarded as saints and martyrs in the Church, and they are known as the Holy Innocents.  As Rachel was told that her children would return from exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 38:16-17), so also 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.  Historical records indicate that Herod the Great died in 4 BC.  The date of Christ's birth, upon which the current  AD (Anno Domini, Latin for "year of the Lord") calendar is based is off by four years.

 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.   My study bible notes that Augustus Casar banished Archelaus for his cruelty in AD 6.  Joseph was warned in a dream of this cruelty, and thus the family detoured to Nazareth (see the following verse).  Nazareth was in Galilee, a region to the north of Judea, across Samaria, and was governed by another son of Herod the Great, named Herod Antipas, who will yet reign during Jesus' adulthood and the time of His ministry (Luke 3:1). 

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."   My study bible says that this prophecy cannot be exactly identified.  It has variously been taken as a reference to the rod (Hebrew neser) in Isaiah 11:1, and to the Nazarite (Hebrew Nazir) of Judges 13:5.  My study bible adds that Matthew may have been alluding to passages in which the Messiah was despised, since Nazareth did not have a good reputation (John 1:46).

Joseph brings Jesus and Mary to Nazareth, thus having avoided the dangers that await this Child.  As my study bible says, Nazareth did not have a "good reputation," citing Nathanael's question in John's Gospel, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  Galilee itself was not considered of great importance to the Jewish tradition, being a place of mixed Jewish and Gentile population, and to the north of Samaria, away from Judea.  Even the Pharisees mistakenly assert that "no prophet has arisen out of Galilee" (see John 7:45-52), when in fact Jonah the prophet was from Gath-Hepher, which was a small distance from Nazareth.  But Nazareth itself was perhaps even less "stellar" than Galilee as a whole.   Any way we look at it, this childhood home of Jesus is a humble and out-of-the-way place.  When Jesus will encounter criticisms of His ministry, much of it will center upon the fact that He is from Nazareth, as it is unknown to the leadership that He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.  But this humble beginning teaches us something very important and relevant to our faith.  St. Paul will write in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12 of the experience of visions and revelations.  He remarks that he knows a man in Christ who was "caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words," most likely referring to himself.  But then he adds that "yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities."  All of this is prelude to write, "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure."  This thorn in the flesh, about what exactly it was we can only speculate, he prayed to have taken away from him.  But he was told by God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  (See 2 Corinthians 12:1-10).  All of this is to emphasize by St. Paul the great importance of humility in our relationship with God.  Christ's upbringing in Nazareth is wise in this respect.  Joseph himself is a man to whom great things have been revealed repeatedly in dreams (see the several instances in today's reading), as was the case of the earlier Joseph of the Old Testament.  By making their home in Nazareth, the Christ child is freed from the unwanted attention of the authorities in the "greater" cities and central capitols of Israel.  And Jesus' humble upbringing itself is also a key to our faith, as in Christianity tradition holds that humility is the greatest of virtues.  This humble place of Nazareth allows Jesus to flourish and grow, to become the Man He will be when He begins His ministry.  Thus we should all take it to heart that humility is first of all a foundational ground in which virtue may grow, and through which -- as in the case of St. Paul -- God's grace can take root and work through us.  John's Gospel speaks of those members of the ruling council who had faith in Jesus, but for whom the praise of men was more important than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).  In Mark's Gospel, when Jesus is questioned in the temple about paying taxes to the Romans, He is approached with the words, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth" (see this reading).  Nazareth, the humble town, was a place in which Christ could grow to be such a Man, who would accept the humble circumstances through which He would conduct His ministry, and the suffering and humiliation He would endure as Savior.  Nazareth, the humble and out-of-the-way town also stands in for the times in which we may need to withdraw from the attentions of the world at times, for our own spiritual, mental, and physical health.  To take a break from the competitions of the world allows us to nurture something good that may grow within us, to care for our souls, and to pay attention to God.  There are times, as with Jesus' life, in which we need withdrawal to protect what is being nurtured away from the dangers of the power of the world and its ruthless competition.  This is the great paradox of our faith:  the very fact that God condescended to become fully man -- even this Man of Nazareth -- is the teaching that is perhaps the greatest key to our faith.  That it is through our own humility, our acceptance and understanding of what it means to have the capacity to "bear a little shame" in life (in the oft-repeated phrase of the blogger Fr. Stephen Freeman), which enables us to live a life of grace and communion with God, a truly prayerful life.  Let us consider Nazareth, when we are confused by the judgment of the world and its conflict with the judgments of God -- and how God's love can be at work in us and through us.  The spirit of the humble, even of seeming failure, may be just that opportunity for what is truly valuable beyond all else.