See Your Savior Fleeing!

1st Sunday after Christmas, 12/26/10
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23


See Your Savior Fleeing!
I. Prefigured by the Israelites in Egypt
II. Despised by the Israelites at home


There’s something special about a child’s first trip of any length. I’m not talking about across town to visit a friend. I’m talking about across the state or into another state. Any new parent will tell you it’s exciting. Sure, there’s a good deal of preparation that needs to be made. You have to make sure you have the stroller and perhaps a travel crib packed into your vehicle. You want to be sure to take along enough baby food and diapers. And it’s always a guess how many sets of clothes to bring because you never know what kind of messes such a child will get into. But for all that preparation, it’s still an exciting time. The new parents have an opportunity to share their bundle of joy with a distant loved one in their home. That loved one likely is filled with eager anticipation for the visit; after all, who can resist holding such a cute infant. For all these reasons and more, there’s something special about a child’s first trip.

Scripture doesn’t tell us, but it’s likely that the trip Jesus made as recorded in Matthew 2 was his first. It happened immediately after the Magi visited the Savior and worshipped him. During the night Joseph, Mary and Jesus departed for Egypt, but I don’t think there was any of the excitement we just described. In fact, I’m sure Joseph and Mary were deeply concerned, and perhaps even filled with fear. That would be my reaction as a parent if I knew that a powerful ruler was planning to murder my child.

So this was no pleasure trip. Instead, it was a flight for life. And yet even in this tragic flight, we see the infant Jesus carrying on his work of being our Savior. “How so?” you ask? Follow along with me and see your Savior fleeing. May the Lord help us see his plan of salvation unfolding in this act of fleeing.


Part I.

Mary and Joseph had made no plans for this trip. They hadn’t discussed it at all. It wasn’t even on their radar screen of possibilities. But all that changed in an instant. Our text says, “When they [the Magi] 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.’” Our text gives no indication that Joseph had an extended conversation with the angel. I assume the angel’s appearance was brief and precisely to the point. And Joseph got that point. He got up and the family got ready in a minimum amount of time and off they went to Egypt.

That sounds like an odd choice to us. After all, our memory tells us that things don’t generally go well for Jewish people in Egypt. But that’s where the angel told them to go. That’s where the Lord God wanted them to go. And believe it or not, it was a sensible choice. Historians tell us that there were many Jews living peacefully in Egypt at this time. That would make it easy for Joseph to find some fellow Jews to help him get on his feet once they arrived.

But it was far more than just a sensible choice. The Lord had a far higher reason in mind. You see, this flight to Egypt was part of his plan of salvation. Matthew tells us, “And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” Matthew quoted from the Old Testament prophet Hosea. But just what does all this mean?

Well, you recall that the Lord called the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt about 1,400 years before Jesus was born. They had been slaves of Pharaoh and the Lord used Moses to lead them out of their slavery in Egypt. He did it with amazing signs of his almighty power. All the firstborn males of the Egyptians died. And then the Lord parted the waters of the Red Sea to save the Israelites and to drown the Egyptian army and Pharaoh himself.

And then the Lord led them to Mt. Sinai where he established a covenant with them. He told the Israelites that they would be his special people, his special nation. In return he asked them to live as his people, separated from the heathen people around them. And the people responded with their enthusiastic promise that they would live as God’s special people.

But their enthusiasm and their dedication to the Lord were short-lived. They made an idol in the shape of a calf and worshipped it. They grumbled and complained about food and water. They refused to listen and obey. We have this romantic view of the Old Testament Children of Israel, but actually they were a stiff-necked and hard-hearted people. They were not the children that God wanted them to be.

But another one was. That one was his one and only Son, Jesus. Because the people he had formed for himself failed to live according to the covenant he established with them, God sent his one and only Son to this earth, called him out of Egypt and had that Son establish another covenant. This covenant wasn’t based on God’s laws and commandments which we don’t keep. This covenant was his gospel. It’s the good news of our Savior who brings us forgiveness and eternal life. What his nation of people couldn’t possibly do for themselves, God did for them in his Son.

See your Savior fleeing, prefigured by the Israelites in Egypt.

The Old Testament Children of Israel made for a lousy covenant nation. In fact, we may wonder at times why God ever chose them to be his special people. After all, he knew how rebellious they would be. But do you see what you’re saying? The fact is God chose us to be his people, too. He placed his name on us at our baptisms and called his own children, a child of God. He even called us to live as his children, completely devoted to him. So how’s that going for you? Are you living up to that high calling? Or do you struggle as much as the ancient Children of Israel did? We all do. That’s our sinful problem. Truth be told, we’re no better than any other sinner. We deserve hell just as much as the next person. But that’s why God sent us his Son. That Son lived in stark contrast to every sinner. He always obeyed his Father’s will and never committed a single sin. And then he sacrificed his holy life for our sins. That’s the truth our God wants us to recall as we see our Savior fleeing.

Part II.

We’re not sure how long Mary, Joseph and Jesus stayed in Egypt. A safe guess is about 2 years. We imagine that Joseph supported the family during that time plying his trade as a carpenter. Mary spent her days caring for Jesus. He likely took his first steps in Egypt and spoke his first words.

And then it was time for them to return to the Holy Land. Matthew tells us, “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 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.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.” The murderer Herod had died a terrible death and few people, if any, mourned his passing. He was hated by most, even his own family members. And with his passing, the angel informed Joseph that it was now safe to return home.

It appears Joseph wanted to make the family’s home near Jerusalem. We wonder why. Perhaps Joseph figured, as did many Jews, that the proper place for the Savior of the world to make his home was in Jerusalem, the Holy City and the center of the Jewish religion. But he didn’t consider it safe to do that because one of Herod’s sons was now ruling in his place. Joseph didn’t trust him and couldn’t take the chance.

So he moved the family to Nazareth. You’ll recall that Joseph and Mary had come from Nazareth probably about 3 years earlier when Mary was pregnant in order to be counted in the census. As such it made a logical choice. Joseph and Mary probably still had contacts living there, if not friends and relatives. What’s more, Nazareth was in Galilee, outside the jurisdiction of Herod.

But Nazareth was no Jerusalem. Far from it. You see, the area of Galilee was filled with Jewish people of mixed heritage. They weren’t the “pure” Jews like those living in Jerusalem. What’s more, they were less concerned about all the Jewish religious laws than the Jews in Jerusalem were. For all these and others reasons, the people living in Nazareth were the victims of prejudice. They were looked down on by other Jews.

But that’s exactly what the prophets had foretold. Again, Matthew tells us, “So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’” You’ll search in vain for this prophecy in the Old Testament. But don’t let that trouble you. Matthew isn’t mistaken. You see, the prophets, such as Isaiah and David in the Psalms, clearly foretold that the Savior would be despised and rejected. And that’s exactly what happened. When Jesus began his ministry more than 25 years later, the elite Jews wouldn’t consider him legitimate because he came from Nazareth. You’ll recall that rejection culminated in them murdering him. But as tragic as that was, it was all in God’s plan of salvation. Even this relocation to Nazareth as a child was part of that plan. What an amazing, gracious God we have!

See your Savior fleeing, despised by the Israelites at home.

That must have been difficult for Jesus to endure. He was rejected by his own people. We know what rejection is like, but not to the extent that Jesus was rejected. And that rejection was in motion already when he was just a child. It ended with his crucifixion on Calvary’s cross. Why would he endure all that? Here’s the reason: Out of love for you and me and every sinner. He was willing to be despised and rejected so that he could redeem us, make us his own people, win our forgiveness and make us heirs of eternal life with him. In other words, he was willing to be rejected simply so that he could bless you eternally. What an awesome, gracious, loving God we have! See that love in your fleeing Savior. Amen.