The Second Sunday after Christmas 2022
St. Matthew 2:12-23
January 2, 2022
Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Alexandria, VA
“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.” It’s not an example. Many of our dreams are the fruits of anxiety or indigestion. I once had a dream that Fritz Pauling and I were in Italy stealing a pipe organ. I don’t plan to do what I dreamed. (Although it might make a pretty good buddy caper movie.) The kind of dream Joseph has is extremely rare. But it should remind us of another Joseph: the son of Jacob who had that amazing technicolor dreamcoat. His dreams got him thrown into a pit, then sold into slavery. To where? Egypt. See the similarities? With this new Joseph, and the Mother and Child, God is going to redo the Exodus.
So the “Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying.…” Angel means messenger. An angel speaks; that is his purpose: he brings God’s Word to particular people. What’s the message?
“Arise, take the young Child and His mother…”. Joseph’s calling, his purpose in life, is to be a guardian. That’s what it is to be a husband and father: a guardian. The husband is head of the household, yet his headship is subordinate to the Lord’s headship. The man is to lead according to God’s Word, never his own interests. The family is his earthly priority. And you don’t bail on that when things get difficult, weird, or unpleasant.
“Take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt.” Egypt shares a border with Israel in the southwest. Going there is a practical move, because it’s outside Herod’s jurisdiction. It’s also a symbolic move, because (as I mentioned) it’s the ancient place of slavery. The Jews called Egypt “The House of Bondage.” The holy family probably went to Alexandria. There was a significant Jewish population there, and Alexandria later became a prominent center of early Christianity.
“Take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word.” “Stay there until I tell you.” Can you imagine getting a word from an angel like that? “Stay there until I bring you word”? How would you react? “I need more information. Is it going to be a month? A year? Good thing we got the gold from the Magi, but will it last? I had other plans.”
But we hear none of that from this amazing man. Joseph trusts God’s Word that the angel brings. He follows God’s command to the letter.
He does get an explanation: “Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” Herod is threatened at the news of a king. Aren’t you also? So far, the only lives Jesus has upended are Joseph’s and Mary’s. But Jesus comes to upend every life. He calls us to repent, and to follow Him, not our own plans and desires. The little Child who repeats and recapitulates the history of Israel calls us to take up the cross and follow Him. To where? Remember the famous words of Bonhoeffer: “When Jesus call a man, He bids him come and die.” Or as Luther put it, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent!’ He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Jesus is calling us out of our own dreams, where we reign as king, and instead pray to the Father, “Thy kingdom come.”
Joseph’s dream is not our example, but his actions are. He obeys immediately. “When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt.” The entire direction of His life has changed. He no longer thinks of himself but what God says and what is good for his family. Here we have two levels of vocation: the family is your top earthly priority, which itself is governed by Jesus and His Church.
Then there’s this beautiful word that resounds throughout Matthew’s Gospel: fulfilled. “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’” The things written in Scripture are there to comfort us that the sovereign God is directing and guiding all things. We also learn from this passage and many others how to read the Bible as a whole, how to interpret and see the big picture. All the Scriptures point us to Christ, who delivers, rescues, redeems mankind, to be brought into His kingdom, His communion, His Church, and to share in His unending life.
Then things get pretty dark: “Then Herod … was exceedingly angry.” Anger, if not always, is almost always a sin. St. James tells us, “The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.” “Herod … was exceedingly angry; and he … put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem.” “Put to death” is putting it too nicely. He murdered them. The male children. This too recapitulates Pharaoh’s command. You remember how Pharaoh ordered all the baby Jewish boys to be put to death? You can read about it in the beginning of Exodus.
What did the midwives do? They disobeyed. We should always obey the government, even when its orders are silly and foolish, unless they call us to break God’s Word. Then, the Scripture teaches us, “We must obey God rather than men.” Be obedient up to that point.
One particular child in Egypt was saved: Moses, who later becomes the rescuer of his people. By recording this story, St. Matthew is showing us that Jesus is the new and greater Moses. Moses instituted the Passover but Jesus will Himself be the Passover. Think of what is outside of your control, of what worries you the most. Now think of what it is to have Jesus as Lord, Jesus as your Lord, who will do for you greater things than Moses accomplished.
So what can we take away from the Word of God appointed for the Second Sunday after Christmas?
No king or government can thwart God’s purpose. Focus on your callings, as Joseph was faithful guardian. Trust God to care for you. Don’t kill babies. Work to stop it. Jesus is your Lord. Be not anxious. +INJ+