Protecting the Christ Child
Throughout Advent and Christmas, we have looked together into the presence of Angels (Messengers of God) throughout the Christmas Story. Each of these Herald Angels comes with a message, and each of these messages tells us something of God’s will and agency in the world and in bringing about the Christmas Story.
So far, we’ve read passages from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. An Angel has visited Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, a group of shepherds (with a whole chorus of the heavenly host in tow), and Joseph (again). Today’s passage marks our last in this series, and we will listen today as the Angel of the Lord once again visits Joseph.
I hope your Christmas season was a blessed one, and may this story fall freshly on you today.
Matthew 2:13-23 – Joseph obeyed. He got up…
After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.”
Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.”
Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s revelation was fulfilled:
A sound was heard in Ramah,
weeping and much lament.
Rachel weeping for her children,
Rachel refusing all solace,
Her children gone,
dead and buried.
Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.”
Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
(Matthew 2:13-23, MSG)
Commentary
Matthew’s story of King Herod’s reaction to Jesus’ birth is jarring. It’s an evil way to respond to the birth of any baby, but especially the God-With-Us baby who is Jesus. No minister wants to preach on the murder of toddlers and infants at Christmas time, and yet this is part of our Christmas Story – whether we want it to be or not.
Matthew’s focus throughout his gospel is revealing to his readers the manifold ways that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. His gospel is written with educated Jewish communities in mind, and his goal is to convince them that Jesus is the ‘real deal’ by connecting as many dots as he can find between Jesus’ life and the words of the prophets.
He does this several times in this passage, connecting the events of the story to the words of Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15. The interesting thing with these connections is that some of them are stronger than others.
If we read the whole Hosea 11 passage, we read about God calling his “son” out of Egypt, yet the son turns from him and begins to worship Baal. This passage is more accurately read as a prophetic message about the ways Israel has abandoned God despite God’s faithfulness. It has very little to do with the coming Messiah. It almost seemed cherry picked out of its passage to add to the references Matthew can make.
Jeremiah 31, however, points to the New Covenant God has planned for his people. Jeremiah is speaking hope over Israelite captives and exiles in Babylon. His words are read both as a hope for Israelites then – as they would return to the land from which they were taken – and for all God’s people now – as we hope for a day when all are gathered together with Christ. Rachel is cited in this passage as she is thought to be the favorite wife of Jacob, thus she is the one crying for their lost children.
Matthew’s focus is so heavily on connecting the events to these prophetic words that the tragic violence he discusses almost becomes a backdrop.
Almost.
Joseph is told to flee to Egypt with Mary and the child. He goes. The child is kept safe, yet the evil which was planned for Jesus befalls all the other young children in Bethlehem. Then – when the coast is clear – Joseph is told to return, and he does… sort of. He returns to Israel, but avoids Judea with God’s consenting nudge.
We can read this story – as Matthew wants us to – as a way of God sending Joseph, Mary and Jesus around in order to fulfill these prophecies.
We can read it as a fictional addition, designed to paint Jesus as a new Moses figure. There is no historical record of an order to murder all the babies in any region of Judea from the turn of this millennium, so we can assume it didn’t happen. Yet the story is reminiscent of the events of Exodus 1, where Moses survives a similar order to kill all the young male Israelite children.
We can also read it as God inviting Joseph to participate in his role as Jesus’ father, trusting him with the protection of this holy child during these early years of his life. This is a task God could have handled with holy works, miracles, and divine protection; yet, he entrusts it to Joseph, this human man who had all the same human foibles that fathers today have. Jesus’ protection did not come from an otherworldly place, but from the love and commitment of the one man who chose to take responsibility for him and his mother.
However you read it, this passage sullies any picture we may paint of a peaceful Christmas Story. It tells us, from the start, that Jesus’ birth was not a joyful thing for all peoples, and that the people in power – the Herods of the time – were terrified at what this God-child would set loose in the world. So much so, that they’d kill him if they got the chance.
Today’s Questions
Matthew references two Old Testament scriptures directly in this passage. One of these references makes much more sense than the other when we look at them in their original context. Have you ever heard someone cherry pick scripture in this way, trying to support a specific point of view? How can you ensure that the scriptures which inform your beliefs are rooted in their contexts rather than not?
Jesus is cast as a new Moses figure in this passage. He is the one child who survives and who is destined to save God’s people. What other connections do you know about between Jesus and Moses? What other stories or moments overlap like this? (Hint: The Wilderness, The Miracles, The Passover Feast, etc.)
God chooses to protect Jesus, his son, by enlisting the steadfast help of a human man with the voice of his angel (not by using any divine force or direct intervention). What does this tell us about how God works in the world? Is God trying to enlist your help to protect any of God’s children even now?
A Blessing for Your Week
Child of God,
When God tells you to go,
May you possess faith and strength
To get up and go.
Under cover of night, when necessary
On your own terms, when possible
May God lead you and those in your care
To safety.
To freedom.
To home.
Amen.
Rev. Kelsey Sherazi 
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