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SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:13-23
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• "They Grow Up So Fast," by Pastor Steven Molin
VERSES 13-23: AN OVERVIEW
Matthew's Gospel includes a number of parallels between Jesus and Moses, giving us a sense of Jesus as another Moses. This Gospel lesson includes several such parallels:
–– Matthew 2:13-15 parallels Exodus 1 - 2:10; 2:11-22.
–– Matthew 2:16-18 parallels Exodus 1:15-22.
–– Matthew 2:19-23 parallels Exodus 2:1-10; 3-4.
–– Matthew 2:20 parallels Exodus 4:19.
The events of this lesson show how Jesus happened to grow up in Nazareth rather than Bethlehem. In Galilee, he will grow up rubbing shoulders with Gentiles, which is appropriate to a Gospel that concludes with a mission to "all nations" (28:19).
This is the first appearance of evil in this Gospel, but evil will be pervasive through the account of the crucifixion. This Gospel is, in part, the story of God prevailing over evil.
VERSES 13-15: GET UP; FLEE TO EGYPT
13Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
"Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him" (v. 13b). Imagine how Joseph must feel. Not long before, he was a middle-class, respected citizen, soon to be married. Now, a few weeks later, he is a fugitive from the king and his soldiers.
"Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt" (v. 14). It is not unusual for Israelites to seek refuge in Egypt when life becomes difficult elsewhere.
As noted above, this trip echoes the story of Moses as an infant. It also echoes the story of the earlier Joseph, whose going into Egypt laid the foundation for the birth of the Israelite nation and the Exodus (Genesis 37-50). That first Joseph was a dreamer and an interpreter of dreams. God also appears to this new Joseph in dreams (1:20; 2:13, 19).
Joseph models unwavering obedience. We know little about him, but his prompt obedience is crucial to God's plan. He knows nothing except the next step of the journey, but he takes that step. So also is our obedience crucial to God's plan.
"and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I have called my son' " (v. 15). The verse is Hosea 11:1, which was not a prophecy, but a comment about God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. "We shall see, again and again, that this is typical of Matthew's use of the Old Testament. He is prepared to use as a prophecy about Jesus any text at all which can be made verbally to fit" (Barclay, 27).
VERSES 16-18: HEROD KILLED ALL THE CHILDREN
16When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18"A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
"Herod... killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under" (v. 16). There is no record of this incident other than Matthew's account, but the story is fully in keeping with Herod's murderous ways. He kills anyone whom he thinks to be a rival, including three of his sons.
"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more" (v. 18). Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, which portrayed the grief of Rachel, Jacob's wife, at the fate of her people as they were led into captivity. Rachel was dead, of course, and was reputed to be buried at Ramah –– or perhaps in Bethlehem –– on the route to Babylonia. Even in her grave, she wept at the fate of her children as they paraded by her in chains.
VERSES 19-21: WHEN HEROD DIED
19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20"Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
"When Herod died" (v. 19a). Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. That date helps us to approximate Jesus' birth year, which had to be 2-3 years earlier –– 7-6 B.C.
"an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt" (v. 19b). This is the third appearance of an angel to Joseph in a dream (see 1:20; 2:12).
"those who were seeking the child's life are dead" (v. 20b). "The plural suggests the complicity of the 'chief priests and scribes' (2:4) and perhaps even 'all Jerusalem' (2:3). This expression points forward to the passion story and to the enemies of Jesus there (see 26:3)" (Harrington, 45).
"Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel" (v. 21). Again, Joseph obeys without complaint or comment.
VERSES 22-23: HE WILL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN
22But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
"But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there" (v. 22a). Archelaus is tetrarch of Judea. His extreme violence causes so many problems that the Romans will depose him in 6 A.D.
"And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee" (v. v. 22b). For the fourth time, Joseph receives his guidance in a dream, and again he obeys.
"He will be called a Nazorean" (v. 23c). Joseph and his family settle in Nazareth. Matthew attributes this to the fulfillment of the prophecy, "He will be called a Nazorean." There is a problem here, because none of the words, Nazareth, Nazarean, or Nazorean, appear anywhere in the Old Testament. This may be a play on words. The word, Nazareth, sounds much like two Old Testament words, nazarite and neser. A nazarite is a person set apart as holy (Numbers 6), which is also true of Jesus. Neser appears in Isaiah 11:1, a messianic text: "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch (neser) shall grow out his roots." Jesus is clearly the branch to grow out of those roots.
–– Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Barclay, William, Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1956)
Bergant, Dianne with Fragomeni, Richard, Preaching the New Lectionary, Year A (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2001)
Beker, J. Christiaan, Proclamation 6: Advent-Christmas, Series A (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995)
Boring, M. Eugene, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Borsch, Frederick Houk and Napier, Davie, Proclamation 2, Advent-Christmas, Series A (Fortress Press, 1980)
Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R.; and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV –– Year A (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995)
Bruner, Frederick Dale, Matthew: Volume 2, The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Dallas: Word, 1987)
Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, A (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1992)
Farris, Lawrence W., in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday's Text. The Third Readings: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Hagner, Donald A., Word Biblical Commentary: Matthew 1-13, Vol. 33a (Dallas: Word, 1993)
Hamm, Dennis, Let the Scriptures Speak, Year A (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 2001)
Hare, Douglas R. A., Interpretation: Matthew (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993)
Harrington, D.J., Sacra Pagina: Matthew (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991)
Hultgren, Arland J. Lectionary Bible Studies: The Year of Matthew: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977)
Johnson, Sherman E. and Buttrick, George A., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)
Long, Thomas G., Westminster Bible Companion: Matthew (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997)
Morris, Leon, The Gospel According to Matthew (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1992)
Pilch, John J., The Cultural World of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle A (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1995)
Senior, Donald, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Matthew (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998)
Soards, Marion; Dozeman, Thomas; McCabe, Kendall, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Year A (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993)
Wylie, Samuel and McKenzie, John L., Proclamation: Advent-Christmas, Series A (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974)
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