Matthew 2:13-23 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 2:13-23 on biblegateway.com
Verse 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." Verse 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, Verse 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."
Verse 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. Verse 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: Verse 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."
Verse 19When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, Verse 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." Verse 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. Verse 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. Verse 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."
Devotion
Herod committed a monstrous crime tradition calls the slaughter of the innocents. The paranoid king sent death squads to Bethlehem with horrifying orders to kill all male babies ages two and under. Tyrants have long dealt violently with those that threaten their power. Jesus has entered the kingdoms of tyrants to shine a redeeming light on the darkness of violence.
From 1959–1961, I lived in Berlin, Germany. Dad was the American Army Chaplain. Periodically, Dad would say, “Tommy, get your music; you’re going to sing.” We would visit the Displaced Person Camps, filled with families that had fled East Germany. The promise of freedom enticed them. I heard stories of cruelty that made me weep. Dad preached that God’s arms of grace and love reach even into a brutal, oppressive world. He spoke about an incarnate consoling God nearer than hands and feet and more intimate than their breath.
Prayer
Lord, be near those that suffer under tyrannical rulers and use us to bring comfort and peace. Amen.