“Out of Egypt did I call My Son”
Matthew 2:13-18
12/30/07
Since 9/11, 2001, security has been beefed up at
national landmarks, airports, oil refineries, and in major cities,
among other likely targets of terrorist attacks. But, of course,
that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re safe. A terror
attack could occur anywhere, even where we least expect it.
Recent mall and school shootings only serve to remind us of this.
And we wonder, “Is there anywhere in this world that can we go
and not only feel safe but actually be safe?”
In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, we see
another terrorist, Herod, who was after Jesus. He had heard from
the Magi that Jesus was the King of the Jews. Herod thought this
meant trouble for him, who was already king of the Jews. He
didn’t know that Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.
So he plotted to kill Jesus. But after an angel warned Joseph in
a dream, he and Mary escaped with Jesus to Egypt. It was then
that Herod revealed his true intentions for the Child, when he ordered
that all the male children in Bethlehem from 2 years of age and younger
be killed.
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were safe, however, in
Egypt. Egypt historically had been a place of escape for
God’s people, when long ago Jacob and his twelve sons had fled
Israel, in order to escape the famine there at that time.
Jacob’s son, Joseph, whom Pharaoh had put second in command, took
care of his father and brothers and all the people of Egypt for the
seven years that the famine lasted. But were the Jews really safe
there? After several generations had passed, there arose another
Pharaoh in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. He enslaved the
Israelites living there and treated them harshly. He even ordered
that all the male babies be killed, in order to try to keep God’s
people from multiplying and overpowering the Egyptians. But God
spared Moses and eventually used him to lead His people out of Egypt
into the promised land. Israel was called God’s firstborn
son, based on God’s promise to Abraham, and when Pharaoh refused
to let him go, God killed all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.
Now in the gospel text for today here’s Jesus,
retracing the steps of His people Israel, going to Egypt Himself,
where, if He had lived there long enough, they probably would have
tried to kill Him, too. But it was God’s plan that Jesus be
killed by His own people in His own country. So, like the exodus
of God’s people led by Moses, Jesus makes His exodus from Egypt,
in order that through His death and resurrection at Jerusalem He might
lead another people out of slavery in an exodus from the kingdom of the
devil, sin, and eternal death. Those people are all who trust in
Jesus as their Deliverer.
In Jesus we are safe now from God’s
wrath. We do not have to fear His judgment and punishment.
But safe as we are from God’s wrath, Pharaoh, Herod, the Jewish
leaders, and the Romans of Jesus’ day show that He and His people
will always be hated by unbelievers. They will always be
persecuted and driven from place to place. They will never find
permanent peace and safety in this world. Jesus promises us
tribulation in this world. But He also promises that He has
overcome the world. He has delivered us from our greatest enemies
through His death and resurrection. So, though we may still have
the world and the devil as our enemies, God is no longer our
enemy. In Jesus, you are now God’s firstborn sons. He
has delivered you from your slavery to sin, death, and hell. Your
exodus happened at your Baptism, when the blood of Jesus was applied to
you, just as the Israelites applied the blood of a lamb to the
doorframes of their homes, in order that the angel of death might pass
over them. Now death passes over you, as Jesus says, “He
who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives
and believes in me will never die.” What God says of His
Son, Jesus, He says of you: “Out of Egypt did I call My
son.” The devil may still be constantly on the prowl,
looking for someone to devour, and the world may still hate us on
account of Christ, but even under their constant attacks, the Lord is
protecting us from any real harm. Yes, they can kill the body,
but they can’t do any more than that. God can not only kill
the body, but also cast into hell. So we confess in the catechism
that God “defends us against all danger, and guards and protects
us from all evil.” This means that though we are assaulted
by our enemies, in Jesus we already have the victory through His cross
and resurrection, and we will finally overcome and obtain this victory
at our own resurrection.
God gave protection to His Son through His earthly
parents, Joseph and Mary. Jesus let Himself be nourished and
cared for by them. They kept Him from danger and evil. They
provided for Him everything He needed for His body and life. God
does the same for you through His Church, through the pastors whom
He’s called and ordained to give you your spiritual food and
care. He does this through parents as well, who teach us the Word
of God at home. It is through the proclamation of God’s
Word that we are kept from falling to the attacks of the devil and the
world. In their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were tempted to
despair when they came to the Red Sea, because the Egyptians were hot
on their trail. But Moses comforted them with God’s Word
and led them through the Sea on dry ground, so that they were safely
brought to the other side. And when the Egyptians tried it, they
were drowned. This is a picture of how God saves you through
Baptism. Not only does He comfort you with His Word and tell you
to trust Him, but He reminds you of your Baptism, through which He has
safely brought you into His kingdom of grace. And just as the
Israelites were fed with bread from heaven in the desert, so God feeds
you with the Bread from heaven (our Lord’s body and blood in the
Lord’s Supper), in order to sustain you, while you travel to your
promised land - heaven.
All of these things - the Word, Baptism, the Holy
Supper - God has provided for us, in order to keep us from all harm and
danger. Jesus received milk from His mother. So you, too,
receive your spiritual milk from the Church, where Jesus is giving you
His Word and His Sacraments. If anyone had split off from the
rest of the people of Israel while they were wandering in the
wilderness, they would have died of starvation. If a child runs
away from home before he knows how to take care of himself, he too
could die of starvation. We cannot think that we don’t need
the Church. In this Christian Church God gives us our spiritual
food. Apart from it we would starve. There are no lone
Christians. We are a family, just as Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were
a family.
But just as Jesus’ true Father was not Joseph,
but God the Father, so our true Father in this family is also God the
Father, the One who created us and sent His Son to redeem us.
Jesus has made us His brothers, sons of God with Him, heirs of eternal
life, because He, our Brother, has made the sacrifice for our
sins. Jesus, our Brother, has given His life for us on the cross,
so that we may now call God our Father and pray to Him as He has taught
us to pray. Because of what our Brother Jesus has done for us, we
have the promise that God hears our prayers and will answer us.
Even when things don’t go right for us, even when death comes to
us, we know that God’s will is still being done and that He is
keeping us safe from evil. Even when our enemies attack us, we
know that nothing can separate us from the love of our Father in Jesus,
and that our enemies will finally come to an end. The gospel text
here shows us this, in that Herod dies. The Egyptians died, the
enemies of Israel died, Herod dies. The day is coming when all
those who attack God’s Church will die. The book of
Revelation tells us that the devil, the beast, and all unbelievers will
be cast into the lake of fire, never to be able to attack the Church
again. The suffering of this life is temporary, as is our own
death. He who has called us out of Egypt will also call us out of
the grave, and we will forever live with the Lord.
On this the first Sunday after Christmas, also known
as the day of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs, in memory of those infants
in Bethlehem who were killed by Herod on account of Jesus, we are
reminded that in this world we will suffer the cross on account of
Christ. Members of the Christian Church will be persecuted and
killed just as her Lord was. But this is only because our enemies
know that their time is short. The Lord has come and delivered us
from our slavery to them. We don’t belong to the kingdom of
darkness anymore, but to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, in
whom we too are sons of God. Jesus has freed you from your
bondage to sin and death through His death and resurrection. He
has delivered you from God’s wrath and judgment, and now feeds
and strengthens you with His Word and Sacraments, so that you might
stand firm when your defeated enemies attack you. You can run for
shelter to God’s Word and find your refuge in Jesus, your
Savior. And you can look forward to the day when your enemies
will be no more, and you will enter into your promised inheritance in
the new heaven and the new earth that our Brother, Jesus is preparing
for us and leading us to. Neither earthly nor spiritual
terrorists will succeed. God has delivered us from them in
Jesus. In Him we are safe wherever we go. Amen.