December 26, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

A New Exodus

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Father, the words of the angel ring in my ears today, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace…” (Luke 2:14).

Read Matthew 2:19-23

[19] After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt [20] and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” [21] So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, [23] and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“The earliest Christians … were decisively influenced by their conviction that Jesus was God’s Messiah, and that through him God had begun a new Exodus for the new people of God” (Robert Wall). We see that so clearly in Matthew’s writing.

We learn little of the family’s time in Egypt since Matthew’s interest is their return. He quotes Hosea, “out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos. 11:1), a direct recollection of the Exodus. Now, Jesus is God’s Son called out of Egypt. He is not only King (Psa. 2:6), but he embodies Israel, identifying with her story.  

After Herod’s death, Joseph, Mary and the Son-King are sent home and Jesus (Joshua) re-enters the land. Many centuries earlier, after the Exodus, Israel travelled to the land bringing fear to the nations. They entered Canaan under the first Joshua, a warrior imbued with God’s power, to conquer its peoples. Now the new Joshua (Jesus) enters as an infant in complete obscurity and the vulnerability of a baby. He is taken to Nazareth, an insignificant town, not mentioned in Jewish literature. Its inconsequentiality is seen in Nathanael’s quip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46, NRSV). Jesus is not trained in the rhetorical schools in Tiberius or Sepphoris or as a Pharisee in Jerusalem, or even in Bethlehem, the home of David. Rather, he is “concealed” (Isa. 49:2) until he is ready for ministry. 

Yet in this return, the new Exodus has begun, the new Joshua has come, the final Davidic King is living and growing in Israel. This is the final direct reference to Joseph by name in Matthew (but note Matt. 13:55). His kingly role is complete. The story shifts to the final Davidic king who is King of the world. In him we place our trust.

Apply

Are you, or others you know, in fear of opposition or persecution? Pray for greater trust in God’s all-sufficient grace, for perseverance and integrity of character.

Closing prayer

King Jesus, in You I place my trust. I need Your all-sufficient grace to live for You with perseverance and integrity.

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