Slices
Prepare
Pray: ‘In the whole world, my community, my family and my own life, Father God, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”’ (Matthew 6:10).
Bible passage
The escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’
16 When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 ‘A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.’
The return to Nazareth
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.
Explore
When the kingdom of heaven (or kingdom of God, eg 19:24) arrives by Jesus’ birth, the kingdoms of this world hate it. Throughout Jesus’ life on earth, every part of it, except his resurrection and ascension, is marked by conflict and struggle against ‘the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’ (Ephesians 6:12). The same is true for citizens of the kingdom of heaven: us.
Read again today’s verses, picking out the sorrow, fear and uncertainty caused by antagonism towards the rule of the newborn king.
All of this is the result of the fearfulness and anger of Herod when he sensed the risk of being removed by another ‘king of the Jews’ (vs 2,3,7,16). The enforced refugee status of a very young child and his parents (vs 13,14), the horrific murder of innocent children (v 16) and the nervous return of Joseph and family to the backwater town of Nazareth, for fear of Herod’s successor (vs 22,23), must have caused immeasurable anguish.
Yet nothing and no one can stop the coming of the kingdom of heaven: the reign of Jesus. If we are on his side, we too will ultimately be victorious (1 John 5:4,5).
Respond
Rejoice in the coming of the kingdom today.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, help me to understand the depths of the name Immanuel and the wonder of your presence with us in our darkest hour.
The account of the escape of the little family to Egypt and the reference to Hosea in verse 151 are Matthew’s way of aligning the story of God’s Son with the history of God’s special children, the Jews. Just as they went to Egypt as an infant nation under Joseph and then escaped with Moses, so Jesus would begin his life in similar circumstances. There is even a parallel between the vicious scheme of the evil Pharaoh to kill all the baby boys born to the Israelites2 and the outrageous act of Herod in the area surrounding Bethlehem. Even before the ‘Word’3 has spoken, evil forces desire to silence him – but God’s plan of redemption cannot be thwarted.
The refugee status of the infant Jesus, along with his family, speaks to us today in a world where millions are on the move, often for reasons of personal safety. Asylum may be a controversial word in some quarters, but it marks the Christmas story indelibly. The flight to Egypt also reveals an aspect of the incarnation that we should never forget. God is with us in our extremity, when our lives are in danger, when evil threatens to destroy us, just as much as when things are going well and praise rises easily to our lips.
Joseph’s ready response to the warnings received in his dreams is remarkable. He rises in the night (v 14) and leaves immediately. We don’t know how long the exile lasted, but when it was over a further guiding dream was given and Joseph’s response was immediate and full (v 21), even adjusting when further revelation came (v 22). Here was a man who obeyed God and who sets us an example in our discipleship today. ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’.4
Pray for those who need God’s comfort this Christmas, especially those for whom the loss of a child makes this season so hard to bear.
1 Hos 11:1 2 Exod 1:15,16 3 John 1:1,14 4 Heb 4:7
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Zechariah 9,10; Psalm 148
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Chris Clark, the worker for Mission Partner Coniston Christian Fellowship. He asks for wisdom on how best to run a holiday club next Easter, for finding storage space for his resources, and for running children’s clubs while also finding time for adults.
