Father in heaven, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heart.
Be pleasing, acceptable in your sight, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ.
Just a few minutes ago, all of you heard today’s gospel lessons, so you know where we are in the story of the birth of Jesus, and the days in his life following.
In the past week or so in church time, the Holy Family has been through a lot.
Mary was told by an angel that she was carrying the Son of God.
She traveled to see Elizabeth with her baby leaping for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice.
Elizabeth gave birth to the baby who would become John the Baptist.
Mary had to deal with the situation of her betrothed husband, Joseph, who, understandably, had a hard time believing the baby she was carrying was from the Holy Spirit.
There was the dream Joseph had in which an angel told him that indeed the infant was the Son of God, and that he was to be named Jesus.
There was the trip to Bethlehem because of the census in Jesus’ birth in the most lowly of places on earth, a humble stable with a manger, the trough from which animals eat, as his bed.
The king of kings, and the Lord of Lords, had arrived on earth in the form of the most dependent human of all, an infant child.
The shepherds were told of the event by an angel and a multitude of heavenly hosts singing, glory to God in the highest.
And on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
The shepherds.
The most lowly of people in that society, were the 1st to hear the birth of their Messiah.
The Messiah who was prophesied in the Old Testament.
Then there were the magi.
The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly how many there were, even though tradition tells us that there were 3 because of the 3 gifts that were brought.
They followed that star to Jerusalem, and inquired of Herod, where the new king of the Jews could be found.
At this point in Herod’s reign, he was not a well man.
He was delusional, paranoid, and generally suspicious of all around him.
So you can imagine his reaction.
When these travelers from the east show up asking about the newly born king of the Jews.
However, being shrewd, he asked his priests where it was prophesied that the Messiah was expected to be born.
The priest quoted Micah 52.
But you, O Bethlehem, Ephraha. Who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth from me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Herod secretly told the magi to go to Bethlehem.
He asked when the star had appeared so that he could gauge when the birth took place.
He told them, go and search diligently for the child.
And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.
Given Herod’s disposition at this point, you could almost hear a sneer in his voice. As he told them this.
Of course, the magi are led by the star to Bethlehem, where they found the Christ child, and Mary and Joseph.
They fell down to worship the new king.
They presented their gifts and then departed, going back to the east via a different route.
Because of a dream, they did not go back to Herod to inform him of the location of the child king.
Now we get to today’s gospel lesson.
After the wise men had departed, an angel told Joseph in a dream to gather up his family and to flee to Egypt, to flee to Egypt, and stay there until they are told to return.
Why?
Herod is about to search for the new child king to destroy him.
Herod was beside himself with anger because it was obvious that he had been tricked by the wise men.
He took that snub with all of the rage of the deluded and suspicious old paranoid that he was.
If he wasn’t already, he was now going to become the villain of the Christmas story.
He ordered the ruthless slaughter of all male babies 2 years and under in Bethlehem, with the hope that the new infant king would be among those killed.
There are some who estimate that at least 20 male babies were killed because of his order.
These young boys, traditionally called the holy innocents, are regarded as the first martyrs in the New Testament.
You might say, who could do such a thing?
Well, Herod was accustomed. To doing these types of acts.
He had his favorite wife, Maryam, killed along with her grandfather, her mother, her brother in law, 3 of his sons, and numerous subjects.
He was suspicious of everyone.
However, God kept the holy family safe.
The trip they were undertaking now was more than twice as long as a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
We don’t know which route they took, but the regular cat caravan route led from Bethlehem south in the Hebron Road, then west to Gaza, and then down the coastal highway along the Mediterranean to Egypt.
At that point in time, there were many Jews living in Egypt.
More Jews lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then in Jerusalem, with 40% of the city’s population being Jewish.
However, we do not know for certain where exactly they lived during that time.
There are various traditions among the Coptic Christians, of dwelling places of the Holy Family, but nothing that can be absolutely verified.
Wherever they lived in Egypt, could not have been for very long since King Herod died shortly after they had fled from Bethlehem.
Joseph received the expected message from an angel to return to Israel, since those who wanted the new king dead were now dead themselves.
So Mary, Joseph, and Jesus began their trip back to Israel.
However, when they returned to their homeland, they had a bit of an unhappy surprise.
Yes, Herod was certainly dead.
But in his place, his son Archelaus ruled Judea.
It seems that this son was leaving off where his father had left off.
He begun his reign with a massacre of 3000 Jews, who had rebelled against him at the temple in Jerusalem.
Instead of remaining in Judea in the vicinity of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the family continued traveling, and returned home to Galilee, which was ruled by another Herod’s son.
But this one was one of the milder ones.
By the name of Antipas.
So the Christmas story that began in Nazareth ends in Nazareth, with the baby Jesus growing up there, only later to be known as Jesus of Dazareth.
From the Christmas story, you can see God’s grace for you and for all of mankind, and the sending of his son to take on human flesh.
To be born in the most humble of surroundings.
The end result of Jesus’ incarnation here on earth is his ministry for a period of 3 years, and then his death, burial, and resurrection, which guarantees all sinners who believe and have faith in Christ, their own victory over the grave, their own resurrection and eternal life.
This applies to you and me as well.
Jesus will say it from Herod’s suspicious, paranoid, and murderous nature so that these things would come to pass, so that all sinners, even those such as Herod, would have the possibility of having their sins forgiven.
The Christmas story is also one of faith.
Just look at the faith in God that it took for Mary to bear the Christ child.
And what about Joseph?
It took a remarkable amount of faith for him to believe the messages that he received from the angels regarding the whole situation of his betrothed wife and the son of God, whom she was carrying.
It took a tremendous faith in God for them to begin on the journey to Egypt, to keep the Christ child safe from the murderous intent of Herod.
At each step in the Christmas story.
Things occurred that would make people of a lesser faith, maybe rethink the whole plan.
Mary and Joseph continued on faithfully, knowing that God was with them.
Which leads to the Christmas story, pointing to the fact that God had this all planned and was leading them and in control the whole way.
This was all prophesied long before the fact.
The prophets Micah and Isaiah proclaimed their prophecies at least 700 years before the event of Jesus is coming.
This was the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 3.15, dating back far before those prophecies, that one would be sent that would crush the head of the serpent, while a serpent would only strike his heel.
Just as God led the Holy Family through Mary’s pregnancy, the trip to Bethlehem, Christ’s birth in the stable, the visit from the shepherds, and the wise men, the escape from Herod to Egypt, and safety on that trip, and then the trip back home to Israel, and on to Nazareth, he leads you on your trip through your life too.
I don’t know how many of you have had times in your life when you could sense the hand of God guiding you through the difficult times, but in those times, he is there walking with you.
Shepherding you.
Even through our daily lives, he provides you with your daily bread.
All those things you need to live your life.
About a week ago, you were in the midst of the celebration of the coming of the Christ child.
With most of you being surrounded by family, amid gifts and wonderful food.
Rather than than just making it a one day celebration.
You should wake up every morning celebrating.
Because of your faith, the grace that God gave us through his son, Jesus Christ.
You should celebrate the fact that God is walking with you every day, as you carry out your life just as he walked alongside Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child through the Christmas story.
God has given you his son to restore you, me, in all of creation.
Ultimately back to how it all was in the Garden of Eden.
He takes you, me, and everyone and his family by the hand to lead us there.
Thanks be to God.
God bless you all.
And since we’re all still in the season of Christmas, I can still say without reservation, Merry Christmas.
And may each of you have a blessed new year.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all of our human understanding.
Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Leave a Reply