Sermon for the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord - Mt 3:13-17

                                                                                                Baptism of Our Lord

                                                                                                Mt 3:13-17

                                                                                                1/11/26

 

           

On Tuesday we entered into the season of Epiphany as we celebrated how the magi were first prompted by a star, and then later followed the star to see the Christ. The word “epiphany” is based on a Greek word that means “to appear.” During Advent prepared to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. At Christmas we rejoiced in how God sent his Son into the world as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Now in Epiphany we consider how the incarnate Son of God began to reveal is saving glory.

On this Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, our Gospel lesson tells about the baptism of Jesus. This is a good place to begin during Epiphany because the baptism of Jesus marks the start of our Lord’s ministry. It is the beginning of God’s salvation appearing in Jesus Christ.  It is the first step, and in this case the first step determines all the rest.

Matthew begins this section of the Gospel by saying, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” John showed up in the wilderness and he called upon all to repent. He said this was necessary because the kingdom of heaven – the reign of God – was about to arrive.  He announced that God was about to carry out his end time action. This would mean salvation for God’s people, and judgment for sinners. All people needed to confess their sin and turn in faith toward God in preparation for it.

As I have mentioned in the past, John did something unique – something no one had seen before. He baptized people.  John specifically identified the act of receiving his baptism with repentance. He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance.” By receiving John’s baptism, people demonstrated their repentance and faith in God as they looked for his reign to arrive. Matthew tells us, “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

The baptism of John is the last place we would expect to find Jesus. After all, the angel Gabriel had told Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God.”  Jesus Christ is the holy Son of God.  True God and true man, he committed no sin. Yet now he comes to receives a baptism of repentance.

Our Gospel lesson begins with the words: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” John clearly did not understand this.  In fact, Matthew tells us that John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

However, Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Each of them had a role to play.  John was the baptizer.  Jesus was there to receive John’s baptism. And this was necessary to fulfill all righteousness.

Righteousness is an interesting word in the Scriptures. As we mentioned in Bible class last Sunday, it can mean doing what is according to God’s will – doing what God says is right. But it is also used to refer to God’s saving action. For example, in Psalm 98 we hear: “The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.” And that is the meaning that we have here. Jesus was saying that his baptism was part of God’s end time saving action.

John consented and baptized Jesus. Next Matthew tells us, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

After Jesus’ baptism two things happened. First, the heavens were opened to Jesus. This is language that in Scripture describes divine revelation. He saw the Spirit descend like a dove and come to rest upon him. Second, God the Father spoke saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Together these two things left no doubt about what was happening.

In Isaiah chapter 42 Yahweh had said, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” The Father’s words draw upon this verse as he carries out the very action of placing his Spirit upon Jesus. God identifies Jesus as the Servant of the Lord.

Jesus the sinless Son of God begins his ministry by submitting to a baptism of repentance. He goes to a baptism in which everyone else is confessing their sins.  He does so because he enters the water in order to take our sins upon himself.  Isaiah said of the Servant in chapter 53, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus’ baptism is the first step of his public ministry.  It is the first step that determines all the rest. He enters the water of his baptism in order to take on the role of the One who will bear our sins.  He does so because we are not holy. We are people who do not trust God to guide our lives. We do not put God and his Means of Grace first. We put ourselves before our spouse, and speak angry words when called out on this. We lust, and covet, and hate.

Jesus does none of these things. But he takes them as if they were his own. From the moment of his baptism our Lord’s entire ministry was directed towards one moment. It was directed towards his crucifixion on Good Friday. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Matthew tells us: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

On the cross, Christ fulfilled the words of Isaiah, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” God condemned our sin in the flesh of Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus died in order to redeem us from sin – to free us from it. Paul told the Ephesians that “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

The baptism of Jesus fulfilled Isaiah chapter 42. But that was not all. At Nazareth Jesus himself said that he was the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 61 in which the prophet wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

Jesus was anointed with the Spirit at his baptism to bring the good news of more than just freedom from sin. He came to open the prison of death itself. Sin brings death. It did for Adam.  And it has for everyone since.

In Luke’s Gospel immediately after telling about the baptism of Jesus, he provides a genealogy of the Lord. It is a genealogy that ends with: “the son of Adam, the son of God.” Jesus is the second Adam who came to reverse all that occurred because of the first one.

Adam’s sin brought death. Jesus died to win forgiveness for us. And then on third day God raised Jesus from the dead. He rose with a body transformed so that it can never die again. He rose as the beginning of the resurrection that will be ours on the Last Day. St. Paul told the Corinthians, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

John the Baptist began the practice of baptism. Jesus received John’s baptism as he fulfilled all righteousness – as he carried out the end time saving action of God. That saving action was accomplished by his death and resurrection. And then Jesus transformed baptism into the means by which he delivers the salvation that he has won. The risen Lord told the disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Jesus was baptized in order to die. Now through baptism we share in his saving death. Paul told the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Your sins are forgiven because you have been joined to Christ’s death through baptism. Notice that Paul says that something actually happened in baptism. You were baptized into Christ. You were baptized into his death. You were buried with him.

Jesus is about more than death, and so baptism is as well. The Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism, and in this we see that baptism is the source of Christ’s Spirit in our lives. Jesus told Nicodemus that a person must be born again – born from above – to see the kingdom of God. Then he added, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Through the water and the Word of baptism the Spirit creates new spiritual life. Paul told Timothy that baptism is “the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”  It is the continuing source of the Spirit’s work in our life and that is why Paul can say of baptism, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from dead dwells in you through baptism. Paul told the Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” The resurrection power of the Spirit is at work in you because you are the baptized child of God.

And this leads us back to that first meaning of righteousness that I mentioned earlier: doing what is according to God’s will – doing what God says is right. You have received the righteousness of God – the saving work of God in Christ. So now through the work of the Spirit, seek to live in righteousness. Walk in newness of life.  Paul put it this way to the Romans, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So, help and support your spouse, putting his or her needs ahead of your own. Obey your parents and listen to their guidance. Work as unto the Lord and not unto man in your vocation – giving your best effort because it helps your neighbor. Forgive others, as you have been forgiven in Christ.

Today we see that the baptism of Jesus marks the start of our Lord’s ministry. It is the beginning of God’s salvation appearing in Jesus Christ.  It is the first step – the first step that determined all the rest in his death and resurrection.  Now through baptism you have received the salvation that Christ has won. His Spirit enables you to walk in the ways of the Lord – the same Spirit by whom he will raise our bodies from the dead on the Last Day.

 

Sermon for the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord - Mt 2:1-12

                                                        

                                                                                                    Epiphany

                                                                                                    Mt 2:1-12

                                                                                                    1:6:26

                                                                                               

 

 

          They were fortunate to catch Herod the Great in town.  Our text tonight begins with the words: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

          The magi came to Jerusalem looking for the king of the Jews who had been born. Instead of a young child, they found Herod the Great, and they interacted with him. There was actually a good chance that they could have arrived in Jerusalem and found no king there.  Herod had built a palace in Jerusalem. However, he had also built palace complexes at Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea, at Masada in the Judean wilderness, and Herodium.  He ruled from these various palace locations in his kingdom.

          Matthew signals the unexpected character of the arrival by saying, “Behold! Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.”  Now you will note that I have not used the language of our translation by calling them “wise men.” Instead, I am using a word that is based on the Greek being translated here: “magoi.” We are used referring to them as the “wise men,” which since the Enlightenment of the 1700’s has had very positive associations.

          However, when Matthew wrote these words, Jews did not view the word “magi” in a positive way. Magi were people who were learned, but not in anything that really mattered. They were foolish men who were experts at nonsense, since so much of it was tied up with astrology and pagan religion.  The fact that Gentile magi showed up in Jerusalem looking for a newborn king of the Jews was shocking.

          We are probably not going to be quite so negative in our evaluation of the magi. Magi were in fact keen observers of the heavens – they were learned in matters that today we would call astronomy. But to be sure, this learning was mixed up with what we would now call astrology. It was a learning that was heavily involved in what we call the occult.

          The magi came from the east and said, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  The magi said that their journey had been prompted by something they had seen in the sky – “a star at its rising.”  They had seen some kind of astronomical event which signaled to them that a king of the Jews had been born.

          Most likely the magi came from what we know as Iraq or Iran. These were the lands of the Babylonians and Persians, and after the events of the sixth century B.C. sizeable numbers of Jews lived there. In this setting a learned individual could come into contact with the Scriptures of the Old Testament.

          In the book of Numbers we learn that Balak the king of the Moabites hired Balaam a diviner and practicer of the occult to curse the Israelites. But Yahweh used Balaam instead to speak his words and to bless Israel. In fact in chapter 24 we learn that the Spirit of God came upon Balaam and prompted him to speak. In that chapter he said, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.”

          God had spoken through a Gentile diviner. He provided something new and unexpected – a star at its rising. And now God used those words in Scripture to prompt Gentile magi to seek a newborn king of the Jews because of what they had seen.

          Through God’s providence, Herod the Great was in Jerusalem when the Gentiles showed up. He was not thrilled to hear that a king of the Jews had been born.  He was troubled, and so was everyone else because when Herod got troubled about usurpers of his throne, people died.

          Herod had spent great amounts of money turning the temple in Jerusalem into one of the wonders of the ancient world. However, this was not an action prompted by faith in God. Instead, Herod sought the favor of the Jews whose land he ruled. At the same time, Herod also spent money to build pagan temples in Gentile areas.Her

          Herod was not a man who had faith in the Lord. But in this case he thought the Scriptures might be useful. So he assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They pointed to the prophet Micah as they answered: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

          We hear in our text that with this information in hand, Herod inquired secretly from the wise men about when the star had appeared.  After our Gospel lesson on Sunday, you know exactly what he was doing. He was determining the relative age of the child, if he in fact existed, in order to eliminate him. But Herod hoped that the magi would do the work of finding the child for him.  He said, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

          Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem to find the child. And it is at this point that Matthew again calls our attention to another unexpected event as he writes: “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.”  The magi said that their trip had been prompted by the sight of “a star at its rising.” However, they had not followed the star to Jerusalem. They believed that this astronomical event signaled the birth of the king of the Jews, and so they went to where you expected the king to be: in Jerusalem.

          But now, something new and different occurred. They again saw this star, but this time it behaved in a way that actually guided them.  Matthew tells us, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”

          We usually assume that the star guided the magi to Bethlehem. But it is helpful to recognize that the text never actually says this.  It says that the Christ had been born in Bethlehem, and that on this basis Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem, but it never actually says that the magi arrived in Bethlehem. It is also worth noting that Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem. The magi certainly didn’t need a star to lead them there.

          It is possible that instead the star led them to Nazareth. This may explain why the magi rejoiced greatly when suddenly the star appeared and started to guide them. It also fits well with the information that Luke provides us in chapter two about the circumstances of Christ’s birth.  We can’t know for sure. The one thing that is clear that in a new and specific way the star that they had seen previously at its rising now guided the magi to the location of the Christ.  God acted through a star to reveal not just that the Christ had been born, but also to lead the magi to him.

          Matthew tells us: “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”  The magi came and offered homage to the king. They also brought valuable gifts.

          Epiphany is sometimes called “the Christmas of the Gentiles.” Jesus Christ is born, and on Christmas Eve the angels announce this good news to Jewish shepherds. But on Epiphany we celebrate how God revealed Jesus to the Gentile magi.

          On Epiphany we are reminded of a fact that we often take for granted: Jesus Christ is the Savior of those who are not Jewish. God called Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. He took their descendants Israel into a covenant with himself. If you don’t descend from Israel – if you are not Jewish – then he did not make a covenant with you.

          In Isaiah’s prophecies we learn that that Servant of the Lord is Israel. Yet somehow, his is also not Israel – he is a figure other than Israel. In chapter 49 Yahweh says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

          God describes how his salvation must reach to the ends of the earth. We hear a description of this in our Old Testament lesson tonight in which God says through Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

          The darkness that covers the peoples is the sin and death that has enveloped us since the fall of Adam.  It is the sin that cuts us off from the holy God bringing his eternal judgment and damnation. At Christmas we celebrated how God sent his Son into the world to deliver us from these things. The Word became flesh as the Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary.

          The Son of God became man, without ceasing to be God. He took on our humanity in order to take our place – to take our sin and receive God’s judgment as he died on the cross. He redeemed us from sin. And then God renewed our humanity by raising Christ from the dead with a body that can never die again. Jesus is the second Adam who delivers us from all that occurred in the Fall.

          God had worked through Israel, but his saving purpose was never limited to Israel. Isaiah says in the Old Testament lesson: “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”  In our Gospel lesson we see that God brings the magi to the Christ.  He shows that the salvation present in Jesus is for all peoples. They bring gifts to the Lord, just as Isaiah says, “A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”

          God’s salvation in Christ is for you.  All most none of you descend from Abraham and Israel, but God has acted in the death and resurrection of his Son to give you forgiveness and eternal life. And this raises the question: What is your response? The magi made the trip to Jerusalem. They then followed the star to the place where Jesus was located. Finding the Christ was a priority for them.

You have come to the Divine Service on a Tuesday night because you are doing the same.  You have come to the place where Christ is present through his Word and Sacrament. This is the pattern that needs to continue to guide your life. It is the pattern that you need to encourage in your family members and friends.

The magi came to the place where Christ was and brought gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They brought valuable things and gave them to the Lord. This causes us to consider how we respond to the blessings God has given us. Do you bring gifts to the Lord that reflect sacrificial giving?  Do you give what is valuable, or something quite small that allows you to go through the motions? The offering we give is a response to the blessings God has given to us. It we are walking by the Spirit, then it will be an offering that is proportional to the way that God has blessed us. It is what we return to the Lord to support the proclamation of the Gospel in this place.

The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord announces that the Gospel is for all people. God has acted in his Son Jesus Christ to free us from sin and death. He worked through Israel to accomplish his saving purpose for all nations. Through the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and resurrection on the Last Day. This is light we share with all those around us. 

 

 

         

           

 

 

Sermon for the Second Sunday after Christmas - Mt 2:13-23

                                        Christmas 2; Mt 2:13-23; 1/4/26

            You don’t expect good news when the phone rings in the middle of the night.  No one is going to call you at 3:00 a.m. to let you know about some good thing that has happened. Instead, a call at that time is almost certainly going to be prompted by an emergency – by something that is bad.

            When my phone rings at such a time, there are in fact two possibilities. First, it may be that something has happened in my family – to my parents; to my children; or to my brother and his family. Second, it is possible that something has happened to a congregation member. There are in fact more of you than there are of my close family members, and so the odds lean that way. This was the case last Sunday when I received a call at 4:00 a.m. that Sue Linenberger was at the ER because of tightness in her chest caused by blood clots.

            When your phone rings at a time like this, you are startled.  You often feel rather foggy as you try to wake up and listen to what is being said in order to understand what has happened. I find myself repeating back what I have heard, in order to make sure that I have it right. And then when the phone call is over, if the news doesn’t require me to leave immediately, I am awake and have trouble going back to sleep.

            In our Gospel lesson this morning Joseph is startled in the middle of the night. He receives news of an emergency. In this case the information comes not from a phone call, but from an angel in a dream. The result is the same because when he is awake there is no question of trying to get back to sleep. Instead, he immediately swings into action.

            This morning we have things a little out of order.  Our Gospel lesson describes the flight to Egypt by Joseph, Mary, and Jesus that took place after the visit by the magi. Of course, we won’t celebrate visit by the magi until this Tuesday – the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. You will notice that the magi have not yet arrived in our chancel. But here at the end of Christmastide, our text is the last thing we learn about the events involving Jesus in the time after he had been born.

            Just before our text Matthew reports, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’”

            The magi showed up in Jerusalem looking for the king of the Jews who had been born. What they found instead was King Herod the Great. Herod was not, in fact, a descendant of Israel. He was from Idumea – the land south of Israel that had been the ancient enemy Edom. People in Judea would have considered him, at best, to be a “half Jew” since this land had been conquered by the Jews during the time of the Jewish Hasmonean leaders. In fact, he was not a true believer in Yahweh at all as he gave money to build to build pagan temples in Gentile areas.

            Herod had no interest in the Scriptures.  But when he heard about the possibility of a competitor for his crown being born, the Scriptures suddenly became something that could be useful. He summoned the chief priests and scribes who told him on the basis of Micah’s prophecy that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem.

            Matthew reports that Herod instructed the magi to find the child, and then send him word so that he too could go and worship him. But before doing that we are told: “Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.”  Herod was particularly interested in how long ago the star had appeared. He wanted to determine how old this child might be.

            Herod the Great had risen from being an Idumean outsider to king ruling a kingdom that was as large as David’s.  He did it by sheer determination, and the remarkable ability to convince whatever Roman was in control of Palestine at that time that Herod was their man.

            He also succeeded because he was absolutely ruthless. He beheaded the last king from the Hasmonean line. Then he executed forty five of that man’s richest supporters, and he took their wealth as his own. He had his wife executed. He had his mother-in-law executed. He had his brother-in-law executed. He had three of his own sons executed. If Herod thought that you were a threat to his throne, there was no question about what he was going to do.

            Our text begins with the words, “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, 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.’” God sent an angel to warn Joseph, and to send him into action. We learn: “And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.”

            There is so much planning, bustle, and excitement that leads up to Christmas. There are decorations to put up and gifts to buy. There are parties to attend and travel to plan. It reaches a crescendo on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  And then there is an afterglow between Christmas and New Year’s. The kids are still off from school. It is a time that leads into the New Years Eve celebration, and then New Years day which for many people is a day off that is filled with football.

            But now there is no avoiding that it is back to the regular grind of life. The problems and challenges from which the Christmas season helped to distract us are still there.  The health problems have not gone away. The financial challenges and career uncertainty are still present. The marital and family difficulties continue to trouble us.

            We have passed through Christmas, and we may be tempted to ask what difference it makes. We wonder where God is in all of this. Today’s Gospel lesson speaks to this. Matthew tells us about the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us).’”

            Jesus Christ is God with us. He is God in the flesh. And he is with us in the midst of the danger and fear of this world. We find that he is rushed out of town in the middle of the night as his parents flee with him to Egypt. He is the target of a tyrant who wants nothing else but to kill the child.

            The Lord Jesus understands our existence. He understands not simply as the omniscient Son of God, but as the One who has been God with us – the One who has lived our life. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

            Joseph took Mary and Jesus in the middle of the night to Egypt, and they stayed there until the death of Herod. Matthew says in our text, “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”  Matthew tells us that Jesus went to Egypt and then returned in fulfillment of God’s word.

            Jesus is God with us. His parents have to flee their homeland and go to Egypt in order to protect him from death. But we learn that God is at work in the midst of this hardship.  Jesus has gone to Egypt in order to return from there, just as Israel had done so. Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”  This is not what we would normally call a “prophecy.”  It is not a statement about the future. Instead, it is Hosea recounting Israel’s unfaithfulness in the past.

            But Matthew tells us that Jesus’ experience of fleeing to Egypt and then returning fulfills Hosea’s words because God was intentionally creating a correspondence between Israel and Jesus.  Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah.  He is the fulfillment of God’s promises about the descendant of David.  He is Israel reduced to One. And we begin to learn that where Israel failed God’s purposes, Jesus will fulfill them.

            Like Israel, Jesus is God’s Son whom he calls out of Egypt. Like Israel, Jesus will pass through the water of the Jordan when he is baptized. But where Israel was unfaithful when they entered the promised land, Jesus was faithful in carrying out the Father’s will.  At his baptism Jesus the sinless One took on the role of bearing our sins. He said, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was called out of Egypt and passed through the Jordan in order to hang on the cross for you. He received God’s judgment against your sin in order to give you forgiveness before God.

            The magi were warned by God not to return to Herod.  Eventually Herod realized that he had been tricked by them. Matthew tells us that he became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.  Herod had been very interested in when the star had appeared.  And now he used that information as he left nothing to chance. He had all the boys two years and younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area killed.

            Herod kills children in Bethlehem. But then Matthew says something that seems surprising. He reports: “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’”

            Matthew quotes from Jeremiah chapter 31. Jeremiah’s words are a reference to the exile that occurred in 587 B.C. when the Babylonians took the people of Judah away. But this verse is the only note of sadness in the whole chapter as God promises that he will bring the people back. He will return the people, and this action points to something even greater. Yahweh goes on to say through Jeremiah, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.”

            The murder of the children in Bethlehem was an act of evil by Herod. But Matthew tells us that God’s saving work occurs in the midst of evil and suffering.  It occurs as God himself submits to evil and suffering in the person of Jesus Christ.  The reason that we can trust and believe this is true is what happened on Easter. Christ died as the One whose blood was shed to establish the new covenant – the new covenant about which Yahweh said through Jeremiah, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

            Good Friday was a scene of humiliation, suffering, and death. But on Easter God raised Jesus from the dead. He vindicated Jesus and showed that the cross had been far more than it appeared to be.  It had been God redeeming us from sin.  Jesus passed through death for us, and then in the resurrection God defeated death.

            We live in a world where we experience hardships and difficulties. We see in the news senseless suffering and death.  It can make us ask: “Where is God in all of this?” Our Gospel lesson teaches us that Jesus Christ is God with us. We have seen God act in the death and resurrection of his Son.  He worked in the midst of suffering and death in this world to give us forgiveness and resurrection life.

            Now we believe in the crucified and risen Lord. But this faith is not only about salvation. It is faith that carries us through the things we can’t understand. It is the reason we can trust that God is at work even when we don’t see any indications that this is so.  This is what provides the grounds for Paul’s statement in Romans: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This is not wishful thinking or naïve optimism that somehow the forces of the world all even out. 

Instead, it is based on what God has already done in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have seen God work in the midst of suffering and death to carry out his saving purpose for us. In the resurrection of Jesus we find assurance that God’s intentions go beyond what we are able to perceive and understand. And in the resurrection have find confidence that the suffering and death will come to an end when Jesus Christ returns in glory.

 

           

           

 

 

  

           

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: Mary and Joseph weren't immigrants, illegal, or rejected

 

This year there has been an intense national focus on immigration and what should be done about illegal aliens who are now living in the United States. Therefore it’s not surprising that in the days leading up to Christmas there have been a number of individuals who have tried to drag Mary and Joseph into the discussion by comparing their experience to these modern situations. However, any attempt to do so reflects a lack of understanding about the historical setting in which they lived.  These same historical facts help us to understand how God was at work in the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

When Mary and Joseph travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they never left one country and entered into another. They were, in fact, within the kingdom of Herod the Great the entire time. The Romans under Pompey had conquered this area in 63 B.C. However, their typical practice on the eastern end of the empire during this period was not to take direct control over lands. Instead, they established client states that served as a buffer zone that separated the Romans from the Parthian empire`.

 

These client states were ruled by petty kings, and Herod the Great was one of these kings. Herod ruled a kingdom that rivaled the one over which David had been king. In an impressive display of being a survivor, Herod had managed to ingratiate himself to whichever Roman leader happened to be controlling Palestine at that time. Herod ran the affairs of his kingdom and had his own army, but there was no doubt about who controlled him. He answered to the Roman emperor.

 

As Luke 2:1 indicates, at the time when Jesus was born, that man was Augustus.  For more than fifty years, the Roman Empire had been racked by wars as leaders vied for control. Augustus had come out on top, and he took actions which transformed the Roman Empire into something that was truly ruled by one man – by him.

 

Luke states, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (2:1). Augustus ordered a census, and normally a census led directly into Roman taxation.  The available evidence indicates that usually a census was done for lands that were under direct Roman rule and therefore under direct Roman taxation. But in this case, it apparently also included lands that were under their indirect control – a land like the kingdom of Herod the Great.

 

This probably helps to explain what Luke describes: “And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David” (2:3-4).  Typically, a Roman census was done according to where a person lived. But there apparently could be some accommodation to local settings (as seen in Egyptian papyri), and so in the Jewish land of Herod it was done on the basis of family lineage.

 

Joseph and the pregnant Mary had not travelled to Bethlehem for the purpose of living there. They weren’t “immigrants.”  There was certainly nothing illegal about their activity. In fact, quite the opposite, the only reason they were in Bethlehem was because they were obeying what the government had told them to do.

There was no doubt that the timing of the decree was terrible for this young couple. We learn in our that Mary was pregnant (2:5), and it turns out that when they made the trip she was close to giving birth. When they arrived in Bethlehem they didn’t find the normal accommodations. They probably expected to stay in an extra room at the home of extended family. The ESV provides the translation: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (2:7). The Greek word translated as “inn” (ἐν τῷ καταλύματι.) doesn’t mean a place where travelers rent a room. There is a different word for that, and Luke uses it in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (εἰς πανδοχεῖον ;10:34).

 

Instead, the word used refers to an extra room in a house that is available for use. It is the same word used by Luke in 22:11 to describe the room where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples (ποῦ ἐστιν τὸ κατάλυμα ὅπου τὸ πάσχα μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν μου φάγω;). The influx of people for the census probably meant they weren’t the only extended family who showed up looking for housing. When Mary and Joseph arrived, there was no more room in the house, and so they were given the next best thing available – a stable where animals were kept.  The setting of Jesus’ birth did not indicate that Mary and Joseph were rejected or mistreated.

 

Rather than trying to use Marry and Joseph to comment on modern issues, we should see in their situation how God carried out his plan of salvation and fulfilled his word.. Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem because of forces over which they had no control. An emperor had issued a decree.  A king was obeying by implementing it. They had to obey. But what we now know, is that the emperor was subject to the One who controls all things.  St. Paul told the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4).

 

God acted at the right moment according to his plan. He, the Creator of all things, had used empires in the past as the tools by which he carried out his purposes. He had used the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Persians. He had used Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus. Now he was using the Romans and Augustus. He used them to cause Mary and Joseph to be in Bethlehem at the time when Mary gave birth to Jesus.

 

Emperor Augustus was God’s instrument through whom he brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem at the time when Mary was to give birth to Jesus the Christ – the Messiah. He had done so because this fulfilled his word that he had spoken through the prophet Micah: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:3-6).