Category: Red Letter Year

Red Letter Year: 3/8

Matthew 2:13-23

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A cry was heard in Ramah — weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”

21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Comments

Ramah was the location of Rachel’s tomb and the gathering/processing place for those going into exile and returning from exile. The place was traditionally associated with great sadness and that tradition was added to by Herod’s heinous actions. This passage stands in contrast to yesterday. The Magi were moving toward Jesus to worship and give gifts. Herod and his enablers were moving in the other direction to cause suffering. Both movements are social.

Faith is social. Sin is social. The move toward Jesus is also a move toward others — including sharing in their grief, bearing each other’s burdens, weeping with them when they weep. The move away leads to suffering. Wherever God is resisted, humanity is attacked. If like Herod, we only listen to the Word in order to find ways of resisting it, then it is not only we who will be hurt but innocents around us as well; for sin, like righteousness, is social.

The Magi showed us the deepest human desire: for a savior and for community. Herod showed us the second deepest human desire: to kill the savior and reject community. We all always have both the desire toward Jesus — which becomes the desire to live and die for, and the desire away, which becomes the desire to kill. The world wants to kill its savior. This desire still lurks in our own hearts. And Rachel still weeps for those who suffer as a result.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Red Letter Year: 3/7

Matthew 2:1-12

wise-men2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

 

Comments

I find it interesting that the astrologers in this story are the ones who are seeking Messiah. Following their own means of discovering truth leads them to people who know Scripture and are able to more specifically guide them. But none of the people who knew Scripture bothered to go with them to Bethlehem. The Magi exhibit the deepest of all human longings here – they longed for the savior, longed to mee him, honor him, worship him. They went to a lot of trouble and expense to fulfill this great longing. And God led them by various means to Jesus. Also note how Matthew begins by referring to Herod as king, then stops referring to him as king. That’s because there is a new king of the Jews – the one the Magi came looking for. Herod’s illegitimate crown stops being recognized once the true king arrives.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.