Tuesday after the First Sunday after the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Posted on December 31, 2019 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 2:13-15 (NKJV)
2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Devotion
The verses we look at today continue the theme of the section immediately preceding them. They further focus the
hearer on the two natures of Jesus Christ, human and divine, while shining a light on the somewhat obscure personage of Joseph. In the conclusion of verse 15, “…that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son,’” Saint Matthew points to the Old Testament to prove Jesus Christ’s divinity and His claim as the Messiah.
The Apostle Matthew references the Scriptural prophecies about the Messiah throughout his Gospel to his predominantly Jewish audience as proof that Jesus is who He claims to be, and that God is always in control. The quotation from Hosea 11:1 originally referred to God’s calling the nation of Israel out of Egypt in the time of Moses—but Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applies it also to Jesus. We see the history of God’s people reiterated in the life of the Son of God. Just as Israel as an infant nation went down into Egypt, so the infant Jesus went there—and as Israel was led by God out of Egypt, so also was Jesus. Matthew presents the will of God, which was expressed in the act of the Exodus, as reaching its fulfillment in the coming of the incarnate Son to effect the final exodus, the final full deliverance of His people.
We pray: Thank You Lord for mercifully working through all persons and circumstances throughout time to fulfill Your will in our lives. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
