Read Matthew 2:13-23
The Escape to Egypt
13 After
they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said,
“Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the
child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to
leave.”
14 Joseph
got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, 15where
he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make what the Lord had said
through the prophet come true, “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
The Killing of the Children
16 When
Herod realized that the visitors from the east had tricked him, he was furious.
He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were
two years old and younger—this was done in accordance with what he had learned
from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.
17 In
this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:
18 “A
sound is heard in Ramah,
the sound of bitter weeping.
Rachel is crying for her children;
she refuses to be comforted,
for they are dead.”
The Return from Egypt
19 After
Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and
said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of
Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead.” 21So
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
22 But
when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of
Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so
he went to the province of Galilee 23and made his home in a town
named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: “He will be called
a Nazarene.”
Think
Herod was very greedy for power. He had his own sons killed because they were
a threat to him. To kill some children
in Bethlehem was not much of a task for him.
It is quite frightening to see what lengths we will go to when our power
and authority is questioned.
You might not be a King; but you do have your own little
kingdom. How can you surrender your
‘kingdom’ to Jesus?
Your body, your work, your family, your relationships?
Pray
Lord, I don’t like to think about it but in my sinful nature
I am sometimes a bit like Herod. I hate
it when my authority is challenged. Help
me to surrender to you more completely.
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