MATTHEW 2:13-18
Matthew 2:13-18 |
13. And when they had departed, lo, the angel of the Lord appeared in dreams to Joseph, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I have told thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14. And he, when awake, took the young child and his mother by night, and withdrew into 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 have I called my Son. 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the Magi, was exceedingly enraged, and sent to slay1 all the children that were in Bethlehem, and all its boundaries,2 from two years old and under, according to the time which he had inquired at the Magi. 17. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by Jeremiah the Prophet, when he says, 18. A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, wailing, and much weeping: Rachel bewailing her children, and refused to receive consolation, because they are not. |
13.
We are here taught, that God has more than one way of preserving his own people. Sometimes he makes astonishing displays of his power; while at other times he employs dark coverings or shadows, from which feeble rays of it escape. This wonderful method of preserving the Son of God under the cross teaches us, that they act improperly who prescribe to God a fixed plan of action. Let us permit him to advance our salvation by a diversity of methods; and let us not refuse to be humbled, that he may more abundantly display his glory. Above all, let us never avoid the cross, by which the Son of God himself was trained from his earliest infancy. This flight is a part of the foolishness of the cross, but it surpasses all the wisdom of the world. That he may appear at his own time as the Savior of Judea, he is compelled to flee from it, and is nourished by Egypt, from which nothing but what was destructive to the Church of God had ever proceeded. Who would not have regarded with amazement such an unexpected work of God?
Joseph immediately complies with the injunction of the Angel. This is another proof of the certainty of the dream: for such promptitude of obedience plainly shows, that he had no doubt whatever, that it was God who had enjoined him to take flight. This eager haste may wear somewhat of the aspect of distrust: for the flight
15.
The words of the prophet ought to be thus interpreted: "When Israel was yet a child, I brought him out of that wretched bondage in which he had been plunged. He was formerly like a dead man, and Egypt served him for a grave; but I drew him out of it as from the womb, and brought him into the light of life." And justly does the Lord speak in this manner; for that deliverance was a sort of birth of the nation. Then were openly produced letters of adoption, when, by the promulgation of the law, they became "the Lord's portion," (Deuteronomy 32:9,) "a royal priesthood, and a holy nation," (1 Peter 2:9;) when they were separated from the other nations, and when, in short, God "set up his tabernacle" (Leviticus 26:11) to dwell in the midst of them. The words of the prophet import, that the nation was rescued from Egypt as from a deep whirlpool of death. Now, what was the redemption brought by Christ, but a resurrection from the dead, and the commencement of a new life? The light of salvation had been almost extinguished, when God begat the Church anew in the person of Christ. Then did the Church come out of Egypt in its head, as the whole body had been formerly brought out.
This analogy prevents us from thinking it strange, that any part of Christ's childhood was passed in Egypt. The grace and power of God became more illustrious, and his wonderful purpose was more distinctly seen, when light came out of darkness, and life out of hell. Otherwise, the sense of the flesh might have broken out here in contemptuous language, "Truly a Redeemer is to come out of Egypt!"3 Matthew therefore reminds us, that it is no strange or unwonted occurrence for God to call his Son out of that country; and that it serves rather to confirm our faith, that, as on a former occasion, so now again, the Church of God comes out of Egypt. There is this difference, however, between the two cases. The whole nation was formerly shut up in the prison of Egypt; while, in the second redemption, it was Christ, the head of the Church alone, who was concealed there, but who carried the salvation and life of all shut up in his own person.
16.
Josephus makes no mention of this history. The only writer who mentions it is Macrobius, in the Second Book of his
There is some uncertainty about the date.4 Matthew says, that they were slain
We may now conclude it to be a frivolous argument, on which those persons rest, who argue, that Christ was two years old when he was worshipped by the Magi, because,
But there is no inconsistency in the thread of the story which I propose,--that the Magi came when the period of child-bearing was not yet over, and inquired after
18. A
He intended thus to meet a prejudice which might disturb and shake pious minds. It might be supposed, that no salvation could be expected from him, on whose account, as soon as he was born, infants were murdered; nay more, that it was an unfavorable and disastrous omen, that the birth of Christ kindled a stronger flame of cruelty than usually burns amidst the most inveterate wars. But as Jeremiah promises a restoration, where a nation has been cut off, down to their little children, so Matthew reminds his readers, that this massacre would not prevent Christ from appearing shortly afterwards as the Redeemer of the whole nation: for we know that the whole chapter in Jeremiah, in which those words occur, is filled with the most delightful consolations. Immediately after the mournful complaint, he adds,
"Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to thine own border," (Jeremiah 31:16, 17.)
Such was the resemblance between the former calamity which the tribe of Benjamin had sustained, and the second calamity, which is here recorded. Both were a prelude of the salvation which was shortly to arrive.10
1 "Mittens interfecit;"--"sending slew."
2 "Et en toutes les marches d'icelle;"--"and in all the marches thereof."
3 "Qui croira que le Redempteur viene d'Egypte?"--"Who will believe that a Redeemer will come out of Egypt? "
4 "Toutefois on ne sait pas certainement si ce fut en mesme temps."--"However, it is not known certainly if it was at the same time."
5 "Quand les premieres nouvelles vindrent de la naissance du nouveau Roy, et que le bruit en commenca a courir;"--"when the first news arrived of the birth of the new King, and when the noise about it began to spread."
6 "La crainte l'empescha lors d'envoyer secretement quelque traistre pour espier comme tout alloit;"--"fear prevented him at that time from employing some traitor to spy how all went."
7 "Et pent estre qu'il a premierement mis a mort les Juges, afin qu'apres avoir oste au poure peuple ses conducteurs, il peust sans contredit luy tenir le pie sui la gorge, et en faire a son plaisir."--"And perhaps he first put the Judges to death, that, after having deprived the wretched people of their leaders, he might without opposition, set his foot on their throat, and do with them at his pleasure."
8 Andrew Osiander, (grandfather of Dr Andrew Osiander, a Lutheran divine,) author of several works which gained him not a little celebrity, among which is Harmonia Evangelica.--Ed.
9 "Sans qu'il y ait rien entre-deux;"--"without there being anything between the two,"
10 "C'est que l'une et l'autre a est, comme le message apportant les nouvelles du salut qui approchoit."--"It is, that both were, as it were, the message bringing the tidings of the salvation which was approaching."