Matthew 2,13-18. 1. Sunday after Christmas

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Matthew 2,13-18(19-23)      0619 

1. Sonntag nach dem Christfest  09 

David, King of Israel, 1050 bc

30. Dezember 2018 

1. O Almighty God, who has given us Your Only-begotten Son to take our nature upon Him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin: Grant that we being regenerate, and made Your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Your Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

2. »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." And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son (Hosea 11,1). Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the magi, 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, according to the time that he had ascertained from the magi. 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.« (Jeremiah 31,15) 

3. Today’s Gospel pericope recounts the Day of the Holy Innocents that is commemorated on 28. December. The joy of Christmas yields to the harsh realities of our fallen world. It is common for people to become depressed after the Christmas holidays, fall ill or die. Herod the Great was jealous and fearful at the end of his life, which is unfortunate because most of his reign was successful and fair-minded as he balanced the interests of both the Jews and the Romans. He was afraid of being usurped as King of Judea, and the attempt to kill the newborn Jesus stemmed from his fear that Jesus would one day replace him as king. So his decree to kill the newborns in and around Bethlehem is consistent with his paranoia as he also killed 3 of his sons (both Aristobulos IV and Alexander in 7 bc and Antipater II in 4 bc) during the last 4 years of his life. 

4. Herod’s paranoia lead to an attempt to end God’s plan to save mankind. St. John the Apostle hearkens back to this in his apocalypse where he writes: »And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red Dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the Dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her Child he might devour Him. She gave birth to a male Child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her Child was caught up to God and to His throne« (Revelation 12,1-5). 

5. Since Jesus had escaped to Egypt, Herod’s wrath fell upon the young infant boys born at the time when Jesus was born. St. Luke the Evangelist explained this horrible event by writing: »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.« (Jeremiah 31,15). God did not abandon these martyred baby boys. Again St. John: »When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice: „O Sovereign Lord, Holy and True, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?“ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been« (Revelation 6,9-11). »Then one of the elders addressed me, saying: „Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they arrived?“ I said to him: „Sir, you know.“ And he said to me: „These are the ones arriving from the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes« (Revelation 7,13-17). 

6. The Lord works good from man’s evil intentions. Luke tells us: »This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Out of Egypt I called My Son« (Hosea 11,1). Jesus’ family fled to Egypt in response to Herod’s wicked and murderous decree; by going to Egypt and then returning to Galilee after Herod has died, the Prophet Hosea is fulfilled. This is one of many Old Testament prophecies that Jesus would fulfill, and in fulfilling them He is proven to be the one, true Messiah went by the Lord. In the Old Testament Israel was brought out of Egypt and led into the promised land of Canaan in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would dwell in the land of Canaan. In doing so, the Israelites were to be the light to the nations, that is, they were to be a blessing to the nations, meaning that through them and their covenant with the Lord, the Lord would bring salvation not only to his chosen people the Israelites but also to the Gentiles, that is to all the nations of the world. St. Luke tells us that the Infant Jesus fulfills that prophecy. And by fulfilling that prophecy, Jesus is the Glorious Messiah promised to Israel and the Light to the nations. 

7. The 1. Sunday after Christmas further explains why Jesus had been born in Bethlehem.  The world’s Savior has been born and that is a joyous event to be celebrated. This Sunday also reminds us that not everyone is overjoyed at Jesus’ birth and that they might attempt to turn a happy day into a mournful day. But St. Matthew is very clear on this point: God wins the victory for those who suffer on account of His Son’s birth. God remembers those who suffer for the Name of Jesus and He will reward them with heavenly blessings that far outweigh the earthly tribulations they may suffer. The Psalmist assures us that: »For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy arrives in the morning. O Lord, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, so that my glory may sing Your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!« (Psalm 30,5.11-12). May this be on our hearts, minds and lips as we remember the good times and the bad from 2018 and look ahead to the new year 2019 where Jesus will be with us no matter the circumstance bringing good for us in every situation.   Amen. 

8. Let us pray. O Amighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying; put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will, so that our lives may bear witness to the faith in Jesus we profess with our lips. Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.