Fleeing Jesus (Matthew 2:13-18)

Fleeing Jesus

 

 

 

 

[Matthew 2:13-18]

 

 

 

                The gospel is Jesus Christ.  The heart of the gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  So, in order to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the core of the gospel, we meditated eight times under the heading “The Word became flesh” centered on the words of John 1:1-4, 9-14.  Who is Jesus Christ?  He is the One from the beginning (Jn. 1:1), and was with God, so Jesus Christ is God (v. 1), the Creator of all things (v. 3).  There is life, the light of man, in Jesus Christ (v. 4).  What was the purpose of Jesus Christ becoming a man [“the Word became flesh” (v. 14)]?   It was to dwell among us.  Look at John 1:14a – “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, ….”  Also, it was to be a mediator between God and us.  Look at 1 Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  And the purpose of Jesus Christ becoming a man was to die.  Look at Matthew 20:28 – “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  These words refer to the suffering of Jesus Christ in a broad sense.  Jesus Christ became a man and suffered while He lived on earth for 33 years.  The suffering of Jesus is not only the death of the cross at the age of 33.  If we look at Matthew 2:13-18, He suffered even when he was young.  In other words, when Jesus was young, He experienced a life of refuge.

 

                Look at Matthew 2:13 – “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up!  Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’”  Here, “they” refers to the magi from the East (v. 1).  It is not certain how many magi there were from the East.  People think it's usually 3 people.  The reason is because when they worshiped the baby Jesus, they opened a treasure chest and offered gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts (v. 11).  When the magi from the East came to Jerusalem to worship the baby Jesus, who had been born as the king of the Jews by looking at the star, King Herod and all Jerusalem heard it and were troubled (vv. 1-3).  King Herod gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked where the Messiah was to be born (v. 4).  Then they answered, “Bethlehem of Judea” based on the record of the prophet (vv. 5-6).  So, King Herod quietly called the magi from the East, asked them in detail about when the star appeared, and sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him” (vv. 7-8).  When the magi heard King Herod's words and were leaving, the star they had seen in the East appeared again and went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the baby Jesus was (v. 9).  When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy (v. 10).  When they entered the house and saw the baby with his mother, Mary, they fell on their faces and worshiped the baby Jesus, then opened a treasure chest and offered gifts (v. 11).  Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned to their country by another route (v. 12).  After they left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up!  Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him” (v. 13).  So, Joseph got up and took the baby Jesus and his mother Mary at night and left for Egypt and stayed there until Herod died (vv. 14-15).  Why did the baby Jesus “flee” and go down to Egypt?  The reason was to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet, “I called my son out of Egypt” (v. 15).  Here, what is spoken through the prophet is a prophecy through the prophet Hosea.  Hosea 11:1 says: “When Israel was a youth, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.” 

 

                Jesus Christ came to this earth to fulfill all that He had promised.  For example, Jesus said “It is finished” and died on the cross (Jn. 19:30) in fulfilling the covenant in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”  Jesus Christ came to this earth to fulfill God's will at the time God had decided.  Jesus Christ died at God's appointed time.  Look at Romans 5:6 – “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”  Jesus Christ died for the ungodly “at the right time,” that is, at God’s appointed time.  Jesus Christ came to this earth at the time appointed by God (the first coming of Jesus).  Look at Galatians 4:4 – “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”  God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be born of the virgin Mary, “when the fullness of the time,” that is, at the time appointed by God. Jesus Christ will come back to this earth at a time appointed by God (the second coming of Jesus).  Look at 1 Timothy 6:14-15: “that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”  Jesus Christ fled to Egypt not because He was weak or because He was afraid of King Herod, but because it was not God's appointed time (Mt. 2:13-14).  Jesus Christ not only fled to Egypt, but also fled afterwards.  It was because it wasn't God's time.  Look at John 8:59 – “Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”  When the Jews tried to stone Jesus, Jesus hid and left the temple.  In a word, Jesus fled death because it was not God's appointed time.  Look at John 10:39 – “Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.”  The Jews tried to catch Jesus again, but Jesus fled from their hands.  The reason was because it was not yet God's appointed time to die.  Look at John 11:53-54: “So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.  Therefore, Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.”  Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews because it was not yet God's appointed time to die, and He fled from that place.  Look at John 12:36 – “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light " These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.”  Look at John 2:4 – “And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us?  My hour has not yet come.’”  Look at John 7:8 – “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” 

 

                The reason our Lord hid and fled was never because he was a weak and fearful man.  Jesus turned water into wine (Jn. 2:1-11), fed 5,000 men with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread (6:1-15), and walked on the water (vv. 16-21), raised the daughter of Jairus (Mk. 5:21-24, 38-43), the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7:11-17), and Lazarus (Jn. 11:1-44) from the dead.  Jesus never fled to Egypt out of fear of King Herod.  He fled because it was not God's appointed time.  Pilate tried not to crucify Jesus.  When all the crowd got up and took Jesus to Pilate and accused him, Pilate said to the high priest and the crowd, “I find no guilt in this man (Jesus)” (Lk. 23:1-4) and tried to release Jesus (v. 20): “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him.  "No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him” (vv. 14-15), “And he said to them the third time, ’Why, what evil has this man done?  I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him’” (v. 22).

               

                There are many people living in refuge in this difficult land, many people who are struggling (e.g. refugees, people suffering from diseases, etc.).  Thinking of Jesus Christ, who fled to Egypt, we must wait patiently with faith, with the conviction that God will accomplish God's will for salvation in God's time.  In particular, we must silently and faithfully carry out our responsibilities with the conviction that God will faithfully fulfill the covenant He has given us in His time and in His way.  For example, according to Matthew 16:18, which is the Lord's promise to the church, which is the Lord's body, we must humbly and faithfully participate in building the Lord's church with the conviction that the Lord will build the Lord's church without fail.  In doing so, of course, there will be many difficult things, but each time we take refuge in the Lord who is our refuge, hold on to the word of promise of the Lord, and pray in faith.  We must consistently carry out the vocation and ministry given to each of us with faith, with the conviction that God will surely fulfill it.  In doing so, the Lord will surely accomplish His will in His time and in His way.