Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:13-23
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.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, 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 wise men. 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.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Jesus: The True and Perfect Israel
Understanding Matthew's Gospel Through the Story of the Massacre of the Innocents
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God, our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today, as we continue our Christmas season, we get one of the nastiest stories in all of the New Testament. Evil King Herod comes and kills a whole bunch of kids because he is trying to destroy the Christ child. This king is acting in the way any king in the ancient world would. He is just trying to destroy a threat to his rule, no matter how small.
The Key to Understanding Matthew's Message
But that's not what I'd like to focus on today. I think while that story gets the headlines of our reading, it is part of a theology that Matthew is trying to communicate to us, to help us understand who Jesus is. And the key to it is the passage from the Old Testament that he quotes when he says, "This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Out of Egypt I called my son."
This prophecy that Jesus fulfills is a key to unlocking what Matthew is trying to help us see about who Jesus is, why he came, and what he means for us throughout the whole Old Testament story and the promises that God gives us now today.
The Central Theme: Jesus Is the New Israel
And that theme is: Jesus is the true and perfect Israel. All of God's people, all of the promises, everything from the Old Testament, is wrapped up in one man, Jesus Christ. And we can see it because of that phrase "out of Egypt I called my son."
Understanding the Prophecy from Hosea
To understand why I say that, you have to understand that this prophecy is a prophecy from Hosea. The Prophet is looking back at the promises of God, and He is pointing to what had already happened from his perspective: God called Ancient Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and they came up to the promised land.
And Hosea recalls this event in the past. For him, the son was not an individual, but all of God's promised people, the entire people of Israel who came out of slavery, out of Egypt and went up to the promised land. And Hosea is recalling this as part of his proclamation for Israel to remain faithful to the true God.
Matthew's Reapplication
Matthew then reapplies this. He says, the Son is not truly that ancient people—the real and true son is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the new Israel. Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise, everything that was ever made to the people of old: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and all the rest. Jesus is the new Israel.
Parallels Between Israel's Story and Jesus' Story
And we can see this in the stories of Matthew. The things that happened to Israel happened to Jesus, and it's in our story now.
Pharaoh and Herod: The Slaughter of Children
Just as Pharaoh persecuted the male children in the Exodus, Herod kills the male children in Bethlehem. You may know the story: after Joseph dies, and then generations go on and God's people grow and get bigger and bigger and bigger, eventually a pharaoh comes who does not know the history of Joseph and that people, and he gets scared of ancient Israel. And so what he does is he decides that all of the male children who are born should be killed. Not a nice guy, right?
That is very much parallel to our story today. And just as Moses escaped the slaughter of the children by Pharaoh, so Jesus escapes the slaughter of the children in Bethlehem by escaping down to Egypt.
The Journey Out of Egypt
When Herod dies, Jesus follows the same path out of Egypt. He comes to the promised land to grow up in Nazareth. Jesus is the new Israel.
More Parallels Throughout Matthew's Gospel
This isn't the only part of the story that is like that. Throughout the book of Matthew, he repeats the things that happen to Israel happen to Jesus.
Entering Through the Jordan
Israel enters the promised land through the Jordan River. The story is when they bring the ark into the Jordan River, the waters split and they come across to the promised land, and now they enter into God's blessings. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River and begins to enter the promised land as a preacher, a teacher and a healer.
Temptation in the Wilderness
Israel was tempted in the wilderness for 40 years, and when they grumbled, God fed them manna. Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, but he didn't grumble. He simply fasted and waited for God.
Twelve Sons and Twelve Disciples
Jacob had 12 sons. Jesus had 12 Disciples.
The Law from the Mountain
Moses goes up the mountain to get the law from God on the tablets of stone, and he delivers them to the people. Jesus goes up on top of the mount and gives a sermon, expanding the law of God and applying it to God's people—the new Moses, even greater than the one who came before.
The Suffering Servant
Jesus is the suffering servant that Isaiah predicted, who comes and bears the wounds of the people on himself and gives them healing and peace, even destroying the power of death over them. He is the one who fulfills the prophecies of the king of Israel.
Feeding in the Wilderness
Jesus too feeds the people in the wilderness. When there are 5,000 people out in the middle of nowhere and they are hungry, what does he give them? Not manna, but bread and fish.
Jesus: The Better Everything
Jesus is the better Moses. He's the better David. He's the better Abraham, the better King, the better Law giver, the better Jacob, the better everything. He finally comes to be the Israel that God always meant them to be—one who does not struggle with God, but fulfills the covenant, is faithful in everything, and then receives every promise in the Old Testament, because he is true. He is the great Israel.
Why This Matters: The Promises Fulfilled in Christ
And you might ask, why does this matter? Pastor, this is a neat bit of theology and kind of fun to be able to look at the themes of the Gospel of Matthew. And if we were in maybe a classroom, you'd be like, "Ah, cool. Let's talk about this."
The Question of God's Promises
It matters because the promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and all the people of Israel are true in Christ for us. But there are many Christians who look back at those promises and say, "Wait a second. God didn't fulfill them. God made the Jews a promise of an earthly kingdom. He made them a promise that they would have a nation located all the way out in the Mediterranean. What is going on?"
Two Different Views
And so there are two options that Christians take to understanding this. One is what Matthew says. But there are many Christians who believe that there are separate promises to the nation of Israel and the Jews and separate promises to the church, and that God still is going to come and give the nation of Israel an earthly kingdom that they will conquer and win and fight just like David did in the days of old. They believe that there are two covenants, one between God and Israel and one between God and the church. And it affects a number of things, including American politics and the nation of Israel.
Matthew's Answer: Jesus IS Israel
But they're wrong because the Gospel of Matthew says they're wrong. Jesus is Israel. The promises come true in Him. Jesus is the new and great Israel who does everything that Israel was supposed to do. And so the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled perfectly in him, not in a small way, but in an even greater way.
Greater Than Expected
Jesus is not just king of a small piece of land on the Mediterranean, but King of all creation. He didn't just bring salvation to a small people, but to the whole world. He doesn't invite just one ethnic line into God's kingdom, but everyone in every place, just as the great promises of the Old Testament talk about.
All Promises Come True in Christ
And so every promise that God gave to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to Moses, to David and every other Old Testament figure come true in Christ. And anyone who is in Christ then receives those promises because He is the true and great Israel. And we who become part of him become part of that Israel.
Paul's Teaching in Galatians
Paul says the same thing over and over again throughout his letters. If you look at Galatians 3, this is the place where he is most explicit about that, where he says:
"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."
He says that if you are in Christ, you are Israel—Abraham's offspring—because you have been brought into Jesus and all the great promises, every single one becomes yours.
The Promises Are Already Fulfilled
We're not waiting for God to make promises come true for a group of people off the Mediterranean. We are looking for promises that have already come true for us in Christ.
That's not the only place Paul does that. Romans 4 is another passage. The whole chapter is all about how the promises of God come to us, the Gentiles, through Abraham, because he becomes our Father in Christ. Everything for Israel becomes ours in Jesus, the true and Great Israel.
The Church Doesn't Replace Israel—Christ IS Israel
It's not about one genetic line. It's not about one lineage, one nation, one government, or anything like that. We the church don't replace Israel. Christ is Israel, and all the promises come true in that.
Otherwise we have to be waiting for God to do something. We have to wait for him to be going out to Israel and making a new kingdom and fighting armies and doing all those things, and we, the church, are just a side note in God's plan.
But that's not what Matthew says. The New Israel, the great Israel who brings all of the promises of the Old Testament, is Jesus Christ, who makes us a part of that promise by faith in Him.
In Jesus' name, amen.
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