In the Christ Child’s humiliating flight, you have the security of salvation. He flees to Egypt so that He might give His life for the salvation of the world, for the fullness of time had not yet come for Him—God in man made manifest—to be put to death; no, that would come later. Moreover, what appears as helplessness and vulnerability is, in fact, a God who is in control of everything. His nativity and the circumstances surrounding His hurried flight into Egypt and return to Nazareth all happened precisely according to His plan. As did His crucifixion, for, indeed, the Cross was an element of His plan of salvation because that horrid scaffold of death, erected outside of Jerusalem, was destined to be death’s defeat. Out of Egypt, by way of Nazareth, to Jerusalem: Christ Jesus, Immanuel—God with us, God for us—comes to lay down His life for Herod’s sins, Pharaoh’s sins, for the sins of all mankind; yes, even yours. Beloved, God’s plan was to take on flesh so that He could be laid in a manger and flee to Egypt—from the sword of Herod—so that, when the time was right, He could go to the Cross and open the way of faith to you now, and heaven and everlasting life with Him hereafter.
Readings:
Old Testament: Genesis 46:1-7
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:12-19
Holy Gospel: Matthew 2:13-23
Comments