OUT OF EGYPT I HAVE CALLED MY SON

Flight Into Egypt

It should be noted that the Church uses the Gospel of Matthew to relate the story of Jesus’ birth. In Matthew’s account, which differs from Luke’s, Joseph is the central and the active figure. He is also the recipient of God’s revelation which comes to him several times through the appearance of an angel in a dream. The dream motif recurs again in today’s Gospel reading which relates both the departure to and return from Egypt.

In relating this story, Matthew quotes from the prophet Hosesa of the Old Testament: Out of Egypt I have called my son (Hos. 11:1). The original refers to the call of the Exodus. Jesus is presented as re-enacting, in his own life, the career of Israel, for He is the new Israel. Jacob was given the name Israel which means Triumphant with God.

Again in relating this story of the flight into Egypt, Matthew recalls the prophet Jeremiah (31:14). The original text refers to the destruction of the monarchy of North Israel by the Assyrians in 721 BCE.

By structuring his Infancy Narrative the way that he does, Matthew encourages his readers to see Jesus as the New Moses who frees all humankind from the bondage of sin and leads them to the   freedom of God’s Kingdom which truly becomes real when humans live as Jesus lived. The followers of Jesus are the new Israel. The return from Egypt is dated after the death of Herod (4 BCE) Herod’s kingdom was divided by Augustus among three of Herod’s surviving sons, Archelaus (Judea, Samaria, Idumea), Herod Antipas (Galilee and Perea) and Philip (territory East and North of Galilee). At the petition of the Jews, Augustus denied the tile of king to Archelaus and gave him the title of ethnarch. Archelaus’ government was so unsatisfactory that he was deposed and exiled to Gaul in 6 CE. The warning given that was given to Joseph in a dream explains why Jesus, although born in Bethlehem, was reared in Galilee and was known as a Galilean.

Luke, which agrees with Matthew both on Bethlehem and Galilee, explains the relation of the two places in a different way: Joseph and Mary were originally residents of Galilee and were only temporary visitors to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Bethlehem, House of Bread, was the place where David was crowned king. So Jesus had to be born there. It is important to note that the tragic episode of the Innocents is mentioned in no other literature, canonical or profane.

More will be shared about this in next week’s Bulletin.