God Is With Us

In Matthew 2: 13-23 we are shocked to read of the killing of the children by Herod, and we wonder why this has to be included to spoil such a beautiful story of rejoicing and hope. We have been told of the birth of the Messiah and the coming of the Magi with their gifts. We remember the stars and dreams and guidance which plays beautifully into our idyllic children’s stories of Christmas. Doesn’t the blessing for our commercialised gift giving come from the example of those Wise Men? We are told that the child brings to humanity the reality of “God with us”; our Immanuel. How does this story of killing children fit into that? How does making the Son of God a refugee in Egypt help us to know that God has come to us in this child?

The killing of the children has nothing to do with God’s plan. This is what tyrants and dictator do in every age and it is pure evil. Where we might see God with us, is in the way things pan out.

In this case God is with them in their dreams. God finds all kinds of ways to communicate with humanity. Communicating through stars and dreams might seems strange, but even in our time I have heard of God communicating through many strange sounding visions and experiences. The Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Joseph was told to marry Mary, call the baby Jesus, to escape to Egypt and finally he is told in a dream, to return to Israel after Herod has died. God was with them every step of the way. God was not just with Jesus and his family, he was with the Wise Men who were clearly gentiles and considered outside of God’s care. Thus we have God with gentiles from the very beginning, prefiguring the Great Commission at the end of the story.

In the same way this story illustrates that God has been with Israel and that Jesus continues that theme. Jesus is saved from death just like Joseph and Moses in the Old Testament. For Joseph, and later his family, Egypt becomes a place of safety, and much later Moses brings God’s children home and they are delivered from slavery. The story of Jesus’ escape and return parallels the salvation story of Israel.

For Matthew Jesus is like a new Moses who comes to begin a new covenant based on faith in Jesus himself; not a new law, but a fulfilment of the old one, with a clear focus.

At the same time we are reminded that God is with those we are being killed, those being enslaved, refugees fleeing tyranny and those we consider outsiders. Isn’t it strange that it was foreigners who searched for the Christ-child and foreigners who gave him refuge when God’s own people wanted to kill him. Maybe this story can clarify our thinking about such people in our time. I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words, “Whenever you did it for one of the least of these … you did it for me.”

Adrian.