1st Sunday after Christmas 26 Dec 2010

Dr Lutz Ackermann (Christ Church, Polokwane)

Out of Egypt... (Mt 2: 13-23)

Out of the four gospel accounts, two start their narration with Jesus as a grown up man (Mark, John). Clearly, the public interest in Jesus started to arise, when Jesus was an adult. But it was only after his death and resurrection that people understood: this Jesus is special; and they started telling stories about him: about his teaching, about his life and of course about his death and resurrection. No-one would ever have been interested in stories about Jesus' birth unless they were convinced: this Jesus is very special. So, even though the other two gospel accounts (Luke, and Matthew) start with the birth of Jesus naturally, as any biography would we need to understand: Lk and Mt are writing of people, who have an interest in Jesus, in his life and teaching, his death and resurrection; and, yes, also in his birth. But that comes last, in the list of priorities. Why? Because here are readers, who are (potential) followers of Jesus, and they are adults; they want to follow an adult Jesus, are interested in primarily in Jesus adult life. And yet Matthew has decided to devote two chapters of his gospel to the birth and childhood stories [chapters?]. Why does he do that? Is it just the set-up for

the real thing? Let's give them some childhood stories so they are happy (and they have a reason to celebrate Christmas) before the actual gospel account begins... Well, I think the way Matthew tells the story of Jesus' birth shows that for him this is not just some kind of introduction to the actual thing, but it is already part of the main story, the gospel. He does it fairly briefly, not like Luke going into the family stories about Zechariah and Elisabeth and Jesus' cousin John first. No, Mt 1 starts with a long list of Jesus ancestors and then proceeds straight into the birth story by introducing Joseph and Mary as his parents (1:18). And the emphasis here is much more on Joseph: he is the one who hears from God in various dreams; he is the one, who names Jesus; he is the one who takes initiative to flee to Egypt, when things get a bit rough in Bethlehem; he is the one who takes his family back home, but then decides to move to Galilee (Nazareth). Is this just a collection of interesting stories to motivate, where this Jesus came from? If we listen carefully, we can discover a clue, why Matthew presents these stories. Three times in today's reading we heard the words: And so, what the prophet said, came true. Matthew doesn't just give us the story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. He gives us the story of God. And it is a story of God and God's people. It is the story of God with Abraham, and with Moses; it is he story of God with David. Now Matthew is not just adding another story to all that. Like adding a chapter on Jesus. No, as he gives us his account, Matthew links it back to the previous stories. He can see, in the life of Jesus, a fulfilment of God's promises. For him, everything is design, everything has got a purpose (e.g. Bethlehem not like in Luke where Mary and Joseph are in B merely by historical accident at the time of Jesus birth). For Matthew all the details in his childhood story serve to illustrate, how in Jesus, God makes true God's promises. So we can ask: why does Matthew let the holy family flee to Egypt? Well, the connection is not all too difficult, if you know your bible, and especially the Old Testament. Because if you hear about Joseph, who receives dreams from God you may be reminded of another Joseph, who used to dream a lot; a Joseph, who in a biography of accidents could still see God's design; and a Joseph who ended up in Egypt.

But I believe, for Matthew the big figure which connects his story with the stories from the Hebrew scriptures is not so much Joseph, but Moses. Matthew tells us that all this happens to make what the Lord had said through the prophet come true, I called my Son out of Egypt. That is a quote from Hosea 1:11, and if we look at it in its original context, it refers to Israel. Israel is he one called out of Egypt, Israel is the one who is identified as God's Son. Now if we think about Israel and Egypt in the bible, it is all about the exodus. It is about how God delivers God's own people out of slavery. So, when Matthew presents Jesus as someone, who comes not only from Bethlehem (and Nazareth) but out of Egypt, he gives us more that just some geographic information; he tells us: here is someone, like Moses was. Here is someone, through whom God delivers God's people. That is the meaning of Jesus: God saves God's people. Like Moses only just escapes the killing of male Hebrews as a baby, so here in Matthew we see Jesus escaping the murderous attacks of King Herod. Like Moses went on a mountain to bring God's commandments, so a few chapters later Matthew has Jesus go on a mountain to deliver his famous sermon, which comes as God's new commandment. So the gospel account presents a parallel between the great figure of Moses on the one hand, the one through whom God has saved in the past; and between Jesus on the other hand, who is called out of Egypt to save God's people once again. Now, if you remember that Egypt is situated in the north of Africa, you can say: here is a Jesus, not only out of Egypt but out of Africa. This has often been forgotten or played own in our western traditions, but nowhere is it clearer than in Matthew 2:15. Jesus is a Saviour out of Africa; and Jesus is a saviour for Africa. He appears in Africa not only as an infant, but as a refugee. He suffers from political persecution and is brought across the borders by his parents to protect him from the atrocities of a despotic and blood-thirsty ruler. According to Josephus, a historian of biblical times, King Herod had many people killed, even members of his own family. So that is nothing new, and we see in this story Jesus in solidarity with those who are refugees.

We also see the holy family finding hospitality in Africa. This little episode about the flight to Egypt, I believe can tell us: then they needed a place to run to, hey found it on African soil. An so the Christmas narrative about the sweet little baby and his virgin mother all of a sudden becomes a political and a social story: about violence and persecution, about refugees and foreign countries. Out of Egypt I have called my Son. The story of Jesus becomes a second exodus. We live in a time, where Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, has become harmless and tame; it has become a sweet and moving story but so often an empty one. But the story of Christmas is not empty! It is not a story only of silent nights but of nights of hasty flight. Grab this, grab that and the child. We need to run away! It happens, where pain and suffering are not far away. But right here, in the middle of all the mess we are told: God is with us. And even: this happens by God's design. God is the one who can write a straight story, even on crooked lines. He is the one who wants to write the stories of our lives. And if we let him, it becomes a story of God with us, where things happen that make true God's promises.

Amen.