There are many parallels between Matthew’s gospel and Israel’s story. We already noted one yesterday. Today, Jesus, like Abram—the father of Israel, goes to Egypt. So also does the whole nation of Israel, after the patriarch Joseph (not Jesus’ earthy father) is sent there. None of the other gospels tell this story of the holy family’s travels to Egypt. It seems rather remarkable because this would have been no small journey—likely over 60 miles—and it’s possible they remained there for a year or more, waiting until Herod’s death around 4 BCE.
But Matthew wants us to hear an echo from the Hebrew Bible: Out of Egypt I have called my son. This line comes from Hosea 11:1, where the prophet is speaking of Israel, God’s collective child. Matthew applies this verse to Jesus, showing us that Jesus’ story is not just parallel to Israel’s—it’s recapitulating it.
Jesus is a kind of new Israel. This resonating story will continue in the first several chapters of Matthew.
He goes down to Egypt. He will come up again. He will pass through water (his baptism), enter wilderness (his temptation), and give the law anew (Sermon on the Mount). All of Israel’s history is being re-walked—but this time, faithfully.
This also reminds us that God's work of salvation often doesn’t follow a straightforward or comfortable path. The divine plan involves disruption. And sometimes protection comes not through divine shielding, but through relocation, endurance, and waiting.
Matthew 2:7-15
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.
Psalm 91:1-2, 11-12
Living in the Most High’s shelter, camping in the Almighty’s shade, I say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my stronghold! You are my God—the one I trust!”
Because he will order his messengers to help you, to protect you wherever you go. They will carry you with their own hands so you don’t bruise your foot on a stone.
Prayer (inspired by St. Augustine)
God,
You are good and merciful, and you guide your people even when they do not see it. You led Joseph by dreams, you protected Mary and the Christ child by your hidden plan, and you brought your son safely out of Egypt as once you brought your people out from slavery. Guide us also, God, when the road ahead is unclear, when we must walk far from comfort or home, when we trust you more than we understand. For you are our refuge and our redeemer,
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.