Make the Connection...Matthew 2:13-18

 

The new flags are an attempt for make our building more visible to those traveling up and down US Highway 34 on their way to and from Grand Lake, CO.  We want them to make the connection that this building is connected to a body of gathered believers.  Matthew is doing the same in the opening chapters of his gospel.  He is trying to make connection points for his audience, the Jewish readers, who need to know that this one born King of the Jews as the wise men said is truly the long awaited Messiah.

Matthew used a genealogy, a memorization tactic, references to the Old Testament scriptures, and now moves to talking about the 2 big events of the Israelite nation, the Exodus and the Exile.  Just as it was in the Exodus and just as it was in the Exile, so it is now with the coming of the Messiah.  Some of what the prophets wrote about had a dual purpose, not just for the now but also for the future.

In this passage we see the continuing theme of Joseph's simple obedience.  Another encounter with God through an angel in a dream gives Joseph 4 commands:  arise, take, flee, and stay.  Joseph arose, took, departed and was there.  One distinctive was the speed in which Joseph obeyed.  He departed immediately to flee to Egypt.  How often do we hesitate when God gives us a nudge to do something or say something on His behalf?

We are to test the spirits and we have some great tools to use.  We have the Scriptures; we have prayer; we have the counsel of our brothers and sisters in Christ; and we sometimes have time and also the ability to take a small step that gives us assurance if this is of the Spirit.  Sometimes we don't avail ourselves to the resources we have and then there are sometimes it is so obvious what we should do but we balk because of our own comfort.  Joseph didn't say, "When we get up in the morning, we will get ourselves around and prepare for the trip to Egypt."  Joseph immediately gathered up the Child and His mother and headed out the door.

A couple of the connections in this passage are the events of the Exodus and the Exile.  Just as it was in the time of the Exodus when God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians and brought them (and the promised Seed within them) to the Promise Land so it is in the time of Jesus that God would bring His Son (the Seed) from Egypt to the Promise Land.  Just as it was in the time of the Exile when the Israelites were torn from their country to foreign lands and there was great suffering and lamentations over the loss of family ties so it is in the time of Jesus that there would be great suffering and lamentations over the loss of family ties.  

The big difference is now this promised Messiah would take His own, His bride, to the eternal Promise Land out of this oppression of sin.  This promised Messiah would return one day to fulfill the eternal hope of being with Him forever.  The Exodus and the Exile would be ultimately fulfilled by those who believe on Jesus as the Blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant and the forever King of the Davidic Covenant.  

Maybe we don't identify so much with the events of the Exodus and the Exile but we can make connections in our own lives of how God has been working in the background and foreground to bring us to an awareness that He is and He is calling us to Himself.  Our stories might have an Exodus event that deals with us struggling against an outside force or we might have an Exile event that deals with us struggling with something within ourselves.  We look back at it now and we see God's involvement.  God wants us to come to Him when we are dealing with outward and inward struggles.  He wants us to call upon Him as the answer to followthrough on.  

Have you made the connection that God loves you so much that He gave His Son to be your substitute facing God's wrath against sin so that you could experience forgiveness of your sins and being forever with Him?  

Adam