Matthew 2: 19-23

Upon reading these remaining verses in chapter 2 one might think hmmm…nothing exciting here. On the contrary, they are very relevant to how Matthew is telling his readers about the birth of Christ.

We remember that Joseph has taken his wife and young child to live in Egypt in order to protect his life from Herod. The warning and directive to do so came from an angel of the Lord in a dream. Time passes and how does God communicate with Joseph it’s okay to return to their homeland? He does in similar fashion, a form of communication that Joseph is now very familiar with–another dream–most likely the same angel.

Herod has died and is succeeded by his son Archelaus. Joseph is aware of this information and I think displayed godly wisdom and discernment thinking “like father, like son”….I don’t trust this guy anymore than I did Herod and instead of returning to Judea, Joseph takes the family to the district of Galilee and settles in Nazareth, all fulfilling prophecy that Jesus would be referred to as a Nazarene during His ministry.

How old is Jesus when the family moved to Nazareth? A quick search online found a site that stated He was around eight years old. Making an assumption of my own, I’m surmising that the family lived in Egypt about six years, based on Herod’s order to kill the male children two years old and younger.

During our trip to Israel in March 2019 we stood at an area overlooking Nazareth. It’s mainly inhabited by Muslim families now; the homes are close together in the rocky non descript terrain. The day we were there was overcast with a slight drizzle and a chill in the air. During our time at the archeological site we were visiting, it was time for the call to prayer in the Muslim community and we could hear the loud speakers throughout Nazareth airing the announcement which lasted a few minutes. The drone of the foreign words was eerie in nature as I thought of one religion overshadowing another, actually three as Israel is home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Seeing modern day Nazareth changed my memories of this city from years of hearing the Christmas story and subsequent readings of Jesus’ ministry. One thing it did not change is the reality of God having a plan. Prophecy foretold that the Messiah would come from Nazareth. Herold, with an evil plot to potentially kill Jesus, failed. Joseph, being an upright man, listened and obeyed each time God sent His angel with important instructions.

In times of danger, would we be prepared to act accordingly? How far would you go to protect your loved ones? I’m thankful for Joseph. Thankful for God’s voice through His angel. Thankful for a divine plan that we read about in these few verses.