Escape to Egypt

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-18

 

Introduction

• We need to begin by correcting some misconceptions about timing.
• I hate to burst your bubble, but all those Nativity sets with the three wise men are wrong.
• Yep, sorry kids, but when the wise men show up to see Mary and Jesus, there are two things to note:

1. They are no longer in a manger; they are in a house now.
2. Jesus is now approximately two years old.

• The Magi or wise men are thought to have been a class of Zoroastrian priests.
• According to Christianity.com:

The Greek word μαγοι (mάgoi) is translated as “wise men” or “magi” depending on the English translation. This word was originally meant to refer to a class of Persian wise men that were something like priests, interpreters of special signs, and especially astrology.

• The reason they have been referred to as “kings” is based on the value of their gifts.
• These are the kind of things from great wealth as that of kings, although there is no evidence that they were kings.
• Based on their study of the stars, they had determined that a major event had occurred:

1. A very important human leader had been born had been born on earth.
2. The position of the star pointed towards Bethlehem in Judah,

• This trip took a lot of effort and planning – remember the birth occurred two years ago.
• God has created a dramatic story starring Jesus, Mary & Joseph, and His story features two main characters:

1. The Magi
2. King Herod

1. Magi

• Our first character that God introduces is a group of men we call wise men, or Magi.
• It is from this word Magi that we get the modern word magic.
• I said previously that the 3 wise men or Magi were not at the nativity scene.
• Stop and think for a minute: what if the Magi HAD been at the nativity scene?
• Jesus would have been hunted down and killed as an infant.
• Don’t you think that having them come to Jesus at all was incredibly risky?
• What was God thinking by actually drawing attention to Jesus at this time?
• Wow!! Sometimes God’s plan seems very strange to us, doesn’t it?
• These Magi guys were serious about finding this new “king of the Jews” and they were credible.
• They definitely got King Herod’s attention!!
• Their arrival put into motion a series of events that contributed to Jesus’ ministry.
• It provided an independent affirmation that Jesus was an important historical figure.
• The Magi were Gentiles, not Jews, the first non-Jews to come to Jesus.
• The Magi were part of an ancient Persian priesthood of Zoroastrianism.
• What is Zoroastrianism you ask? According to Brittanica.com:

Zoroastrianism is an ancient pre-Islamic religion of Persia, or Iran, that still survives there today in isolated areas and, more prosperously, in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees.

The Iranian prophet and religious reformer Zarathushtra (flourished before the 6th century BCE)—more widely known outside Iran as Zoroaster (the Greek form of his name)—is traditionally regarded as the founder of the religion. Zoroastrianism contains both monotheistic and dualistic features. It likely influenced the other major Western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• God scripted this drama perfectly to use the Magi as the protaganists of the story who had a completely open mind about coming to Jesus – this is the message we need to teach.

2. King Herod

• God uses our second character, King Herod I, to as the antagonist and evil enemy of Jesus in the story.
• Apart from being the central villain of our story, according to Brittanica.com:

Herod the Great was known for consolidating Roman rule over and advancing the Hellenization of Judaea. He built the city of Sebaste on the site of ancient Samaria as well as the port city of Caesarea and rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem.

• Where did he come from? Also, from Brittanica.com:

His father, Antipater, was an Edomite (a Semitic people, identified by some scholars as Arab, who converted to Judaism in the 2nd century BC). Antipater was a man of great influence and wealth who increased both by marrying the daughter of a noble from Petra (in southwestern Jordan), at that time the capital of the rising Arab Nabataean kingdom. Thus, Herod was of Arab origin, although he was a practicing Jew.

• Brittanica goes on to describe Herod’s family legacy:

When Pompey invaded Palestine in 63 BCE, Antipater supported his campaign and began a long association with Rome, from which both he and Herod were to benefit. Six years later Herod met Mark Antony, whose lifelong friend he was to remain. Julius Caesar also favored the family; he appointed Antipater procurator of Judaea in 47 BCE and conferred on him Roman citizenship, an honor that descended to Herod and his children. Herod made his political debut in the same year, when his father appointed him governor of Galilee. Six years later Mark Antony made him tetrarch of Galilee.

• King Herod was the Jewish puppet king of the Roman Empire who was in power at the time of Jesus’ birth.
• This was the state of the world that may have triggered God’s timing to send a Savior.
• It was the perfect storm: a sellout Jewish leader whose family legacy was self-serving on the one hand —
• And a completely self-serving Jewish religious hierarchy on the other.
• God’s chosen people were being led by corrupt leaders and that’s when He stepped in.
• Brittanica shed’s even more light on the back story of who King Herod was:

Unfortunately, there was a dark and cruel streak in Herod’s character that showed itself increasingly as he grew older. His mental instability, moreover, was fed by the intrigue and deception that went on within his own family.

In his last years Herod suffered from arteriosclerosis. He had to repress a revolt, became involved in a quarrel with his Nabataean neighbors, and finally lost the favor of Augustus. He was in great pain and in mental and physical disorder. He altered his will three times and finally disinherited and killed his firstborn, Antipater. The slaying, shortly before his death, of the infants of Bethlehem was wholly consistent with the disarray into which he had fallen. After an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, Herod died.

• As unthinkable as it was for Herod to do as we read in verse 16:

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

• It is even more unthinkable that he killed his own first-born son, his father’s namesake, Antipater.
• Herod was a pretty messed-up guy and God knew that he was a threat to Jesus.
• Instead of leaving Herod to discover Jesus on his own, God set the whole confrontation.
• And by taking control of the outcome, God exposed Herod’s cruelty for the world to see.
• Then God sent an angel to warn Joseph in a dream in verse 13:

“Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

• All these things God orchestrated in the best possible way.
• The whole objective all along was a safe escape for Jesus and His family to Egypt.
• The timing was perfect to wait these two years.
• The Hebrew people were in desperate need of a Savior – not from the Romans, but from their own so-called leaders.
• Jesus has been born at Bethlehem and has now safely escaped to Egypt.
• God is writing the script and is always in charge and His plan is perfect.
• As we head into a new year – our 95^th year – let us remember that God is in charge.