Holy Family 2020

Joseph was a righteous man, like the Joseph, son of Jacob, who could interpret dreams and was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites who were going to Egypt. So Joseph, spouse of Mary. is also able to interpret his dream, and similar to the other Joseph he flees to Egypt during the night because Herod intended to harm Jesus. Egypt was a fitting place for the holy family to flee to. In the first century Egypt was under Roman rule, but outside Herod’s jurisdiction. It was a traditional place of refuge for the Jews (1 Kings 11:40; 2 Macc. 5:8; Jer.  26:21; 42:13-44:30), and there was a large Jewish population there, especially in Alexandria.

More broadly, this account of a wicked pagan tyrant killing the male children and of Jesus escaping death by Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt cannot help but recall the story of Moses and the exodus. Just as Moses was protected from Pharaoh’s plot to kill the Hebrew male children, so Jesus was saved from Herod’s massacre of the male children by divine intervention. Furthermore, Egypt played a role in both Moses’ and Jesus’ escapes from death. Moses grew up in an Egyptian household, which protected him from Pharaoh’s wicked decree, while Jesus was taken by his family to Egypt to avoid Herod’s violence. This correspondence with Moses’ childhood tells us something important about Jesus’ future; the infant Jesus experiences divine protection from the evil rulers of this world because, like Moses, he is destined to save the people of Israel. Indeed, as Mathew already noted, Jesus will “save the people from their sins” (1:21).

The account of the flight to Egypt also links Jesus with Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Here we find Matthew’s second fulfillment quotation, Hosea 11:1 Out of Egypt I have called my son.  This passage looks back to the founding of the nations, when God called his firstborn son, Israel, out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1). Mathew views it typologically as pointing forward to this occasion when God rescues his beloved son Jesus from the tyrant Herod and later brings him out of Egypt (2:21). Thus, Joseph husband of Mary, is portrayed as having the mission of saving his family from harm, similar to the Joseph of old.

The angel instructs Joseph to return to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.  These words from the angel are almost verbatim what God said to Moses when calling him to return to the people of Israel: “For all the men who sought your life are dead” (Exodus 4:19). Jesus therefore emerges again as a new Moses (see 2:13-15). The death of the pharaoh who sought Moses’ life made it safe for Moses to return to the Israelite people in Egypt and begin his mission of setting them free. Similarly, Herod’s death means it is now safe for Jesus to return to Israel, where he will begin his own saving mission.

Joseph settles his family in Nazareth, a small, obscure village in the Galilean hills that had at most 480 people at the beginning of the first century. Matthew sees a great significance in Jesus being raised in a place called Nazareth, noting that this fulfills what had been spoken through the prophets…  “he shall be called a Nazorean.”       Happy New Year to Everyone,   Fr. Vincent Clemente

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