Out of Egypt I Called My Son

Out of Egypt I Called My Son

Detail from Flight to Egypt by Gentile da Fabriono (1423)

The Second Sunday after Christmas – 1/4/2026

Matthew 2:13–23

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our Gospel lesson from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew in the second chapter with special emphasis on verses fourteen and fifteen which read as follows:

“And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is nothing more frightening for parents than having the life of your child, your newborn baby, in danger. While there is a difference in how we react to the threat, the fear is largely the same. Diseases and genetic conditions are mostly out of our care; violence from others can be either resisted or fled. But the danger is the same in either case. And if you are fortunate enough to not have been in the situation of a parent who suffers this unique and terrible condition, you are likely to know someone who have experienced this terror.

And it should not surprise us that the holy family, that is, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the child Jesus Christ, experienced fear. Yes, much can and should be said of the faithfulness of Mary and Joseph, but it is also easy to see that they were rightly worried. After all, Joseph chose to flee the very night he was warned in a dream about the murderous intent of Herod. A man lacking in fear would have waited at least until the morning.

So this family flees to Egypt, a place foreign to them. There has been a lot said about this event due to recent politics concerning refugees and immigrants in this country. Some of it has been biblically appropriate. Other things have not been. And as with many things in politics, much of what we can say comes down to definitions. If we define a refugee as a person who flees to a foreign nation to stay safe, this description does not apply to them. Judea and Egypt were both provinces of the Roman Empire. Their trip was like going from the eastern to the western border of North Dakota or more, depending on how far into Egypt they went. If we define a refugee as one who flees one place for another due to political violence, then it would apply. Either way, we should resist the temptation to turn the life of our Lord into political talking points simply to score wins against our opponents.

And while we might and probably should feel some sympathy for our neighbors who suffer like the holy Family here, we must not let ourselves only see this record as a political fable or analogy. No, it is more than that, it is the very story of our salvation. God delivers us from evil and death even though the road is sometimes inconvenient and filled with suffering. And, as an aside, Christians are able to both hold that laws should be followed and the people should be treated with basic dignity. These are not mutually exclusive options as many would have us believe.

God Leads His People Through Fearful Roads

In our Old Testament reading, Jacob is afraid. He is old. He is being asked to leave the land promised to him and to his fathers. Egypt is not the destination he would have chosen. It is foreign. It is dangerous. It will eventually become a place of bondage for his descendants. It is in Egypt that his descendants will be kept in slavery until they are freed during the time of Moses. God speaks to Jacob in a dream during the night: “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you.” Notice what God does not say. He does not say, “Egypt will be easy.” He does not say, “Nothing bad will happen.” He promises His presence. I will go down with you, He says.

That same sort of promise is at work in Matthew’s Gospel. Joseph is not told that fleeing to Egypt will be pleasant or safe, only that it is necessary. God’s Son must be preserved, because He must live in order to die, and die in order to save. Egypt is not a detour; it is part of God’s saving plan, fulfilling what He spoke through the prophets. So this extension of the familiar Christmas history teaches us this: God often leads His people precisely where they would not go on their own. He does not promise us ease of life or freedom from suffering. But He never abandons us there.

The World Still Rages Against Christ

Herod’s cruelty is shocking, but it should not surprise us. He is threatened by a King he cannot control. And so he lashes out in fear and violence. This same sort of sinful hostility toward Christ continues in every age. Power-grabbing rulers are threatened by the King of kings. Petty tyrants in politics, business, and local communities are unsettled by the Lord of lords. Even our own sinful attempts at control and power plays are threatened by this Christ. And all of this power grabbing, these attempts at control, these ways of us trying to massage and manipulate outcomes beyond what we are really able to do lead to great amounts of human suffering. Taking something that is not given to us means depriving and harming someone else. This is not only true with physical things like money or property, but it is also true with those largely intangible things like power and authority. Seizing power or trying to force control means depriving others of the authority that God Himself has bestowed.

Since we are in church, here is an example: let’s say that we have a voters’ meeting and that some matter is being decided, such as picking a color to paint the railing on the front step. Now this decision is properly the choice of the voters of the church. But let’s say some well-meaning (or not) member just takes in on himself to paint the rail some color. Maybe he’s doing it because he’s stubborn. Maybe its because he simply wants to avoid a potentially long and drawn out meeting. Either way, he has taken a decision away from the church and appropriated it to himself. And while this is a minor matter in the grand scheme of things, you know as I do that some members of the church will be upset about this overstepping. This may lead to resentment, fights further down the road, or even some refusing to attend church services. Something like this little piece of authority being seized can have great and harmful consequences in other, unforeseen places. And, as a result, suffering occurs.

Peter addresses Christians who are suffering, not because they have done evil, but because they belong to Christ. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you,” he writes. Faith in Christ places us at odds with a fallen world. This is an important correction for Christians, especially in comfortable times. We are tempted to assume that faithfulness should result in ease, success, or protection from hardship. Scripture teaches the opposite. The cross comes before the crown. Christmas itself is framed by the shadow of Good Friday. It is unfortunately common that we take the Scriptural promise that God will, and does, bestow on us blessings to mean that God also has a duty to keep us from suffering. No, these are not opposites. Suffering is promised to come to Christians. If any Christian wants to be friends with the world, to have ease of life, to have an easy, unchallenging faith, they he will find himself either disabused of this notion or falling away from faith.

Because of this, Peter also teaches us how to suffer: “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” Christian suffering is never meaningless. It is not punishment for sin, that punishment Christ has already borne. Rather, it is participation in Christ’s own suffering, borne in hope and entrusted to God’s care. It serves a higher purpose. It may be for our chastisement, that is, to help us cast off what is unhelpful and sinful to embrace what is good and godly. It may be to conform us to the mind of our suffering Savior. But not matter what, it is not pointless, even if we cannot figure out what that point is in this life.

Christ Enters Our Suffering to Redeem It

Above all, today’s Gospel reminds us who this Child truly is. He is not merely a victim of a violent world. He is its Savior. Jesus is driven into exile so that He might gather all exiles home. He escapes Herod’s sword so that He might later submit Himself freely to the cross. The innocent children of Bethlehem die under a tyrant’s rage, but Christ will die under God’s judgment, bearing the sins of the whole world. And unlike Jacob, unlike Joseph, unlike us, Christ does not merely receive God’s promise of presence. He is the presence of God. Emmanuel, God with us, goes down into Egypt, into suffering, into death itself, so that we would never face these things alone.

This is why Peter can say, “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Because God has already entrusted His own Son into suffering and raised Him from the dead.

Comfort for the Church Today

So what does this mean for us, now, in the days after Christmas? It means that when fear comes, when obedience to God leads us into difficulty, when faithfulness demands something from us, we have not been abandoned. The same God who spoke to Jacob, who guided Joseph, and who preserved His Son is faithful still. It means that suffering does not undo God’s promises. It confirms them. Christ reigns even when tyrants rage. God’s plan moves forward even through grief and loss and suffering. And it means that Christmas joy is not shallow optimism. It is deep, resilient hope, rooted in the God who entered our darkness and overcame it. The Child of Bethlehem lives. He reigns. And He goes with His people wherever He calls them until at last He brings them home.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

 The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Matthew 2:14-15 English Standard Version. All further quotations from Holy Scripture are from the ESV.