Read | Matthew 1:18–2:24
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,which is translated “God is with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.
“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah:
Because out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”
After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.
Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother, and entered the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
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Focus
If you're able to join us at one of our five Christ Community campuses today, ask the Lord for opportunities to welcome new congregation members, so that together, you can encourage each other to walk in faithful obedience to his word.
In preparation for today’s sermon, read this devotional from Kraig McNutt, M.Div.
The Consolation in Her Arms
based on Matthew 1–2
“‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’" —Matthew 2:18
In Matthew 2:11, wise men are falling on their knees and barely 150 words later Herod is flying into a rage. Watch what happens in between.
Everyone is scattering. The wise men return home another way. Warned in a dream, Joseph gets up with his family in the dark of the night and heads for Egypt.
Every time Immanuel—the God-with-us baby—is mentioned in the passage, we find something being done to him. We see him being carried, hunted, worshiped, and fled with.
And what does Immanuel do? Nothing! Contrast that with Herod. He gives a ruthless order, and the boys of Bethlehem are slaughtered. The result? A voice in Ramah—a mother weeping for her children, refusing to be consoled.
Hardly a random village, Ramah was where Israel's captives were gathered before the long march into Babylon. Matthew is reaching back about six hundred years, to a mother weeping over the road into exile.
In a way, Israel—thus Rachel—has been weeping for over 600 years. And she would not be comforted.
But Matthew quotes only her weeping, then he stops. The next verse, the Lord's message to a grieving Israel, through the prophet Jeremiah, is beautiful. He doesn’t give her a pep talk.
Instead, he tells her that her children are coming home: "there is hope for your future . . . and your children will return to their own territory."
Now, watch the contrast between Rachel and Mary—with six hundred years in between. Mary, a mother, too, is weeping in Matthew 1–2. Besides the pain of childbirth and having to deliver the Son of God in a place where animals slept and were kept, there was also the pain of being hunted. And soldiers are looking for her baby, too.
Mary had every reason Rachel’s daughters ever had to weep—if not even more.
Yet, Mary was comforted. Why? Because the consolation Rachel was promised was lying in her arms.
Maybe you need to be comforted today. Maybe it’s a job loss or transition. A scary and uncertain diagnosis. A fractured friendship. Or praying for that wayward child that seems to be indifferent to the ways of the Lord.
Whatever it is, the Lord wants to remind us that he is with us—he is called Immanuel—God with us.
Pray
Ask the Lord for opportunities to deepen relationships with new congregation members.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.