Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this, the first Monday of 2023. Did you have a great transition weekend closing out the story of your life in ’22 and taking your first steps onto your uncharted path of ’23?
This weekend I left you with Joseph leading his little family down the desert road from Bethlehem toward Egypt. An angel had warned them of great danger as King Herod in his angry paranoia, was determined to kill this ‘newborn king of the Jews’ and thus he ordered the slaughter of all infant boys in Bethlehem, age two and under.
As far as we know neither Joseph nor Mary had ever been to Egypt, nor did they know anyone in Egypt, nor did they know much if anything about Egyptian culture, or language. Matthew does not tell us WHERE they finally landed in Egypt, nor exactly how long they stayed there. We do imagine they lived as Israeli refugees and perhaps struggled greatly as many refugees do. I have no way of understanding the internal turmoil they must have wrestled with daily, perhaps almost hourly, in those many months in Egypt.
Mary’s baby looked and acted like any other cute little infant boy learning to walk, talk, and do all the things little boys do. I’ve often wondered if little Jesus had a season many parents call the ‘terrible twos’ when He was about 2 years old? Because they were in Egypt, did little boy Jesus learn some Egyptian language as well as Jewish Hebrew or Aramaic which was the language Joseph and Mary most likely spoke?
How often did Joseph and Mary sit together late in the night praying, crying out to God asking for some explanation of why life was so hard for them, when they were trying to be totally obedient to all God had told them to do through several different angel visitations? Do you sometimes find yourself in that struggle, feeling you are doing everything you can to honor God with your life, and yet finding life to be so difficult?
Finally, Matthew tells us: “After Herod died, an angel of the LORD appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to kill the child are now dead.” (Matt. 2:19) History tells us King Herod the Great died in the year 4bc, perhaps in the city of Jericho, of an undiagnosed but incurable disease. Herod felt certain Caesar would not allow any one of his sons to rule over all of Israel, so before his death Herod divided Israel into three regions, one for each of his three sons: Archelaus received Judea, Samaria and Idumea; Antipas received Galilee and Perea; and Philip II received Traconitis. (Luke 3:1) Here’s a map to help you see where those regions are:
Herod Archelaus was a particularly vicious, violent man and he is reported to have killed 3000 people shortly after the death of his father King Herod, simply to prove his strong authority and to instill fear in the hearts of the people of the region where reigned, particularly Judea and Samaria. That is why Matthew tells us: “When Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there…” (Matt. 2:22) Bethlehem, of course, was in the region of Judea and therefore even though Joseph and Mary might have thought of returning there to build their life, the fear of Archelaus caused them to look elsewhere and again it appears God gave them direction: “Having been warned in a dream, Joseph withdrew to the region of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.” (Matt. 2:23)
Now you’ll remember friends, Nazareth was Mary’s hometown, and possibly Joseph’s as well. It would be familiar, but it sure wouldn’t be friendly, for none of their extended family or anyone else would believe their preposterous story of their miracle pregnancy and angels announcing Jesus’ birth to shepherds.
I imagine that as anxious as Joseph and Mary were to return to Israel and leave their refugee life in Egypt, when they realized they could not risk going back to Bethlehem, nor any other town in Judea, once again life seemed to get very complicated and perhaps worrisome for them. Where could they find a good town to raise their little family in safety and peace? What guidance would God give them for raising their miracle son and what challenges would they face as parents of a little boy who was actually God incarnate? What about you and me, my friends, on this the first Monday of 2023? What great challenges are you facing as you walk into this new year? What family challenges, what health challenges, what financial challenges will cause you anxiety or worry or even fear? What political instability, what criminal activity, what moral decline will cause great challenges for you in living an honorable life in the town and nation where you live in 2023?
What are the major factors which affect your life, but over which you have no control? What is the depth of your faith in God and your ability to sense His leading you step by step when you face great life challenges? For Joseph, while he was informed by an angel from God that Herod was dead and he was now able to lead his little family out of refugee life and back to Israel, he was not given specific instructions as to exactly where to go and settle their family.
Friends, one of my objectives with “Walking with Jesus” is to help both you and I further develop our relationship with God so we can discern when God is warning us, and how God is guiding us, for the year 2023 will bring plenty of real-life challenges to all of us!
So, Joseph and Mary made that long trek back from Egypt, probably following the road near the Mediterranean coast, all the way north to Nazareth, staying far from Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Was Jesus perhaps 3 or maybe 4 years old by now? Mark’s Gospel 6:3 tells us that over the next years Joseph and Mary were blessed by God with several other children: sons James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and some daughters as well! Jesus grew up in a large family in Nazareth, did you know that? We have only one story from those years, found in Luke 2:41-52. Jesus was 12 years old, and Luke tells us: “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover….” This particular Passover trip was very exciting for Joseph, Mary and young Jesus and we’ll look at that story tomorrow. For today, may I leave you with these three key questions:1. What expectations do you have for 2023? Are there some significant events you are already anticipating? What do you anticipate your life will be like one year from now?
2. What expectations do you have for the relationship you will have with God in 2023? What is your intention for deepening that relationship and how do you expect that will help you become more the person you want to be and God has designed you to be?
3. How prepared are you for significant, unanticipated events, perhaps tragic events, in 2023? How strong is your character and your faith in God?
As Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth, settled into life there and God grew their family, how often do you suppose they asked themselves these types of questions? Often the Christmas story ends with celebrations on Christmas day, but it’s important we remember that for Joseph, Mary the excitement of the Christmas events we celebrate blended into many years of what we might call ‘normal life’ in Nazareth.
I want to hold on to the miracles and mystery of Christmas as I walk into ’23, how about you? One way to do that is to find reasons to praise God every day and here’s a song to help us with that, based on Psalm 150.
Today’s Scripture is Matthew 2:19-23.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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