Josephs in Egypt

First Sunday of Christmas

December 29, 2013

Matthew 2:13-15

Josephs in Egypt

In the name of Jesus.

I.

Sometimes when one of God's people or even God Himself gets into a tight spot, He sends them to Egypt.

Egypt is a bad place where the Pharoahs mistreated the Hebrew slaves. But it is also served as a place of refuge for Abraham and some of his children.

The first Joseph to find safety in Egypt was the Joseph of the coat of many colors. God told him some things about the future in a dream and when Joseph told his family about how they would all bow down to him one day, a bad case of jealousy turned into a murder plot.

Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and they agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. (Genesis 37:26-28)

Joe's brothers faked his death and sold him into slavery. God used the jealous brothers' plot to keep Joseph safe in Egypt, so that one day they would be kept safe in Egypt themselves. While they lived their lives after selling Joseph away, Joseph was rising in power in Egypt until he ran the country by himself. Years later, when Joseph's family was starving during a famine, Joseph saved them with the tons of food he had stored up in Egypt.

II.

The second Joseph that God sent down to Egypt was the guardian of Jesus, our Savior. Like the first Joseph, he was told in a dream things that would forever change his life. As directed by God, he took Mary as his wife and named her baby Jesus.

But then things got dangerous.

After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly 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 destroy Him.” So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-14)

Jesus forced Joseph down to Egypt; in a similar way, Jesus' ancestor Judah was the one who forced the first Joseph into Egypt. But they were sent there for safe-keeping. And one day they would return to the promised land, one carried by his grandchildren in his casket and the second carrying a little Boy in his arms.

That little Boy is the reason the bones of that first Joseph will come back to life! Those old bones will run again, and this time never again in fear, running away from Potiphar's wife. Instead those old bones will be made new, and in joy they will run toward their Savior on the Day of Judgment. They will run and leap like new calves let out of their pens. All because of Jesus.

III.

Where does God send us when we are in danger? Not to Egypt, but to the Cross. We face evil and death every day, but the evil and death we see and hear in the news is not the worst evil we will face. The worst evil we face is the face we see in the mirror. So often we look in the mirror and see helpless misery. When you face your Self in daily confession, don't close your eyes. Don't tilt the mirror towards somebody else's sin, so that you can ignore your own.

Instead, lift up your eyes to the cross, upon which that helpless little Boy of Bethlehem, called out of Egypt, is helpless again. He is helpless by His choice and His Father's will. The name He chose for Himself is Jesus and it means the one who saves. He has to save us for His name's sake, praise be to God!

Jesus saves His people

from their helplessness by becoming helpless.

He saves us from our sin by becoming sin.

He saves us from death by dying.

The first Joseph's bones have turned to dust. So have the bones of Mary's Joseph. But Jesus' bones are strong and mighty. They lie in no grave. No tomb can hold them. His living bones, His nail-marked body, His life-giving blood are our greatest and safest refuge. So instead of running to Egypt, you run to church, where you find His mighty fortress.

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging. . . .

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

(Psalm 46:1-3,7)

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.