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NOTES for Mat 2:13-23

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13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
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The coming of Christ into the world is accompanied by a terrible tragedy: the killing of innocent infants. We shudder as we read these lines. But let us compare this episode with the way Christ describes His second coming: "for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places" (Matt 24:7). That is, He foretells tragedies for us, tragedies again. Why, we want to ask, why? Why must our good God come in such a frightening way? But this is only part of the promise. Let us look at chapter 31 of Jeremiah, from which the words in today's fragment are taken: "a voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping." What is it about? A new age. About this: "then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow." We must pass through trial; otherwise there is no way to remove evil from our life, so deeply has it dissolved into it. Trial is inevitable and is caused solely by our sin. "Rejoice in hope" (Rom 12:12), says the apostle. Let us take this call, and hope itself, seriously. For now God is with us.

Other notes

 
For Mat 2:13-23
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
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The Angel addressed the warning about danger not to Mary, but to Joseph, to the man and head of the family responsible for making the decision...  Read more

The Angel addressed the warning about danger not to Mary, but to Joseph, to the man and head of the family responsible for making the decision. One often hears the question: why were the other parents in Bethlehem not warned about the coming massacre of the infants? We cannot now find a reliable explanation for this. Perhaps, unlike Joseph, the other fathers of families were unable to hear the warning or dismissed it?

Many centuries earlier Joseph, the son of Jacob, after coming to Egypt, was able to save his family, and with it the whole people, from death by famine. And now a new Joseph goes to Egypt in order to save from terror the One who will become the Savior of humanity. As Moses had to leave Egypt, Joseph had to flee hastily into Egypt, saving himself from a likeness of Pharaoh who had come to reign in the Promised Land.

From the very moment of His birth in a world poisoned by cruelty, and then from the flight into Egypt, Jesus had to share the trials of the earthly path of both the people of Israel and all humanity. And from these first days on earth His way of the cross toward Golgotha begins.

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For Mat 2:13-23
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Hide
What can one think about the slaughter Herod carried out in Bethlehem? A crime? Without question. Terrible, unheard-of? In general, no, as awful as that sounds. Even in antiquity it was not something extraordinary...  Read more

What can one think about the slaughter Herod carried out in Bethlehem? A crime? Without question. Terrible, unheard-of? In general, no, as awful as that sounds. Even in antiquity it was not something extraordinary, and even less so against the background of events in recent centuries.

The most terrible thing here is not cruelty as such, but the logic that gives rise to this cruelty. This is not about justifying it: rulers like Herod did not consider it necessary to justify cruelty when it seemed expedient to them. And Herod, the murderer of children, by the way, entered history with the epithets "the Great" and "the Builder." He was remembered as a clever and skillful ruler who maneuvered artfully through the intricacies of the great Near Eastern politics of his time, and as, in modern language, an "effective manager" who carried out a whole series of large-scale projects. In particular, it was he who carried out the reconstruction, and in essence the complete rebuilding, of the Jerusalem Temple, turning it into a grand and majestic structure.

But people, as we see, interested Herod only in the context of these same large-scale projects. Anyone who posed even the slightest threat to them had to disappear, not to mention those who, even hypothetically, might in some way threaten his own power. Such, apparently, is the reverse side of "effective management": people here become nothing more than expendable material. And the cheapest material of all.

For the Kingdom, every person matters. For the rulers of this world, no one does.

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For Mat 2:13-23
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Hide
It is very clear that the Gospel of Matthew was written for Jews...  Read more

It is very clear that the Gospel of Matthew was written for Jews. For both him and his readers, it is important to see that Jesus' childhood corresponds to Old Testament prophecies; this testifies that Jesus is truly the Messiah.

At the same time, we see here an example of how, in the very earliest years of the Church's existence, the apostles taught people to perceive Holy Scripture. The words of Christ are alive in them: "Search the Scriptures, for you think that in them you have eternal life; and they testify of Me" (John 5:39), and they discover this testimony even where no one had seen it before.

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For Mat 2:13-23
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Hide
Today we celebrate a special service, the so-called Royal Hours or Hours of the Eve of the Nativity of Christ. At the Royal Hours we read several passages from the Old Testament...  Read more

Today we celebrate a special service, the so-called Royal Hours or Hours of the Eve of the Nativity of Christ. At the Royal Hours we read several passages from the Old Testament, from the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the accounts by the evangelists Matthew and Luke of the Nativity. The most important thing in this unusual service is its emphatically Paschal character. In essence, it is almost an exact copy of those Hours that are celebrated on the day of Christ's death on the Cross, on Great Friday.

The Royal Hours both of Great Friday and of the Nativity of Christ were composed by Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem (d. 644) in the first half of the seventh century; their deep similarity is meant to mark the beginning and completion of God's saving action — the Nativity of Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross. These events reveal to us God's design as God's saving passage through our world, which is completed in the triumph of the Cross and the Resurrection.

And about why the Nativity takes place, St. Sophronius writes this: "As one descended from the line of David, Mariam was once being registered in Bethlehem with the elder Joseph while carrying in her womb the seedless Fruit; but when the time of the Nativity came, there was no place to stay, and the cave appeared to the Queen as a beautiful palace. Thus Christ is born in order to raise up His image that had fallen before." This means that the Nativity is the beginning of the way of the Cross, and this is exactly how the Church approaches it.

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For Mat 2:13
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Hide
All of us would be glad to be beside Christ in His triumph and glory....  Read more

All of us would be glad to be beside Christ in His triumph and glory. But the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph share with Him first of all His humiliation and suffering. So it was in the first days of His earthly life, when He had to become a refugee and flee from human cruelty. Later the Mother of God remained with Him on Golgotha too. And it is precisely this that we need to learn from Her, because being beside Her Son in His passions is salvation.

From the very moment of His birth in a world poisoned by cruelty, and then from the flight into Egypt, Jesus had to share the trials of the earthly path of both the people of Israel and all humanity. And from these same first days on earth His way of the cross to Golgotha begins.

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For Mat 2:1-23
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Hide
For the Evangelist, the newborn Child is the promised Messiah, who is to embody in Himself the whole of Sacred History...  Read more

For the Evangelist, the newborn Child is the promised Messiah, who is to embody in Himself the whole Sacred History of the people of Israel and bring it to fulfillment. That is why today’s account contains recognizable details from the story of Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, and the journey through the wilderness. An evil king seeks to destroy Israel’s hope and kills innocent children (Ex 1); God brings Israel out of Egypt (this parallel is confirmed by the quotation from the prophet); sages from the East, guided by a star, bless Israel (Num 24:17). God saves His people not from outside history but from its very heart: Christ is born on earth in order to pass through all the trials and hardships of His people and, indeed, of all humanity. The wondrous mystery of sharing in God is fulfilled in the One who walked upon our earth, breathed our air, saw our sky, lived in our world, and filled our history and our life...

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For Mat 2:1-23
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
Hide
The appearance in Jerusalem, described in today's reading, of the "Magi" who came "from the east" raises a number of questions. Who were these "Magi"? Why were they interested at all in the birth of the Messiah-Christ, a question that...  Read more

The appearance in Jerusalem, described in today's reading, of the "Magi" who came "from the east" (v. 1) raises a number of questions. Who were these "Magi"? Why were they interested at all in the birth of the Messiah-Christ, a question that in those days would seem to have been of interest only to Jews? And what mysterious "star" (v. 2) led them? The traditional answer to the last question has been to point to the fact that the "Magi," who knew the astronomy of their time well, could notice some unusual phenomenon in the starry sky and interpret it as a sign that the Messiah had indeed been born. But such an answer presupposes that these "Magi" not only knew astronomy well, but were awaiting the coming of the Messiah no less than the Jews themselves.

Palestine at that time was part of the Roman Empire, which in the east bordered Persia, a land the Romans never managed to conquer despite many attempts. The state religion of Persia at that time was Zoroastrianism, and in the Roman Empire the priests of this religion were called in Greek "magi" (in the Synodal translation these "magi" became "wise men"). Zoroastrianism was remarkable in that its followers, like the Jews, awaited the Messiah, who would come to earth at the end of time in order to lead here the last battle of the sons of Light against the sons of darkness. It appears that among the Zoroastrian priests there were some who decided to step beyond the limits prescribed by the tradition of their own religion. They were the ones who set out for Judea in order to find there the Messiah for whom they had been waiting so long.

Of course, traditional Zoroastrian messianic ideas differed significantly from biblical ones. But for those who set out for Palestine, the desire to find the truth was clearly stronger than the influence of accepted opinions and the pressure of their environment. And the pressure could be very strong: the Roman Empire and Persia were traditionally hostile to one another, and for the magi to set out for Judea meant going straight into the enemy camp. Moreover, of course, they had no guarantees that they would actually find the One they were seeking. But, as we can see, finding the Messiah of whom not only biblical books but also Zoroastrian books spoke was absolutely necessary for these people. And therefore they found the One they were seeking (vv. 9-11).

Not everyone is destined by God to be born among the people of God. But the search for truth is open to everyone. And if this search is sincere and persistent, sooner or later it will surely lead the seeker to Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

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