God Redeems

First Sunday after Christmas

with Matthew 2:13-23 and Hebrews 2:10-18

• Paul Harvey used to tell the story of a man whose cozy evening by the fire was disturbed by some small birds outside seeking shelter from a winter storm. Whenever the man would try to get the birds to safety in his barn they'd flee from him. “If only I could become a bird, then they could follow me unafraid.” And the man realized that that is what God does in Jesus Christ – Christ became human in order to guide humankind to salvation.

• I noticed a few times in the Matthew reading that Joseph was a dreamer... Not the only dreamer Joseph. Two things here: One, it was not convenient to take care of Jesus and Mary... They moved (hear: walked) 500 miles away, lived as foreigners, and shortly moved back. Not convenient, but faithful.

Two: There are other similarities between the story of Jesus and the story of God's salvation of the people through the exodus... That other dreamer Joseph also went to Egypt. Jesus was protected from a king who wanted to kill all the baby boys... Moses was protected from a king who wanted to kill all the baby boys... Moses had to flee his home for fear of his life, and he returned after he was told in a dream that it was okay to go back... same with Joseph.

Again, a few things to point out here: Matthew is demonstrating that Jesus is the real deal, that Jesus is vitally connected to the history of the Jews, and God is going to work salvation through this him. The salvation story which identified the people of God for generations points to a salvation story which will identify the people of God for millennia.

• When I told the story of the man and the birds earlier, I was telling it to you, too... It's a great model of the incarnation, and it connects to the suffering we read about in Hebrews... we have a Jesus who is displaced, exiled and homeless... and guess who can relate to that? Displaced, exiled and homeless people... the kind of people God wants humankind to care for. Poor people, suffering people... God wants humankind to embrace and minister to them, and so be involved in the process of the redemption of the world.

And God is telling us Yes, there will be suffering, and by the way, I'm redeeming it.

• Remember the end of the Joseph story? Not the Jesus-Joseph story but the Joseph-and-his-brothers story? When Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers, he tells them You sold me with malicious intent, but God took that suffering and made good come from it. And that's how God works... God takes the suffering of the world, adds human faithfulness and the Holy Spirit, and works good out of it.

• Two words from commentaries:

As followers of Jesus, we have surely been saved from our sin by the grace of our Lord. But unfortunately, being his disciples does not save us from human suffering. Suffering will dog our souls from the day we are born until the day we die, and worry will never leave our minds alone.

The story of Israel is ultimately a story of God’s grace and steadfast love. No matter how many times God’s children turned away, God always accepted their apology and gave them another chance. That's what the gracious deeds of the Lord are: the abundance of God's steadfast love.

God is always working good in the world.
Be a part of God's working.
And God bless you.