The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 56

Vers. 13-23.-The Lorrrs infancy. I. THE FLIGHT DITO EoYPT. 1. The dream· of Joseph. The visit of the Wise Men, with their adoring worship and their .costly gifts,, is followed by persecution and distress. The opening life of the Lord exhibits those· vicissitudes which were to occur again and again in the history of his Church and in the lives of individual Christians. The bright sunshine of success and popularity is- soon clouded by seeming failure, by perplexity and persecution. It ie what we are to- expect. The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. But God cares for bis own ; his providence prepares them for the coming trials; in his hands we are safe. "Why do tbe heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed." But "he that sitteth in the.heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." The humblest of his servants sometime& defeat the designs of the mightiest of his foes, for he ie with them. Joseph saves,the- infant J esns from the cruel hands of Herod. But it was under· the. Divine guidance. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream; God spoke to him by h~ messenger in the visions of the night; God guided him in his difficulties, as he will guide us in ours, if we trust in him with the humble submission, with the undoubtin.g obedience, of the holy Joseph. 2. His journey. He obeyed.at once; he took the young Child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt. In Egypt,long ago, another Joseph had nourished his father and his brethren, the patriarchs, when the famine was aore in the land of Canaan; in Egypt, now, the little Babe was cherished who was to be the Bread of life, the Bread which came down from heaven and giveth life to the world. In Egypt the children of the patriarchs, Israel, the people of God, had lived long in exile and in bondage; in Egypt the heavenly Babe sojourned for a while, an outcast and a fugitive. God had called his son out of Egypt ; he had said to Pharaoh, by the mouth of Moses, "Israel is my son, even my firetborn: and I say unto thee, Let my BOD go" (Exod. iv. 22, 23). "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." But those words of Hosea were pregnant with a deeper meaning-a meaning possibly not present to the mind of the prophet, but now unfolded by the Holy Ghost. God called hie only begotten Son out of Egypt. God bad a miahty work for him to do, and the scene of that work was to be, n.ot Egypt, but the Holy Land. God sometimes seems to separate us from our work, to banish us from what seemB to n.s our proper field of labour. We must trust him, as Joseph did; he will bring to pass in hie own good time the purposes of his love and wisdom. 3. The ,;laughter of the innocents. (1) The murderer. Herod reverences ancient prophecy,. and seeks to slay the Lord's Christ, of whom the prophets epake. He receives Holy Scripture as the Word of God, and tries to frustrate the counsels of the Most High. Strange and miserable inconsistency! Hie mind accepts the Divine authority of the Bible; hie heart revclts in direct rebellion from the will of God, Like Balaam, he thinks that hf', poor worm of the earth, can check the development of the purpose of God. Like Balaam, he puts bis own selfish ends into conflict with the love of God. 'l'he infant King of the Jews may endanger his earthly tbrone; he will slay him if he can, though he believes him, or hal! believes hini, to be appointed by God to be tho on, u. 1~23.) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTIIEW. 43