“Guided” Matt. 2:13-23

Last Sunday we considered Joseph and his dilemma and saw how the Lord delivered Joseph by His Word. This Sunday, after celebrating the Incarnation of the Lord, the Word made flesh, we are back to Joseph and observe how he continues to be guided not by his own thoughts, but by God’s Word. And we are afforded a contrast between those whose lives are guided by the Word and those who follow their own lights—an interesting contrast it is too. Instructive even.

Joseph is, in many ways, a changed man from what we saw last week. Last week he was anxious and troubled and thinking and pondering and planning and fretting. This week, the picture is different. Oh, I would imagine that the gears were still turning in Joseph’s head. I would think he had some anxious days and nights given all that happened. Matthew does tell us late in our reading that Joseph was afraid on at least one occasion. But faith, not fear, is the dominant element in the portrait of Joseph this week. We hear and see a man who is guided not by the wisdom of men, but by the Word of God foremost. It give us opportunity to ask “what do I rely on for guidance in my life? God’s word or something else? And how has that been working out for me?”

It’s been a pretty interesting few months for Joseph since we saw him last week. His wife Mary has given birth to the Christ Child in Bethlehem while they were there to register for the Emperor’s new tax. Shepherds visit that night with reports of angels saying this is the Christ. Magi from the east, Persian star-gazers arrived sometime later (when they had finally found a house to rent) bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, bowing and worshipping the Child as Lord and Christ.

And that’s different. None of us experienced such things when our children were born. What did Joseph think about all that? The Gospel doesn’t say. The implication is that he simply took it all in and waited for further instruction.

It wouldn’t be long in coming! After the Magi departed (“Hey, thanks for coming guys, and thanks for the nice presents. Have a nice trip back home!”) an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream again and said: “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

Joseph got up and hit the road that night. What is most interesting to me is not what is said in this exchange between Joseph and the angel. It’s what is not said. Joseph doesn’t have any questions. He doesn’t argue. He doesn’t think. He doesn’t debate. He just hits the road at the Lord’s word. And waits for further instruction.

I mean, really: would you hit the road in the middle of the night, pull up stakes with a newborn and head for a foreign country to live for an indeterminate time, simply because the Word of the Lord said that’s the thing to do? I think most of us would have trouble living our lives that way. Because we have jobs, mortgages, family, and other rational considerations. You need planning for trips like that. You don’t just up and leave in the middle of the night, because an angel says so…

Unless you live your life by faith in God’s Word alone. Then you would do exactly as Joseph did. Now Joseph is no nutcase. He isn’t guided by dreams and visions. He’s guided by the authenticated Word of God. He realizes that the devil can masquerade as an angel of light and the being guided by visions and voices is nutty stuff. But Joseph has received this Word before and the signs have been proven. Even on this occasion, the Word is confirmed by the testimony of the prophets.

Joseph turns to Numbers 24 and Hosea 11:1 and reads the prophecy: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Since this Child is the Son of God, the promised Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, Joseph has much to be guided by in Scripture, for all the ancient Scripture concerns this Christ. So Joseph can read, clearly written, that the Son of God must be called out of Egypt. So when the command to go to Egypt comes, Joseph packs up that night and hits the trail.

God speaks through His Word. And the Word is proven, authenticated. Whenever God spoke to the prophets and apostles, He accompanied His word with signs and wonders that proved it was God speaking. He gave specific prophecies that could be easily confirmed or disproved. This isn’t the vague stuff of astrology or fortune tellers or FBI profilers. This is solid, authenticated, factual stuff.

We aren’t Joseph. Our son is not the eternally begotten Son of God. How are we to be guided by God’s Word? No angels are sent to us in the middle of the night with travel instructions. How can Joseph be a model for us here? Well, the writer to the Hebrews said it well: in many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

Until Jesus fulfilled His ministry by His death and resurrection, they still lived in the Old Testament era. Signs and wonders would confirm the authentic word of the Lord. But once Jesus dies and rises, there is no more to be said, but only the Word of the prophets and apostles which testifies of Him. Even Joseph did not rely solely on an angel’s message, but had that message confirmed by the sure and written word of Scripture. So we too, when we search the Scriptures and find Christ’s promises there, we’ll be guided surely and clearly by Him.

Herod, by contrast, is not guided by the Word. Herod relies on wise men and look where that got him! If he’d only searched the Scripture a bit, he would have looked for Jesus in Egypt. But he didn’t. Relying instead on human wisdom and guile, he died not finding what he sought. Likewise, if the people living around Bethlehem had read Scripture more than the latest bestseller, they might have known and heeded Jeremiah’s warning, and they wouldn’t have lived near Ramah with small children. But they didn’t and they were bereaved. Sad and serious consequences befall those who ignore the written Word.

But the Word remains for everyone. God has revealed His Word to all the world as Psalm 19 says and as the Apostle Paul confirms in Romans 10:18 and Col. 1:23. Those who operate constantly with God’s Word of Scripture by attending the Divine Service and reading it themselves will be guided just as Joseph was guided. Our lives will be every bit the adventure that his life was.

It will be scary sometimes and difficult though. The cries of those bereaved mothers must have echoed in Mary and Joseph’s ears. Living on the run is tough. Joseph was afraid to go to Judea and God warned him to hide out in the backwater of Nazareth, like those guys with their pictures up in the post office have to do. Being a friend of Christ makes you some enemies in this world…

But guided by the Word, Joseph found each day just what he needed. And day by day, the Word was confirmed and Joseph was strengthened in his faith. So will everyone be whose faith is in the God of Israel, whose life is guided by the Word of Christ. Being guided by the Word is never dull. You’ll go interesting places and have all kinds of adventures. Never a dull moment with Jesus! And not only will all the faithful know adventure, even more we shall know Peace, that surpasses understanding, that guards heart and mind in Christ the newborn King. Amen.

Rev. Kevin Martin