Scripture: Matthew 2:14-15
Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.
Thought for the Day: The word ‘fulfilled’ is the same basic word as what we find in Luke’s Gospel when it said the time was right for Mary to deliver her child. In both cases, the Greek word is where we get our English word Plethora. This event brought the God experience beyond the tipping point, spilling over the top. The journey to Egypt allowed what had been taught centuries earlier to spillover into the present. Have you ever known something to be true, and then something else occurs that has you understanding the first thing on a deeper level? It’s not that what happen in the first place was any less true, but the new thing revealed what hadn’t been seen before. So often in scripture, something new is revealed. In those moments, I have watched Christians suggest the earlier happening was inferior or substandard. That’s silly! When science has a new discovery, it is almost always based upon previous new discoveries. The new one does not dismiss the earlier work, but is thankful for it. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is seen as the new Moses. Does that mean we can forget the earlier one? That would be silly! The author is really pointing out that God rarely does a truly new thing, for Moses was about liberating enslaved people. Jesus was about liberating enslaved people. Different time – different context…but similar work.
Prayer: May your Spirit spilling over into this moment provide me new insight into your gracious and liberating work. O Heavenly Father, may all the Moses-like figures in history remind me of my own calling to help in the liberation of others. Amen.
SEE YOU IN WORSHIP
