THE FLIGHT OF CHRIST INTO EGYPT AND HIS RETURN TO HIS COUNTRY

THE HUMILITY

Throughout all of His blessed life, the Lord Jesus was the Saviour of His Church. He was always “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1:20). And since this required of Him to become the lowliest of the lowly, to be “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3), it was already in His early youth that a deep humility revealed itself in His ministry. Enmity and hatred was His lot.

We can know from God’s precious Word that the wise men from the East did not return to Herod, but departed into their own country by another way. Herod was exceedingly wroth, and the hatred of hell burned high. The enmity of the devil, smoldering since the fall, flared up against the Seed of the woman, Who had barely begun His personal work to crush the serpent’s head. In this we already see the Son of God, Who became the Son of Man, humbling Himself to endure the hatred of His enemies.

An angel warned Jospeh, and this pious man immediately made plans to fulfill his sacred responsibility for the welfare of the Child. Angels protected the family with the Holy Child against the dangers of the long journey to Egypt: from the lurking threat of robbery and violence on the lonely road; from the heat and the hardship of the weather; from the difficulties of setting up a new home in a strange land. Christ humbly accepted the services of His parents, for He had assumed the weakness and helplessness of a little child which must be sheltered and defended. Already in His early youth He laid aside His divine power, and in all lowliness placed His life and safety into the hands of His parents, testifying that He took upon Himself all the sins and the burdens of His weak and wretched children in His journey through this sorrowful world.

But even greater than this was the humility of the flight itself. That the Son of God should yield before the persecution of godless enemies; that He should flee for safety; that He should permit Himself to be driven out; that He should become an exile from His native land and live in a country that was remembered by His people as a land of slavery and oppression: all these circumstances combine to make the Gospel before us one of the most wonderful chapters in God’s dear Word and Testimony. There is a humility and a lowliness here which is amazing and wonderful to behold. It is also an encouragement for God’s little children that in all their oppression the Lord Jesus has gone before them. Oh, dear friends, as Herod once raged against the Child Jesus, so the world still rages against the Christ and His dearly paid Church.

As the Son of God accepted flight and exile as a part of His life, so God’s children have to be strangers and pilgrims on earth. Those who have received Christ in their hearts by grace have often been driven from one place to another by enmity and hatred from the unbelieving and the godless.

I will remind you of what the apostle Paul said in Hebrews 11: “And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover the bonds of imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Dear reader, do you know how they could bear it? Christ Jesus had gone before them. In the darkness of the night He fled before the godless King Herod to a strange land to prepare a way for people who of themselves walk in the darkness and sins of the world, yea, those who were in Egypt of sin and wickedness, to come to the light of His free grace.

The whole story of the flight into Egypt presents a picture of the humility and lowliness that characterized the life of Christ and that still forms so much a part of the experience of God’s people to the end of time. If we come in times of need and persecution, will we then have a place to flee and a Refuge for time and eternity? Oh, will we then have a place at the footstool of King Jesus? Do not forget, the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. The Psalmist sings, “Why do the heathens 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” (Ps. 2).

In Egypt, long ago, another Joseph had sustained his father and his brothers, the patriarchs, when the famine was sore in the land of Canaan. In Egypt, the little Babe Jesus, Who was the Bread of Life, the Bread which came down from heaven and gives life to really hungry people, was now cherished. God reached His purpose by means of what seemed impossible. But the prophet Hosea had already prophesied; “When Israel was a Child, then I loved Him, and called My Son out of Egypt.” It is certain that he spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Jehovah Himself: “Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in Whom I will be glorified.” And again, “Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; Mine Elect, in Whom My soul delighteth.”

But there is more. The flight of Jesus also gives us a picture of our state in the darkness of Egypt of sin and uncleanness. Therefore it is necessary that God, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, brings us out of slavery and bondage of the land of the enemy. The Lord Jesus was not to stay in Egypt. He would come back at the time appointed by His Father, to fulfill the work which He had taken upon Himself for the salvation of lost people.

THE GLORY

There is more than deep humility in God’s Word. Through the gloom there also appear visions of the great glory that even at that time was the eternal heritage of the Son of God. The Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled. We can see that when Matthew tells us “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called My Son.” The Evangelist also refers to a prophecy of Jeremiah in connection with the slaughter of the innocent children, which establishes the fact that even in this detail the New Testament history had been foretold by God to His people.

Finally, this gospel declares the residence of the Saviour in Nazareth to be in fulfillment of the whole Old Testament picture of the low estimate that men would place upon the person of the Messiah. No less than three times the story of the flight into Egypt impresses upon us the positive connection between prophecy and fulfillment. There is Divine Glory in that. This Child was no ordinary Child. Not by chance or accident did the Saviour’s life move along from step to step on the way of His earthly journey. Behind it all stood the counsel of God. From eternity God had devised the exact plan by which the elect should be redeemed. In the smallest detail, even during the first years of His life, where we do not really expect it, the will of God was at work for the salvation of lost Children of Adam. That persecution of the infant Jesus was a part of His suffering for the sins of many. By it they have been redeemed from their sins of hatred, contempt, indifference, and neglect for the Gospel. The connection between prophecy and fulfillment is also a strengthening of faith for the Living Church in the certainty of the Word of God. The Lord Jesus tells us in John 10 that “the Scripture cannot be broken.”

We are also told about the enemies of Christ: of their godless plot against the Lord Jesus and of their fate. Herod felt mocked by the wise men of the East. This came not from themselves, but it was God Who directed them on another way home. God wanted to protect His Son. It was He Who halted the evil plan of Herod, and gave the family with the dear Lord an opportunity to escape. God’s hour for the death of Jesus had not yet come and His will must, and shall, prevail over the will of the enemy!

Oh, young people and older ones, listen! Herod did not long survive the judgment of God. He was stricken with a loathsome disease, and the death of this heathen tyrant was generally greeted by his subjects with relief and rejoicing. The wicked king, on whose conscience lay the death of so many sufferers, now had to meet death himself. His last days were passed in extreme misery and his wealth and power could not save him. “There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked!” Oh, for one moment the paths of Jesus and Herod almost met, but then they parted drastically. The one died in torture, in misery of soul and body, thirsting for blood to the last moment of evil life. The other lived a most holy and most blessed life, and at last lay down His life as a spotless sacrifice for sinners. Let each and everyone of us remember that it is futile to oppose the will of God. Let the enemies of Christ and of His children be devilishly clever or violently brutal: God still directs the affairs of this world to the final victory of His Kingdom. The gates of hell shall not prevail against It!

When we think of mother Mary, how much did she suffer! But those who are nearest to the Lord are often called on to pass through great afflictions. She was in exile, far from home and country, and must have been in great distress and anxiety for the safety of the precious Child. But we know that she had trusted herself to God before: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” Doubtless she may trust Him in Egypt also. He cared for her. He guided her. Again a message to learn to go with all our fears about our children to God and God alone.

Despite all opposition, the plan of God must be fulfilled. The Child Jesus is again led out of Egypt and directed to Nazareth. Nazareth has been determined as His home and so to Nazareth he must be brought.

Thus it will finally be with all who may learn to follow Him. The path of the true Christian may lead

through pain and grief, it may bring days of suffering and nights of bitter tears, it may lead through dangers and distresses and into strange lands and unfriendly places, but in the end the road of God’s child will bring him Home. To those who may receive an upright, true soul-saving faith, the story of the flight into Egypt is a comfort in that it records the Lord’s humiliation and a mighty encouragement to perseverance in its revelation of glory. With all lowliness it still shows us the glory of the Lord Jesus which He has promised to share with His people. May God give us to see and believe that to our eternal welfare!

God guided Joseph and Mary to their former dwelling place Nazareth, and there the child Jesus grew up to manhood. There He lived a quiet, humble life, unknown to the great world. But we may be sure, it was a life most beautiful and holy. Oh, may the Lord give us the need and the wish in our heart to live quietly; unknown and unregarded in this world, but (and that would be the greatest wonder), to be known and regarded by the Almighty God. During those years of perfect purity and holy submission, the Child Jesus in our nature obeyed the will of His Father. He is the Wisdom, the Righteousness, and the Sanctification of those who may learn to walk after Him.

That God’s children might seek their safety in Him alone, and that He might teach them not to murmur against the incomprehensible ways of the Lord. In heaven they shall see that it was all for their own good: to the honor of the Triune God and to the welfare of their souls.

Dear reader, may God make us poor to find our riches in Him!

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen