God's Protection for the Baby Christ (Matthew 2:13–23)

[Stephan Choe]

January 13, 2026

Key Verse 13: “After they had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to search for the child and kill him.’”

Each of us has a story from our childhood. I encourage each of you to write a book about your story. Such a story can be a wonderful gift for your children and your family.

The childhood story of Jesus in this chapter is short. However, it is interesting and instructive. It is especially important because it is part of the gospel, part of the good news of our salvation. For it shows us who Jesus is, why he came into our world, and how God protected him so that he could overcome his life crisis, grow up, and fulfill his divine mission as our Savior. Therefore, his childhood story is inextricably linked to our salvation. That is why we want to learn about his childhood story with grateful hearts.

1. Flight into Egypt (13–15)

Jesus Christ was born about 2030 years ago, when Herod the Great was king of Israel. He was a descendant of Esau, one of the Edomites. Esau was Jacob's twin brother. Jacob's descendants, on the other hand, are called Israelites. With Roman support, Herod conquered Jerusalem in 37 BC and deposed the ruling Hasmonean Maccabean family. The Maccabees were the priestly lineage of the Israelites. These Maccabees had circumcised all the Edomites. Herod, however, suffered from an inferiority complex toward the Israelites because he himself was an Edomite. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem to portray himself as a pious king over the Jews and to conceal his inferiority complex. In reality, however, he did not believe in God.

Then the wise men from the East came and asked him where the Christ Child had been born. He himself did not know. Therefore, he asked the biblical scholars where the Christ Child was to be born. He feigned piety and asked them about the birthplace of Christ so that he too could go there and worship the Christ Child. The biblical scholars told him that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Thereupon, he instructed the wise men to tell him where the Christ Child was as soon as they found him.

Herod waited and waited for the wise men. But the wise men did not return to Herod; instead, they obeyed God's command and returned to their homeland by another route. Herod flew into a rage and sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children, from newborns to two-year-olds. He was a mad murderer.

But God already knew Herod's evil intentions. Therefore, He sent His angel to Joseph. This angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and delivered God's command to flee to Egypt with the Christ Child and Mary. Egypt was a good destination at that time, as it was only about 100 km from Bethlehem, and the Egyptian rulers were anything but friendly towards Herod.

So Joseph immediately got up, took the Christ Child and Mary that very night, and fled to Egypt. During the escape, Joseph was able to make good use of the gifts from the Three Wise Men to cover the travel expenses. God's provision was perfect.

Although Joseph was a simple carpenter, he was a good father to the Christ Child and a good husband to Mary. He did his best to protect the Christ Child and his wife.

 We should cherish devoted parents like Joseph and Mary, even if they were poor.

Outwardly, Herod appeared as a powerful king. In contrast, the Christ Child was a helpless baby. But in truth, Herod was only a mortal man, while Christ was the eternal, true King. How foolish was Herod's attempt to rebel against Christ!

We should distinguish between appearance and reality. We should not envy a seemingly powerful or wealthy person like Herod. We should not choose Herod's path, but the Lord's path, even if that path may sometimes seem impoverished and arduous.

So why did God allow his Son to suffer as a refugee? Hebrews 4:15-16 gives us the answer: “…who in every respect was tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our affliction.”

God willed that Christ should suffer poverty, helplessness, and death so that all people in need and distress might place their hope in Christ. He understands our need perfectly and will surely help us.

Ca. 10 zears ago, Esther and I visited our newborn grandchild in Chicago. One evening, we were invited to dinner by missionaries Abraham Park and Grace Park. They had previously worked for Jongno-UBF in Seoul and had now come to Chicago as missionaries. The couple is about the same age as Esther and me, perhaps a little older. Grace Park told us how much she had suffered in the US due to poverty and her son's illness. She has five children. One of her sons became so ill after thyroid surgery that he has been bedridden in a nursing home ever since. Every week, she drives two and a half hours to visit him. One winter day, she was in a serious accident on that drive. The couple has endured much hardship to raise their five children and survive in the US.

Despite these difficulties, they serve God with devotion. Missionary Abraham Park recently became a pastor. He wants to actively share the gospel. Missionary Grace enjoys inviting people to faith. I was deeply touched by her. I believe the couple has a big heart and a deep understanding of the suffering of others. God will richly bless the couple and their children.

Jesus Christ is King of Kings. Yet he was born into a poor carpenter's family and experienced poverty and hardship. He was even nailed to the cross and died a gruesome death. He understands us well and can help us in our greatest distress. We should accept this Jesus as our Christ.

2. Herod's Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem (16–18)

At first, Herod concealed his evil intention to murder the Christ Child. He waited for the return of the Three Wise Men. But they did not come. Herod flew into a rage and sent his soldiers to Bethlehem. There, he ordered the killing of all newborns and children under two years old in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. How terrible! The parents of the murdered children were horrified.

Today, Iran is in chaos because Ayatollah Khamenei is brutally suppressing and killing Iranians who protest against his dictatorship and skyrocketing food prices. The German news program "Tagesschau" reported today (January 12, 2026) that more than 500 Iranians have been killed. Videos of mothers lamenting the loss of their daughters and sons are circulating on YouTube.

Jesus' escape route to Egypt

Quelle: https://www.jw.org/de/bibliothek/bibel/nwt/anhang-a/jesu-leben-auf-der-erde/

Matthew, the author of this Gospel, saw Herod's cruel act not only as a horrific crime, but also as the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah ministered from 626 to 585 BC. In his book Jeremiah 31:15 it says:

"There was a great cry in Ramah with much weeping and wailing. Rachel wept for her children and would not be comforted, because they were no more." (Verse 17)

 Rachel was Jacob's beloved wife. She died in Bethlehem giving birth to her last child, Benjamin, and was buried there (Genesis 35:19).

  Jeremiah describes Rachel as alive: Rachel weeps for Israel and Judah, since Israel was destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC and Judah was later to be destroyed by Babylon. And indeed, Judah was destroyed by Babylon in 539 BC.

3. Return to Nazareth (19–23)

Joseph wanted to return to Israel with the Christ Child and Mary as soon as possible. But what was the situation in Israel?

 In the last years of his life, Herod the Great had a golden eagle placed above the entrance to the Temple. However, the devout Jews saw this as a violation of the prohibition against idols in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4). At that time, two rabbis enjoyed high standing in Jerusalem. The two rabbis encouraged their students to remove the golden eagle from the Temple. Thereupon, some of their students climbed onto the roof of the Temple, began to remove the golden eagle with an axe, and were arrested by the soldiers. Herod blamed two rabbis for the murder and had them executed and buried without ceremony. Shortly afterward, Herod died, and his son Archelaus became king of Judea and Samaria.

The Jewish people were outraged by the murder of the two rabbis, and a riot broke out at Passover. Archelaus then acted cruelly and murdered 3,000 Jews. The Jewish elders complained to the Romans about him. After nine years of his reign, the Romans deposed him and exiled him to Gaul, that is, to present-day France.

Let's return to the text. From verse 19 onward, it says: After the death of Herod the Great, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream in Egypt and said, “Arise, take the child and his mother, and return to Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.”

Joseph obeyed God's word and returned to Israel with the child and Mary. However, on his journey he learned that the feared Archelaus had become the new ruler of Judea and Samaria. Therefore, he was afraid to go to Judea. And God commanded him in a dream to go to Galilee. Joseph obeyed God, went to Galilee, and settled in a town called Nazareth. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Jesus Christ was born to poor, helpless parents. His parents had to flee with the infant Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod. Afterward, they didn't dare return with him to Bethlehem but moved to Nazareth in Galilee. There, they had to conceal Jesus' birthplace. Jesus grew up in Nazareth and became a carpenter. Thus, he became known as the poor carpenter from Nazareth (see John 1:46).

In the world, outward success is highly valued. People envy successful individuals like Herod the Great or Archelaus. In contrast, poor, helpless people like the infant Jesus and his parents are looked down upon. Unfortunately, most people in the world appear poor or insignificant, just like the infant Jesus and his parents. And seemingly successful, rich, or powerful people are in the minority. That's the way the world is.

But appearances are deceiving. Although Jesus Christ appeared poor and helpless, he is the most powerful person in the universe because he is God. Yet he was not born a powerful man, but a poor child of poor, helpless parents. He and his parents had to flee to Egypt to escape the seemingly mighty Herod. Out of fear, he could not return to his homeland, but came to Nazareth and lived there. Thus, he experienced firsthand the weakness and poverty of humanity.

Here we should remember the words of Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who does not sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus Christ, therefore, fully understands our weakness and our lostness. Out of this understanding of our weakness, he gave himself up to redeem us.

Perhaps someone might ask: “Can Almighty God, for whom there are no insurmountable, unsolvable problems, even understand us humans, who are anything but perfect, amazing, and wise? Isn’t God unapproachable, unreachable for us? Don’t our worries, difficulties, and despair ultimately seem insignificant and incomprehensible to him? Aren’t all our problems and suffering ridiculous to him, because the great God cannot possibly empathize?”

Only a poor, suffering person can truly understand poor, suffering people. God shared this view.

A few years ago, I tried to get rid of ants on my balcony. I thought to myself, “If I could have communicated with the ants, I could have saved myself this trouble and told them, ‘Hello, ants! Get off the balcony! Otherwise, I’ll have to get rid of you.’”

But since I’m not an ant, I couldn’t communicate with the ants.

But God became like us to understand us. He became human and suffered poverty and hardship. This Jesus can empathize with our helplessness, understand our feelings and thoughts, and comprehend us. God took our problems, our joy, and our suffering seriously. As the Bible says, "God became human and dwelt among us" (John 1:14a).

Thus, God came to this earth as a poor, weak human being and lived among us. Although Jesus was God, he did not insist on his right to dwell in glory. Rather, he renounced it and became a poor human being like us. God became truly human and truly God. And he was once a refugee and a stranger. He had to live as a poor, insignificant carpenter. This is the wonderful message. We are to accept this Jesus wholeheartedly as our Christ and enjoy heavenly fellowship with him. God bless you and your fellowship with Christ!