Woodlawn CC

Woodlawn CC

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Thursday Night Service, Dec. 26, 2019 - Matthew 2:13-23 - Two Ways to React to Christ


In the sermon the day after Christmas I preached over one of the 'darker' parts of the Christmas story.  The slaughter of the innocents.

Here we compare the reactions of the Wisemen and Herod... two entirely different ways of reacting to the coming of Christ.  How are we reacting?

Please take a listen and as always...

Be a blessing to someone today!

In Christ,
Roy

Matthew 2:13-23 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Escape to Egypt
13 Now after they had left, 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, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The Return from Egypt
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

Footnotes:
Matthew 2:14 Gk he
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:21 Gk he


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