ACC ~ Matthew 2 v13 - 18

OVERVIEW:

Egypt, which under Pharaoh stood stubbornly against Yahweh, now became a witness to and abode of Christ (CHROMATIUS). It was not to escape death that he went down into Egypt but that he might put demons to flight and demolish death-dealing idols (ANONYMOUS). The devil, who foresaw the future of Christ, tried desperately to stop him even in his infancy. Christ fled that, in time, he might bestow on us the eternal hope of escape from oppression. In the face of persecution, it is better to flee than to recant. Yet as a grown man he would not flee the death he escaped as an infant (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). The babies slain by Herod did not fail to attain glory immediately because of their martyrdom (HILARY). They were the first martyrs of Christ’s coming (CHROMATIUS). It was Herod, not Christ, who killed the children (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). Whatever the source of unjust suffering, as exemplified by the slain children, the ultimate cause is either God devising a release for us from our sins or it is God offering an exchange of sin (CHRYSOSTOM). For the babes, death brought a blessed end to their grief. For the mothers, however, the memory of their babes ever renewed their grief (ANONYMOUS). Thus it was prophetically foretold that Herod would have no power over the Lord (CHROMATIUS).

2:13 | The Holy Family Flees to Egypt

BABYLON AND EGYPT

CHRYSOSTOM: But why was the Christ child sent into Egypt? The text makes this clear: he was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” [1] From that point onward we see that the hope of salvation would be proclaimed to the whole world. Babylon and Egypt represent the whole world. Even when they were engulfed in ungodliness, God signified that he intended to correct and amend both Babylon and Egypt. God wanted humanity to expect his bounteous gifts the world over. So he called from Babylon the wise men and sent to Egypt the holy family.

Besides what I have said, there is another lesson also to be learned, which tends powerfully toward true self-constraint in us. We are warned from the beginning to look out for temptations and plots. And we see this even when he came in swaddling clothes. Thus you see even at his birth a tyrant raging, a flight ensuing and a departure beyond the border. For it was because of no crime that his family was exiled into the land of Egypt.

Similarly, you yourself need not be troubled if you are suffering countless dangers. Do not expect to be celebrated or crowned promptly for your troubles. Instead you may keep in mind the long-suffering example of the mother of the Child, bearing all things nobly, knowing that such a fugitive life is consistent with the ordering of spiritual things. You are sharing the kind of labor Mary herself shared. So did the magi. They both were willing to retire secretly in the humiliating role of fugitive. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 8.2. [2]

[1] Hos 11:1.

[2] PG 57:83-84; NPNF 1 10:51-52**. The faithful are instructed to hold in memory, amid their own afflictions and hindrances, the flight of the holy family to Egypt and the return of the magi by another route.

WHY CHRIST FLED

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: His flight then was not occasioned by fear but by what had come through the mystery of prophecy. The Evangelist planted the seed when he thus spoke: “Take the boy and his mother and flee into Egypt.” And later, “that what was written might be fulfilled: ‘From Egypt have I summoned my son.’” [1] Christ fled so that he might establish the truth of the law, faith in prophecy and the testimony of the psalter. The Lord himself says, “It was needful that what was written in the law and the prophets and the psalms be fulfilled by me.” [2] Christ fled for us, not for himself. Christ fled so that at the right time he might serve as a steward of the sacraments [the divine mysteries]. Christ fled so that by granting absolution he might take away the source of abuses to come and that he might give proof of faith to those who would believe. And finally, Christ fled so that he might bestow on us faith even when we have to flee, because in the face of persecution it is better to flee than to deny the faith. For Peter, because he was unwilling to flee, denied the Lord. John, lest he deny the Lord, fled. SERMONS 150.11. [3]

[1] Hos 11:1.

[2] Lk 24:44.

[3] CCL 24b:938-39.

THE DEVIL FORESAW THE FUTURE OF CHRIST

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Was it Herod seeking the child, or the devil working through Herod? When Herod saw the magi for himself, he imagined in his fantasy that they had fled their governors. For Christ, though bound in swaddling clothes, though busy at his mother’s breast, though keeping quiet, concealing his words, unable to walk, nevertheless transformed the magi (who had been standard-bearers of the devil) into his most faithful servants. The devil instantly realized what Christ could do when he came of age. So he spurred the Jews against him and, clever contriver that he was, impelled Herod that he might get the jump on Christ in his infancy. He hoped to deprive him of the coming emblem of his virtue, the cross, the banner of the greatest victory for us. The devil perceived that Christ would soon be restoring life to all the world with his teaching and his virtue. Even while still whimpering as a baby, Jesus was taking possession of this world from top to bottom. It was as the prophet said: “Before the child knows to cry to his father and mother he shall take the pride of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.” [1] The Jews themselves attest to this when they say, “You see how the whole world hastens after him.” [2] SERMONS 150.9. [3]

[1] Is 8:4.

[2] Jn 12:19.

[3] CCL 24b:936-37.

PUTTING TO FLIGHT THE DEMONS OF EGYPT

ANONYMOUS: “Go into the land of Egypt.” For, just like a doctor, the Lord went down into Egypt that he might visit it as it languished in error, not that he might stay there. For at first blush it seems as if he went down into Egypt in flight from Herod. The fact is that he went in order to put to flight the demons of Egypt’s error, just as Isaiah gives witness when he says, “Behold, the Lord goes down into Egypt, seated atop a swift cloud, and the idols of Egypt shall fall.” [1] Do you see then that it was not to escape death that he went down into Egypt but that he might eradicate their deadly idols? For this is the only time that the Lord traveled to Egypt.

It must be noted, moreover, why he fled into Egypt by night but returned during the day. This is because, when he fled, he was fleeing the persecution of Herod. He began his return, however, after the persecutor had died. For night symbolizes the tightening of the heat of persecution, while the day represents a cooling off. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [2]

[1] Is 19:1.

[2] PG 56:646.

2:14 | Egypt Receives the Christ Child

WHILE PALESTINE PLOTS, EGYPT RECEIVES

CHRYSOSTOM: Mary, who had never even passed beyond the threshold of her own house, was commanded to undergo this long ordeal of adversity for the sake of this wonderful birth and for her own spiritual labor and development. Isn’t this remarkable: While Palestine plots, it is Egypt that receives and preserves the One for whom the plots are designed! This is reminiscent of the patriarch Jacob, who also sought succor in Egypt, [1] anticipating the coming of our Lord. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 8.2. [2]

[1] Gen 45:25—46:7.

[2] PG 57:85; NPNF 1 10:52**.

AS A MAN CHRIST WOULD NOT FLEE DEATH

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Christ promised that he would come incarnate, that he would go through the phases of life, that he would announce the glory of the kingdom of heaven, that he would proclaim the way of faith and that by the power of his word alone he would put demons to flight. He promised that he would give sight to the blind, gait to the lame, speech to the mute, hearing to the deaf, remission for sinners and life to the dead. All these things he promised through the law and the prophets. Thus it was that Christ, when he was to become a man, was not to flee the death he escaped as an infant. SERMONS 150.10. [1]

[1] CCL 24b:938.

2:15 | A Son Out of Egypt

FUGITIVES EAST AND WEST

CHRYSOSTOM: There is something else here worth noticing, one touching the magi and the other touching the Child. The issue is why didn’t the magi remain with the Child? And why didn’t the Child remain in Bethlehem? Both had to escape as fugitives shortly after they were received with joy: the magi to Persia and the holy family to Egypt. Why? This is worthy of close examination. The magnificence of God’s plan of salvation would not have been believed if he had not come in the flesh. If Jesus had fallen into the hands of Herod, his life in the flesh might have been cut off. Many circumstances were quietly ordered providentially within human history. Even while the flesh of the Christ child was in danger, some dared to imagine that he never assumed our common human flesh, that his coming was like that of a ghost. These impious ideas will ultimately destroy those who do not confess that God has come to us in the flesh in a way becoming to his deity.

As to the wise men, they were sent off quickly, commissioned to teach in the land of the Persians, having thwarted the madness of the king. Herod was allowed the opportunity to learn that he was attempting things impossible, against prophecy, and that there was still time to quench his wrath and desist from his demented plot. It is fitting to God’s power not only to subdue his enemies but to do so with ease, deceiving the deceivers in a way fitting to God’s almighty power. In the same way the Egyptians had earlier been deceived, [1] their wealth transferred secretly and with craft and God’s power made awesome to them. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 8.1. [2]

[1] In the time of Moses; cf. 1 Sam 6:6 LXX.

[2] PG 57:83-84; NPNF 1 10:51**. What messianic-prophetic significance did the secretive flight of both the magi and the holy family convey? Both the magi and the holy family became fugitives, east to Persia and west to Egypt, to attest God’s own humble coming in the flesh for all humanity, deceiving the deceivers in a way fitting to God’s almighty power.

EGYPT THE ABODE OF CHRIST

CHROMATIUS: Joseph therefore was commanded to accept this boy about whom Isaiah had said, “For a boy has been born to you; a son has been given to you, whose rule has extended over his shoulders.” [1] Now he said “a son has been given to you” because Christ the Lord was born as a boy and was counted a son of Joseph and Mary. As to his going down into Egypt, Isaiah predicted this long before the fact when he said, “Behold, the Lord sits atop a swift cloud and will come into Egypt.” [2] By this statement the promise of the Lord’s incarnation was clearly revealed. Since the Lord himself is invoked as “arising from on high, the sunlight of justice,” [3] it is right that he would come on a swift cloud. By this Isaiah means he would come in a hallowed body, a body weighed down by no sin and through which he covered the light of his own majesty with the envelope of the cloud of his body. Hosea as well points to this very fact when he says, “The king of Israel has been thrown down. Because Israel was small, I took delight in him. And I called my son from Egypt.” [4]

After Egypt’s ancient, grave sin, after many blows had been divinely inflicted upon it, God the omnipotent Father, moved by devotion, sent his Son into Egypt. He did so that Egypt, which had long ago paid back the penalty of wickedness owed under Moses, might now receive Christ, the hope for salvation. How great was God’s compassion as shown in the advent of his Son! Egypt, which of old under Pharaoh stood stubborn against God, now became a witness to and home for Christ. God’s compassion toward Egypt was like that shown toward the magi, who deserved to know Christ the Lord. For, although the magi had for a long time dared resist the divine goodness under Moses, they now, having seen but a single star in heaven, believed in the Son of God. The cavalier magicians were handed over to punishment for their lack of faith. Others were brought to glory through faith, since they believed that God had been born in the flesh—God whom the Egyptian magicians were unwilling to recognize in all his divine excellence. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 6.1. [5]

[1] Is 9:6.

[2] Is 19:1.

[3] Mal 4:2; Lk 1:78.

[4] Hos 10:15—11:1.

[5] CCL 9a:220-21.

2:16 | Herod Slaughters the Infants in Bethlehem

THE LORD’S SAFEKEEPING PROPHETICALLY FORETOLD

CHROMATIUS: For Herod, as we have said, in his desire to destroy the Savior of the world, sent word to Bethlehem and commanded that all children two years of age and under be killed, figuring the age according to the time that he had learned from the magi. He thought that his edict would reach even to the Lord himself, the source of life. The Holy Spirit had already foreseen his wickedness beforehand. Solomon, speaking for the church, had said, “Who will give to you my brother, the one who nurses at the breast of his mother?” [1] Moreover, by saying, “Who will give to you?” he was demonstrating that Herod would have no power over him who is the Lord and Prince of all powers. Thus the Lord spoke rightly when he bore witness about himself through the same Solomon: “Evil men will seek and not find me. For they hate wisdom and moreover have not partaken of the Word of God and have had no desire for it.” [2] The Spirit also said through David: “Since you are the one who gave birth to me, you are my hope, my mother, from the time I nursed at your breast … you are my protector.” [3] The blessed Moses also relates that Christ the Lord, an infant, could not have been killed while still nursing. He gave witness to this with his words, “You will not cook a lamb in the milk of its own mother.” [4] In this exact statement Moses revealed the expectation that Christ our Lord would be the true Lamb of God who was to suffer at the appointed time. [5] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 6.2. [6]

[1] Song 8:1.

[2] Prov 1:28-30.

[3] Ps 71:5-6 (70:6 LXX).

[4] Ex 23:19; Deut 14:21.

[5] Accordingly, the law and prophets were anticipating the coming of Christ by identifying him in advance as the Lamb of God and by showing that he would not be harmed in his infancy, before his divine vocation was complete.

[6] CCL 9a:221-22.

WHETHER CHRIST ABANDONED THE LITTLE SOLDIERS

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Why did Christ do this? Christ is the judge of thoughts and the examiner of minds. Why did he desert those whom he knew were being sought because of himself and whom he knew would be killed for his sake? He was born a king, the king of heaven—why did he neglect the standard-bearers of his own innocence? Why did he disdain an army of the same age as himself? Why did he thus abandon those who were cut down as plunder from the same cradle as himself? Was it so that he, who would become the one king, might proceed against the forces of all his enemies? Brothers, Christ did not despise his own soldiers but promoted them and granted that they might walk in victory before they lived. He enabled them to participate in a victory without struggle. He gave to them the gift of the crown even before their bodies had grown. It was Christ’s will that they pass over vice for virtue, attain heaven before earth and share in the divine life immediately. Thus it was that Christ sent his soldiers ahead. He did not abandon them. He gathered up his ranks. He did not leave them behind. SERMONS 152.7. [1]

[1] CCL 24b:953-54; FC 17:257-58.

THE FIRST MARTYRS OF CHRIST

CHROMATIUS: In Bethlehem therefore all the babies were slain. These innocents who died then on Christ’s behalf became the first martyrs of Christ. David refers to them when he says, “From the mouths of nursing babies you have perfected praise because of your enemies, that you might bring ruin to the enemy.” [1] … For in this persecution even tiny infants and nursing babies were killed on Christ’s behalf and attained to the consummate praise of martyrs. Meanwhile the wicked king Herod was destroyed, he who had usurped the realm to defend himself against the king of the heavens. Thus it is that those blessed babes have deservedly lasted beyond others. They were the first who were worthy to die on Christ’s behalf. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 6.2. [2]

[1] 28.

[2] CCL 9a:222.

TWO YEARS OLD OR UNDER

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He gave orders that not only the children in Bethlehem but even those in the outlying districts of the town be killed, thinking that amid the multitude of those killed would be the one he was seeking. Herod ordered those who were two years old and under to be slaughtered. He had calculated such was the time that had passed from the incarnation of Christ, taking into account the time the magi had spent on their journey and that which he had spent on the throne. But Christ was taken out of Bethlehem once night had arrived. It is not possible that the birth of Christ be the cause of the killing of the children. But the disclosure of Herod’s child-killing marked the beginning of a long string of wickedness. Even those who crucified Christ were not wicked at the time when they arrested Christ. Rather, they became wicked at the time when they undertook his murder. Yet for Christ’s sake the children will receive a good reward, fitting to their martyrdom. FRAGMENT 9. [1]

[1] MKGK 99.

2:17-18 | Wailing in Ramah

THE GRIEF OF MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

ANONYMOUS: “A voice was heard in Ramah.” [1] Ramah was Saul’s city. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the son of Rachel, whose memorial was near Bethlehem, where these wicked deeds were done. Therefore, since the babies were killed in Bethlehem, where there is a monument to Rachel, this is why Rachel is described as weeping. [2] … What he meant by “weeping” is revealed as the tears of the infants; what he meant by “wailing” is shown to be the lamenting of the mothers. For the babies wept because they were separated from their mothers. The mothers wept because they were bereft of their children, as if their insides were being torn from them. And it is possible to see greater grief in the mothers who remained behind than in the dying babies. For the children suffered a single moment of grief, because they had been separated from their mothers, not because they were being led out to death. For they did not yet possess a fear of death. The mothers, however, experienced twofold suffering: in the first place, they saw their own babies being killed; in the second place, they were themselves bereft of their children. For the children, death brought a blessed end to their grief. For the mothers, however, the memory of their babies continually renewed their grief. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [3]

[1] Jer 31:15; 40:1.

[2] Gen 35:16-20.

[3] PG 56:644-45.