ACC ~ Matthew 2 v19 - 23

OVERVIEW:

While Joseph fled into Egypt in the night of persecution, he returned from Egypt during the day of safety (ANONYMOUS). Joseph prefigured the ministry of the apostles (HILARY). Every impulse led Joseph away from Bethlehem toward Galilee (CHRYSOSTOM). Ironically it was the child who was nourishing his mother and watching over his father (ANONYMOUS). The child had priority over the parents (ANONYMOUS). The whole sense of the Scriptures attests that the expected Messiah was to be holy and hence the prototype of the Nazarene (JEROME, ANONYMOUS), a term that suggests the dual meanings of holiness and blooming (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Those are called Nazarenes who make an extraordinary vow of chastity to God, affirming that vow with the hair of their heads, which the law had commanded them to offer as a sacrifice (CHROMATIUS).

2:19 | After Herod Died

HOW JOSEPH PREFIGURED THE APOSTOLATE

HILARY: After the death of Herod, Joseph was advised by the angel to return to Judea with the boy and his mother. When he returned he heard that Archelaeus, son of Herod, was king. So he was afraid to go, but the angel admonished him to cross over into the region of Galilee, and they lived in the city of Nazareth. … Joseph resembles the apostles to whom Christ entrusted the spreading of the news about him. Similar to what happened with Joseph after the death of Herod, they must deal with the same people who caused the Lord to suffer. The apostles are commanded to preach to the Jews, for they were sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But when they saw that the power remained in the hands of inherited faithlessness, [1] they became afraid and retreated. ON MATTHEW 2.1. [2]

[1] Hereditariae infidelitatis.

[2] SC 254:100-102.

2:20-21 | Returning to Israel

THE PRIORITY OF THE CHILD TO THE MOTHER

ANONYMOUS: Do you see why Joseph was not chosen to be the husband of Mary, but her attendant? When she was going to and returning from Egypt, had she not been married, who would have attended her in such great need? For indeed, at first glance, Mary was nourishing a child, and Joseph was looking after her. In point of fact, however, the boy was nourishing his mother, and Joseph was being watched over. … Nor was it the son’s glory to have that mother, but rather it was her blessing to have that son. She herself used to say as much: “Behold, now every generation will call me blessed.” [1] INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [2]

[1] Lk 1:48.

[2] PG 56:645.

2:22 | Withdrawing to Galilee

IN PLACE OF HIS FATHER HEROD

CHRYSOSTOM: Do you perceive the alternation between relief and danger? Joseph left foreign territory and returned to his ancestral land, discovering the slaughter of the children in the process. Having left his household in Bethlehem, he again discovers remnants of his first dangers. He finds that the son of the tyrant is alive and ruling as king. And how was it possible that Archelaus should be king of Judea, when Pontius Pilate was in charge? Herod’s death had recently occurred, and the kingdom had not yet been divided. But no sooner had Herod died than his son took power in his father’s place. … But if Joseph had feared to make his way to Judea, they say, on account of Archelaus, he ought to have been equally wary of Galilee on account of Herod Antipas. But let us leave unexamined for now the rest of the question as to whether he changed his place of residence, for his every impulse led away from Bethlehem and its confines. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.4. [1]

[1] PG 57:180; NPNF 1 10:58**. After Herod’s death, Joseph was led safely back to Nazareth.

JOSEPH WITHDREW TO GALILEE

CHRYSOSTOM: After the slaughter of the children occurred, the young Archelaus was under the impression that everything else had been taken care of. Both the children in Bethlehem had been eliminated and the one they were seeking to kill. But once he saw how his father had lost his life, Archelaus became most conscious of the precedent and much more diligent in contending with lawlessness. Therefore Joseph left Judea for Nazareth, both in flight from the danger and at the same time out of love for his home country. And that he might be more confident, he received a divine pronouncement from the messenger about it. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.4. [1]

[1] PG 57:180; NPNF 1 10:58**.

2:23 | Living in Nazareth

THE SENSE OF PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES SUMMARIZED

JEROME: If this could have been found in the Scriptures, he never would have said, “Because it has been spoken by the prophets,” but he would rather have spoken more plainly: “Because it has been spoken by a prophet.” As it is now, in speaking of prophets in general he has shown that he has not taken the specific words but rather the sense from the Scriptures. “Nazarene” is understood as “holy.” Every Scripture attests that the Lord was to be holy. We can also speak in another way of what was written … in Hebrew in Isaiah: “A branch will blossom from the root of Jesse, a Nazarene from his root.” [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.2.23. [2]

[1] Is 11:1.

[2] CCL 77:16.

WHY A NAZARENE?

CHROMATIUS: Our Lord and Savior is called “the Nazarene” as much after the name of the place, the city of Nazareth, as from the mystery of the law. For, according to the law, those are called Nazarenes who make an extraordinary vow of chastity to God, maintaining that vow with the hair of their heads, which the ordained law had commanded them to offer as a sacrifice. [1] Therefore, because the author and ruler of every act of sanctity and piety is Christ the Lord, who said through the prophet, “Let them be holy, since I am holy, says the Lord,” [2] it was not undeservedly that he was called “the Nazarene.” It was he who, following truly what was preordained in the law, offered as a pledge to God the Father the sacrifice of his own body. David spoke about this pledge when he said of the Lord, “Just as Jacob swore an oath to the Lord, he was offered a pledge to God.” [3] The Lord would show himself as the Nazarene at the time when he became a creature of flesh. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 7.2. [4]

[1] Num 6.

[2] Lev 11:44; 19:2; 20:7.

[3] Ps 132:2 (131:2 LXX).

[4] CCL 9a:224-25.

BLOOMING IN HOLINESS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: But if “the Nazarene” is interpreted to mean “holy” or, according to some, as “flower,” this is the designation found in many instances. For Daniel calls him “holy” or “of the holy ones.” Likewise we find in Isaiah: “A branch from the stock of Jesse and its flower.” [1] Even the Lord says of himself in the Song of Songs, “I am the bloom of the plain, the lily of the valleys.” [2] FRAGMENT 16. [3]

[1] Is 11:1.

[2] Song 2:1.

[3] MKGK 158.

NAZARENE UNDERSTOOD THROUGH ALL THE PROPHETS

ANONYMOUS: When he says “through the prophets,” not “through a prophet,” he clarifies a term derived from no specific prophetic authority. He speaks instead of the implied meaning he has gathered from all the prophets. For Jesus was called “the Nazarene” by all the prophets because he was holy. Or, perhaps, they read other prophets, whom we do not recognize as canonical, making this assertion. For thus some have prophesied and have written, such as Nathan and Esdras. And inasmuch as it had been prophesied, this very thing Philip makes clear when he says to Nathanael, “We have found the one of whom Moses wrote in his law, as well as the prophets, and he is Jesus, the son of Joseph of Nazareth.” [1] Thus did Nathanael, knowing that it had been prophesied, respond in confirmation of this very thing: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” [2] INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 2. [3]

[1] Jn 1:45.

[2] Jn 1:46.

[3] PG 56:646.