Christmas I Matt. 2:13-23

And they (the wise men), having departed, look, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph according to a dream, saying, "Arise, take along the Child and His mother and flee into Egypt and stand there until whenever I speak to you; for Herod is about to seek for the Child to destroy it. And he arose and took along the Child and His mother at night and departed into Egypt, and was there until the end of Herod; in order that the utterance of the Lord through the prophet be fulfilled, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."... And Herod, having come to his end, look an angel of the Lord appeared according to a dream in Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take along the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for dead are those having sought the life of the child." And he arose, took along the child and His mother and went into the land of Israel. And having heard that Archeleus reigned in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he feared entering there; and being warned by revelation according to a dream, he left into the region of the Galilee, and he came, resided in a city called Nazareth; that would be fulfilled the utterance through the prophets, that he will be called a Nazarene.

People are vulnerable. They become ill, suffer and eventually die. Life on this earth is testament to this. Mary and Joseph had suffered a long, pregnant journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Now an amazing thing had happened. God has taken human flesh. He is now people like Mary, Joseph or you. God has become vulnerable. He's now kill-able. Jesus is now expendable.

So God the Father must protect His only-begotten Son by Joseph who is nothing but a dreamer. Like his name-sake from the Old Testament, Joseph dreamed. The first Joseph dreamed his eleven brothers would one day bow down to him, so they shipped him off, secretly to Egypt (without his colorful coat). Likewise, this New Testament Joseph was given a dream to likewise escape to Egypt. Coincidence?

The first Joseph's eleven brothers threw him in a pit, wanting to kill him. The second Joseph's life is also in danger, along with his wife Mary and step-son, Jesus. In both cases God rescued the by sending these dreamers into Egypt. The Israelites was led to come out of Egypt by Moses as they crossed the Red Sea. Now God's Own Son, Jesus, was called out of Egypt back to the land of Israel, once again.

But Jesus is God almighty! How can some wimpy king Herod chase the all-powerful God into Egypt? Because Jesus is God-made-vulnerable. As you are afflicted with sin and suffering, so Jesus came into this world to take your place, to be vulnerable, afflicted with your afflictions. Jesus is in the likeness of your flesh, though sinless, He becomes your sin at the cross bearing it's affliction of eternal death for you.

But that would be later on. Not when Jesus was just a young child. He would not die at Calvary until much later. So the devil's plan for Jesus' early death is thwarted by the Father. God delivers His Son from His enemies, to have vengeance upon them later. All those psalms of old that talk about God's deliverance from enemies are all about Jesus and how His heavenly Father would rescue him here.

Dream after dream, step by step, God reveals to Joseph (as head of household) how to protect Jesus until He's grown. Then the time comes for His vulnerability. God sent His Son, born of a woman to live under Law. That means He's able to be tempted, as Satan did his best for forty days in the wilderness, yet Jesus did not sin. He remained a perfect sacrifice on the cross to redeem you, who fails to keep God's law.

This redemption took place for Him on the cross, but for you it happened at your baptism. There the blessed trade took place, your sins washed from you, and the filthy flood from the font takes them to Jesus at Calvary. In exchange, you get Jesus holiness, His goodness, the Lord's Own righteousness credited to your account by faith! So your baptism becomes God's adoption of you into His heavenly family. You have all become sons of God, even you prettier ones, sons receiving God's inheritance.

Jesus humbled Himself to come down to earth to be vulnerable, kill-able, not as a child, but as your redemption price on the tree of Calvary. There He would become the ransom price to redeem you from sin, death and  the devil. You could not save yourself, or make yourself worthy of life eternal. Jesus did that for you at the price of His body given for you, and His blood shed for you for your forgiveness. Jesus makes Himself expendable for your sake, suffering your death that you have His life.
 
For He is a "Nazarene" as the prophets predicted. No, you won't find the word "Nazarene" in any Old Testament prophecy. But Jesus is from "Branch-town" which is what Nazareth means. He is that branch of Jesse's tree, sprouting up from that stump for you. Jesus is the genuine Vine from David's line into Whom you are grafted by His grace. He dies for you under the sign, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." All according to God's plan, in His timing, this Branch from Jesse's tree is vulnerable, for you.

In the name of Christ,
Amen.