Text:
13 And when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the young child to destroy him.” 14 So he rose, took the young child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt. 15 And he remained there until the death of Herod. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was very angry, and he sent and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, mourning, weeping, and great wailing: Rachel weeping for her children and not wanting to be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 Now when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.” 21 So he rose, took the young child and his mother, and came to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
the explanation:
Magi from the East saw the star of the newborn King of the Jews in the East, so they came to Jerusalem to worship him. They met King Herod, who sent them to Bethlehem, asking them to return and tell him where the newborn was, so that he could go and worship him. The star led them to the place, and they saw the child and worshiped him, offering him gifts. They returned to their country after being warned not to return to Herod (see Matthew 2:1-12).
“ولما انصرف المجوس اذا بملاك ارب ظهر ليوسف في الحلم”. لا يُقصد بملاك الرب ملاك مخلوق مختلف عن الله بل هذا التعبير يشير الى تجلّي الله نفسه. كثيرا ما يرد هذا التعبير في سفر التكوين (انظر تكوين 16: 7 و 13 و22ك 11) يرافقه الالهام بواسطة الاحلام (تكوين 15: 12 و28: 12). الانجيلي متى, في الاصحاحين الاول والثاني من انجيله, يستعمل طريقة انشاء سفر التكوين نفسها مستخدماً التعابير ذاتها.
The subject of Genesis is creation. So the Evangelist Matthew in these two chapters places us in the atmosphere of creation, but it is a creation of a different kind. The Lord Jesus is not like the first Adam, but rather the new Adam, the firstfruits of the new creation, the true Son of Man and the true Son of God. Adam fell through sin and distanced himself from God, so the image of God was distorted in him. But the Lord Jesus restored the splendor of this image in man, drawing with his obedience even to the cross the way to achieve the divine example (see Genesis 1:26-27).
“قم فخذ الصبي وامه واهرب الى مصر… قم فخذ الصبي وامه واذهب الى ارض اسرائيل”. فقط الانجلي متى يذكر الهروب الى مصر والعودة منها مذكراً بخروج الشعب الاسرائيلي من مصر في العهد القديم. نلاحظ ان الانجيلي متى يذكر حوادث من طفولة يسوع بترتيب يذكرنا باحداث سبق ان عاشها الشعب الاسرائياي في العهد القديم. هذا يدفعنا الى التساؤل:لماذا يريد الانجيلي اظهار الرب يسوع على انه يجسد هذه الاحداث نفسها مجدداً في حياته؟
“ليتم المقول من الرب بالنبي القائل: من مصر دعوت ابني” (هوشع 11: 1). قصد النبي هوشع بهذه الآية الشعب الاسرائيلي, وها الانجيلي متى يجد تحقيقها في الرب يسوع. اذاً ما نُسب سابقاً للشعب الاسرائيلي يُنسب الآن الى الرب يسوع, والقصد من هذا هو التشديد على ان الرب يسوع هو اسرائيل الحقيقي (بعكس اليهود), والدليل القاطع على هذا ان النبوءات آخذة في التمام منذ اللحظة الاولى للحبل البتولي (انظر متى 1: 22 – 23 و 2: 5 – 6 و15 و17 و23). هكذا يُظهر الانجيلي متى ان الرب يسوع هو المسيا المخلص المنتظر وان مواعيد الله تتحقق فيه.
” لما رأى هيرودوس ان المجوس سخروا به غضب جداً وارسل فقتل كل صبيان بيت لحم…..”. عُين هيرودوس ملكاً على اليهود من قبل مجلس الشيوخ الروماني فكان حريصاً جداً على الملْك ولم يتهاون امام اي تهديد يطال عرشه. ذُكر عنه انه لم يتوانَ عن قتل عدد من ابنائه وزوجته عندما احس بانهم يشكلون خطراً على عرشه, وهذا يوضح ان قتله اطفال بيت لحم الابرياء ليس غريبا عن تصرفه.
” صوت سُمع في الرامية, نواح وبكاء وعويل كثير…”(ارميا 31: 15). قصد النبي ارميا بهذه الآيات حادثة جلاء اليهود الى بابل بعد سقوط اورشليم على ايدي نبوخذنصّر. يرجح العلماء ان متى استشهد بهذه الآية هنا ليشير مسبقاً الى دم يسوع الذي سيهراق على الصليب بسبب رفض اليهود له والذي يتجسد هنا برفض هيرودوس.
Archelaus succeeded his father Herod as governor, not as king. The Roman Empire assigned him this task, but deposed him after ten years at the request of a delegation from the people of Judea and Samaria. This shows that he was unjust and did not please the people. Perhaps this is why Joseph was afraid to return to Judea and settled in the city of Nazareth in Galilee.
The account of the birth of Jesus in chapters one and two serves as an introduction to the Gospel of Matthew, in which the writer presents the main lines of the Gospel as a whole. In today's Gospel text we find the following lines: Herod's rejection embodies the Jews' rejection of the Lord Jesus, which will end in the cross, which is indicated by the blood spilled by the killing of the children. The children refer to those who will believe in the Lord Jesus and will be subject to persecution. The worship of the Magi refers to the Gentiles' acceptance of the good news of salvation and their belief in the Lord Jesus.
My parish bulletin
Sunday, December 26, 1993
Issue 52