Thursday December 28, 2023

Matthew 2:13-18

I am sure by now you have noticed that we only have two accounts of the birthday of our Lord. The Greek version from St Luke and the Jewish version from St. Mathew. They are very different stories but our minds make them into one cohesive story. In the Mathew version the main character is Joseph. St Mathew goes to great length to map out the genealogy of Jesus which we heard on Christmas Eve. Mary is but a bystander there. It is Joseph who is connected to Jesus, it is Joseph who received the dream about the child, Joseph is told to name the child, Joseph has a dream to move to Egypt for the safety of the child. No mention of angels here, the dreamer leads.

St Luke however writes a complete different story. Mary receives the news, an Angel Gabriel visits her and gives her the child’s name. It is the blessed mother who named the child. No wise men here. The gospel of Mark and John don’t even touch the birth narratives. We can talk about it later.

Anyway today we read about a very sad event that happened in the life of Jesus. The massacre of the innocents. See we don’t read and understand these narratives as subversive documents but they are. By his very birth Jesus makes Herold and all the powerful tremble. There is a new power that will take over. You carry Devine power and presence in you and naturally make some people uncomfortable. Find a way to Tap into your power base. It could be some embarrassing part of your story. Don’t let that devil use it to crush your dreams. Maybe when Jesus was later told about this event, it fired him up to go to Jerusalem.

You know, many a building, many a life have fallen besides you but he has found a way to hold you up. There is something about you that is unfinished. One more person to hug, one more diaper to change.