Mt 2:13-15, 19-23
Chapter 2
Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.”Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt,
where he stayed until Herod’s death. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled:
Out of Egypt I called my son.
Return from Egypt
After Herod’s death, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said:
“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel because those who tried to kill the child are dead.”
So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had taken over his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Joseph received further instructions in a dream and moved to the region of Galilee.
There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way, what was said by the prophets was fulfilled:
“He shall be called a Nazorean”.
Commentaries
Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents – Return from Egypt.
History, legend, and theology come together again in this episode, with which Matthew concludes his presentation of Jesus. The cruelty of Herod, which affected the newborn and his family, is a historical fact of those turbulent times. The evangelist records this not as a historian but as a theologian who reads history, interprets it in the light of the Word of God, and then weaves it into a dramatic narrative.
Like Moses, Jesus is saved from imminent death; he must flee with his family. The massacre of the innocent recalls the killing of the Israelite children (cf. Ex 1:15ff) and Rachel’s mourning (cf. Jr 31:15). His return from Egypt fulfills the prophet’s prophecy: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1). In this way, the evangelist depicts Jesus as the new Moses, who, through a new Exodus, will lead his people—enduring exile and persecution—toward a new and ultimate liberation. And this liberation is not only for his people, Israel, but for all nations of the earth.