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1500 years before Jesus comes on the scene in Bethlehem, the Bible tells of another bloodthirsty king. Like Herod, this king was paranoid that the Jewish people were threatening his power. Like Herod, he concocted a bloodthirsty plan to keep his throne. Like Herod, the plan involved slaughtering baby boys. And just like our story, God intervened to save the life of one baby boy. That baby boy, named Moses, would eventually deliver God’s people out of Egypt.

Matthew believes that exodus was actually pointing to a new and better exodus, inaugurated by Jesus Himself.

Matthew 2:13-15a—Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to destroy Him.” 14 And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.  

Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes for a second. The last time an angel came to him in a dream, he was told to marry his virgin pregnant fiancée and adopt the baby and raise Him as his own. Since the baby’s been born and He’s been worshiped by lowly Jewish shepherds and wealthy Gentile sorcerers. If Joseph’s had any doubts about trusting God in this, they’re probably mostly gone. So when an angel comes to him again and warns about a threat to Jesus’ life, from none other than Herod the Great (whose bloodthirsty paranoia was legendary), Joseph believes. Verse 14 suggests that Joseph wakes up from his dream in the middle of the night and leaves right away. He doesn’t waste any time. It’s interesting to me that the word “flee” in verse 13 is actually a root word for English words like “fugitive” and “refugee”.

Just like Moses was a fugitive from Pharaoh, Jesus is a fugitive from Herod. But Matthew has more in mind here than a few parallels between Moses and Jesus’ birth stories. Matthew wants to show us that Jesus has come to do something like what Moses did. Only better.

This is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Matthew continues in 2:15b—This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”

Wait just a minute. Is there a prophecy that God would deliver His Son, Jesus, out of Egypt? Not exactly. Hosea 11:1 says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” But in context, it’s clear that Hosea is writing about Israel’s exodus from bondage in Egypt. So what is Matthew doing?

The key is in the word “fulfill.” It’s a major word in Matthew, used three times in Matthew 2:13-23 and sixteen times in the gospel, more than any other gospel writer.  One major Matthew scholar argues that “fulfillment” is the theme of the entire gospel. [1]

Patrick Schreiner says, “‘Fulfill’ has a variety of meanings, and in different contexts certain aspects might be highlighted. Yet largely, we can say that it means that Jesus fills up Jewish history.... all things are brought to fruition in and through Jesus.” [2]

Think of it like this. Imagine you’re one of those coffee drinkers that take your coffee with flavored cream. Your mug is about half full (or half empty if you’re a pessimist) with coffee. But your coffee isn’t complete. Not only is the mug not full, but the drink isn’t yet what it’s meant to be. It’s a shadow of what it’s supposed to be. Then you add the cream. Not only do you fill up your mug, but you transform its contents. Adding the cream doesn’t utterly transform the coffee. It doesn’t change it to tea or Kool-Aid. But it does change it to a degree. In your mind, it transforms the coffee into what it was always meant to be in the first place. Your coffee has been fulfilled by the flavored cream.

It’s not a perfect illustration (after all, we are talking about adding flavored creamer to your coffee) but it does help. Jesus fulfills OT prophecy the same way that creamer fulfills your coffee. He completes it and transforms it. He doesn’t turn the OT into something that it wasn’t, but He transforms it into what it was always meant to be in the first place.

How does that help us understand Matthew’s use of Hosea? Hosea isn’t predicting Joseph and Mary’s escape to Egypt. But if you read the context, you can see that Hosea is concerned. Because even though God’s people were once delivered from Egypt, they’re still in bondage. Not to Egypt, but to sin. So Hosea predicts a future exodus when a Lion will come to rescue God’s people from another type of bondage.

Hosea 11:10-11—They shall go after the LORD; He will roar like a lion; when He roars, His children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD.

Matthew is telling us the Lion is here! Like Moses, He’s a deliver who will rescue God’s people from bondage. Not bondage to Pharaoh, but to sin. But although this exodus is similar to the one led by Moses, it’s different. The Lion who will save God’s people from bondage is also a lamb.

1 Corinthians 5:7b—...Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

1 Peter 1:18-19—you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The story of Jesus is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Jesus inaugurates a new and better exodus.  

 

[1] R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 10.  

[2] Patrick Schreiner, Matthew, Disciple and Scribe: The First Gospel and Its Portrait of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2019), 39.