「エジプトへ逃れるヨセフ一家」 年末感謝礼拝 宣教 2025年12月28日
マタイによる福音書 Matthew 2章13〜15節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. Last Sunday morning’s Christmas service and Wednesday evening’s Christmas Eve service joyfully celebrated the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. How quickly time passes—this morning marks the last Sunday of 2025, so we gather for our year-end thanksgiving service to give thanks for God’s blessings throughout this year. I am thankful to the Lord that we can once again offer praise and worship together this morning.
Before we begin the message, I have an announcement and a request. This Thursday marks the start of the new year, and we will hold our New Year’s Day worship service starting at 11:00 AM on January 1st. Let us first dedicate the morning of the first day of 2026 to God. Then, next week on January 4th, we will hold our New Year’s Worship Service. Following the service, the Lord’s Supper will be observed. Please join us.
As has become tradition, we are soliciting submissions for a single kanji character representing your vision of 2025. We kindly ask for your contributions. While some have already submitted, we would like to invite everyone to participate. Japan’s Kanji of the Year was a close contest between “rice” (米), reflecting shortages and price hikes, and ‘bear’ (熊), symbolizing the human casualties it caused. Ultimately, “bear” was chosen. Reasons cited include the return of pandas to China and the worsening damage caused by bears appearing repeatedly in urban areas. As we look back on the year, if there were one kanji character that best represents your 2025, what would it be?
I had two candidates. One was the kanji for “broad” (広), as this year brought expansion in many ways. The other was the kanji for ‘mercy’ (憐), as it was a year of receiving abundant mercy from God. Both are essential kanji I couldn’t overlook, but if I had to choose just one, I would select “mercy” (憐) in gratitude for God’s mercy. When introducing names in the monthly report, we will use initials to protect privacy. We look forward to your submissions.
Now, throughout December, we’ve been listening to Matthew’s Gospel, chapters 1 and 2, to understand the meaning of Jesus’ birth. In the story of Jesus’ birth, the person who deserves the supporting actor award is Joseph. He was a man who remained silent throughout his supporting role. If he were to choose a single kanji character to represent his year, what character would he choose? From the moment his betrothed, Mary, told him she was suddenly pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he must have faced much anguish. So perhaps the character for “suffering” (苦)? Or, since he repeatedly heard God’s words spoken through angels in dreams, the character for ‘dream’ (夢) wouldn’t be strange either. Having received God’s promise that He would surely protect and guide him, he might have chosen the character for “faith” (信), trusting in that promise. If you were Joseph, what single character would you choose?
If the wise men who journeyed from the East to see the One born as King of Israel were to choose a single kanji character, what might it be? Though their journey surely brought many hardships, they must have been filled with great joy upon finally finding the King—perhaps the character for “joy” (喜). The Bible says, “They fell down and worshiped the child,” so perhaps the character for “worship” (拝) commemorates that once-in-a-lifetime act of devotion. Just imagining it brings joy. As they worshiped Jesus, they presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Last week, we discussed the meaning of the three representative gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The reason is that these three gifts clearly demonstrate that Jesus truly deserves our utmost reverence and worship. Gold confesses that Jesus is our King. Frankincense expresses and confesses that Jesus is God and our intercessor. Myrrh signifies Jesus’ preparation to be crucified for our salvation, to die a redemptive death, and confesses that Jesus is our Redeemer.
Now, reading Matthew 2:12, it says, “But when they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their country by another route.” King Herod had commanded them to return to him and report once they found the child. However, God commanded the wise men not to return to Herod, and they obeyed God’s word, returning to their own country. What we must always treasure in life is God’s word, not man’s word. For God’s word is always right and true, while behind man’s words lie ugly motives. We must not rely on man’s words or our own intuition, but on God’s word. When we faithfully listen to and obey God’s word, His protection, guidance, and grace are surely given.
Now, before we move on to verses 13 through 15, which are the main topic for this morning, I would like to discuss the differences between the birth narrative of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Luke and the birth narrative of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. There is a clear temporal discrepancy between the two birth narratives.
In Luke 2:11, the angel declares to the shepherds, “Today in the town of David (Bethlehem) a Savior has been born to you.” Then in verse 12, he gives them a sign: “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and “found the infant wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” However, when we read Matthew 2:11, it states that when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem, they “went into the house and found the child with Mary his mother.”
In Luke, it is “a newborn baby lying in a manger,” while in Matthew, it is “a child in the house” with his mother. A newborn baby is a child just born, while a child is a one- to two-year-old. There is clearly a time discrepancy. This means that by the time the wise men arrived to worship Jesus, approximately two years had passed since the shepherds’ worship. Therefore, when King Herod learned that the wise men had returned home without permission, he flew into a rage. Based on the timeframe he had previously determined through his scholars, he ordered the slaughter of every child in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas who was two years old or younger, leaving not one alive, as recorded in verse 16 of chapter 2.
What is truly intriguing is why Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus remained in Bethlehem for two whole years after the census ordered by Governor Quirinius had long since concluded. Why didn’t they return to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee? The Bible doesn’t record the reason, so perhaps it wasn’t considered that important. However, I suspect there were complex reasons behind their decision not to return. There must have been a reason for bringing Mary, who was already near her due date, to Bethlehem with him. Since Mary became pregnant before they were formally married, even if it was by the Holy Spirit, there might have been harsh reactions from family and those around them. The Joseph family stayed in Bethlehem for several years, living quietly there.
It was none other than Joseph who supported this family. He likely worked as a carpenter to provide for them. He devoted himself entirely to protecting Jesus, the Son of God entrusted to him by God, and Mary, both Jesus’ mother and his wife. He loved the family God had entrusted to him with all his heart, working diligently and silently for their sake. This was also an expression of his faithfulness to God. Even if we lack the flashiness of those active on the stage, God surely sees and delights in our dedication to serving faithfully behind the scenes, living sincerely for others and serving diligently. Society and the world are not driven by those active on the stage, but by the work and dedication of those laboring unseen in the background. God knows this and rejoices.
Now let us read Matthew 2:13-15. “After the wise men had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ For Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.“ So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and departed for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod, so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: ”Out of Egypt I called my son.”
First, it says, “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said.” The angel speaks God’s words—that is, God Himself speaks to Joseph, clearly telling him what he must do next and explaining the reason. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
God commands Joseph to flee immediately to Egypt and remain there until further instructions are given. He commanded them to flee not to Nazareth, their hometown about 100 kilometers to the north, but to Egypt, 200 to 300 kilometers in the opposite direction to the south—a foreign land where they had never lived—and to make their life there. While it is said that several Jewish communities were already established in Egypt at that time, moving to a place with no established foundation for life required considerable courage and resolve.
However, verses 14 and 15 state, “Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died.” Why was Joseph able to act so immediately and remain faithful to God’s word? It was because Joseph had God’s promise that “God is with us,” and he had the clear, great mission entrusted to him by God to protect the life of the Son. I believe he found joy in living for God’s purpose.
God provided the funds for their flight to Egypt by giving gold through the magi. Joseph believed that if they obeyed God’s word, God would surely provide for all their needs. Trusting in the Lord’s promise, he pressed forward.
The new year 2026 begins this Thursday. What kind of year will it be? If we continue trusting God, believing that He walked with us and guided us throughout this past year, fulfilling all our needs—and that He will absolutely do the same in the new year!—then no matter what happens in 2026, God, our Savior Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will surely protect and guide us, fulfilling all our needs.
Why can we say this with such certainty? It is because God’s love, mercy, and grace—in the person of Jesus Christ—have already been given to us. What we need is to continue holding onto faith and hope in God: to listen to, trust, and obey Jesus Christ, who is God’s promise. We must love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This love becomes the driving force for loving and serving our neighbors. In this new year, let us continue to listen to the words of the Lord of love and mercy, continue to follow the Lord, and walk together.