Matth. 2, 13-23.
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and tarry there until I tell thee: for Herod seeketh to destroy the young child. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother by night, and fled into Egypt. He remained there until after Herod's death, so that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, he was very angry, and sent and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and all their borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently learned of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Crying was heard in the mountains, and much mourning, and weeping, and wailing: Rachel wept for her children, and would not be comforted: for they were consumed. And when Herod was dead, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream in the land of Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus was king in the land of Israel instead of his father Herodis, he was afraid to go there. And in a dream he received commandment from God, and went into the east of Galilee, and came and dwelt in the city that is called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: He shall be called Nazarene.
Although we do not celebrate the day of the Innocent Infants, let us now read and act upon their history, so that we may see how the dear Lord fared soon after His miserable birth, which the angels praise so highly, and preach and sing comfortingly about it.
First, let us talk a little about the story of how it happened. When the wise men came from the east, they found the infant with Mary, his mother, still in Bethlehem. Which (as I believe) will have happened at the end of the six weeks. For they had to keep the law of Moses, which was that a woman, when she had born a son, must lie in state forty-two days, that is, six weeks, and be called unclean, so that no one could have fellowship with her, and she could not go among the people, but whatever she touched was unclean. When she gave birth to a daughter, she had to lie in state for 84 days, that is, twelve weeks, and be unclean.
*) Held publicly in the parish church in the vigil on the Feast of the Circumcision in 1541.
be. Although Mary was not obliged to do this and Moses had no right over her with his law, because she gave birth without any pain and her virginity remained intact, she kept silent, gave herself up to the common law of all women and let herself be called unclean.
(3) She is a pure, chaste virgin before the birth, in the birth and after the birth, she did not become sick or weak from the birth, and could have gone out soon after the birth, not only because of the law, but also because of her intact body; for her son did not weaken her virginity, but rather strengthened it: nevertheless not only the mother, but also the son lets himself be kept unclean according to the law. He is not guilty of this, but does it willingly and gladly; as St. Paul says Gal. 4:4: "When the time was fulfilled, God sent His Son, born of a woman, to be given under the law, that He might redeem those who were under the law." But that the wise men should visit the child and the mother before the time of purification, against the law, is a peculiar thing.
thing to which the star had brought them. And Joseph, knowing full well that this child and this mother were not of such a character as other unclean children and women, allowed this to happen; otherwise the wise men would not have been allowed to enter her house.
4th Now when the wise men had departed from Bethlehem, and were not returning to Herod, but were going by another way to their own country, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and commanded him to take the young child and his mother, and to flee into Egypt: for it was known that Herod would seek the young child to slay him. And Joseph takes the child and his mother, and departs by night. Herod put to death all the children in Bethlehem and all its borders who were two years old and under. Joseph stayed in Egypt with the child and his mother until the seventh year. But when Herod was dead, he departed again out of Egypt by command of the angel, and dwelt at Nazareth. This is the recent history.
Here two disputationes and questions arise. The first question is: How do St. Lucas and St. Matthew compare with each other? Lucas says Cap. 2, 39: "When they had finished all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth." But Matthew writes: "They fled into Egypt", which could not have happened before the six weeks. For even though Mary would have been strong enough naturally, the law did not permit it, they had to appear first in the temple and present the child to the Lord and make their sacrifice. If then they went from there to Nazareth, as Lucas writes, how could they have fled from Bethlehem in Egypt, as Matthew writes? Item, why does Herod kill the children of two years, if it happened soon after the six weeks?
6th The historians want to compare it this way; they say that after Herod had called the wise men to come back, he was taken by his sons to Rormgeladen, and thus a whole year passed before he brought the children back.
He had the infants killed. But according to the Gospel, Herod almost hurried after the murder of the infants. The wise men came to Bethlehem in the six weeks. When Herod heard that they had first come to Jerusalem and were looking for the newborn king, but that they would not return to him afterward, as he had left with them, he undoubtedly thought, "Perhaps the child was born half a year, a year, or a year and a half ago; therefore I will soon seek the child, and will attack a whole company of those two years old and under, so that I may not lack him. This is a very cunning piece of advice. For he was sure that the king must be born in Bethlehem, as it was proclaimed by the prophet Micah; for this the tribes of Israel were not mixed. Because Herod was sure of the place and the tribe that the king would be born in Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah, he thought, "The child will remain in this place and in this tribe; therefore he will not escape me; I will take a whole company before me so that I may be sure to meet him.
(7) He began wisely enough, for he had been in the habit of murder for thirty years, during which time he had slain many Jews who would not have him as king because he was a foreigner and not of the family of David. The Romans had installed him and invaded by force; therefore the chief priests and elders opposed him fiercely, and Herod resisted vigorously until he finally killed all the chief priests and all the prominent people among the Jews; he exterminated the Sanhedrin with priests, nobles and rulers; then he took the priesthood to himself, and the priestly garments from the temple he sold to whomever he wanted. He was a pious man, like M. H. and K. V. E. in our times. Although he had thus tyrannized and raged for thirty years, almost exterminating the entire nobility and the priesthood (for he was a rageful man, and did not spare anyone, not even his own children; he had two fine sons, whom he executed together with their mother, and others as well;
So that Augustus the emperor, when he heard these things, said that he would rather be Herodis' sow than his son.) But the people did not leave off their murmuring, but stood firm that not a stranger, but one of David's blood and stock should be king; they set up two great rumors against the Roman governor. For they said: We are God's people; therefore we shall not suffer a foreign king. Herod was mad and foolish, and he tyrannized with great fury.
008 And it came to pass, when he had reigned so many years, as he had said,' and the Jews murmured against him, and made a tumult, that there was first a cry that a new king of the Jews was born. For the shepherds and others, if they heard it from them, did not keep silent. Moreover, soon thereafter the wise men came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?" Then he becomes more furious, mad and foolish; he thinks, "This will be a wicked game;" he deals cunningly with the wise men, directs them to Bethlehem, tells them to search diligently for the infant, pretends to be serious about it, and admonishes them, when they find it, that they also show it to him, so that he also comes and worships it (yes, with the sword through the heart!).
9th Since this attack did not go away and the wise men did not come back, he soon looked for another attack, thinking: I still want to find the child. I have executed so many of them before, but it should not remain so, they must be better off. He therefore ordered that all the children under two years old be stabbed and murdered, not only in Bethlehem but also all around its borders; he suddenly attacked them and secretly gave the order the night before. This shall be done, as I think, after the six weeks, when all things are finished in the temple.
010 And it came to pass, when Herod was about to do this, and the decree was already made that the children should be put to death, that this decree came to pass, that the angel appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, He shall flee into Egypt, and shall speedily flee. For there was no more time nor space; the strangulation was to begin in the morning. Therefore also the
Angels do not: Go, or depart; but: Flee, go up, flee in haste, and get thee hence quickly: for the morrow, or the day after tomorrow, shall the mourning begin. And Joseph tarried not, neither waited till the morning, but rose up immediately that night, and fled, according to the commandment of the angel, and that night was almost come out of the border of Bethlehem. For I hold that the border of Bethlehem had scarcely three miles of way about it. This happened when I was eight, after the six weeks, when they had finished everything in the temple and now wanted to go back to Nazareth; then the angel's command fell on them to flee into Egypt, and Joseph came away in a hurry with the child and his mother. Herod immediately sent out to kill the children.
(11) Behold, what an abominable tyrant he is; before he hath broken his courage, rather will he knowingly put to death the innocent with the guilty. Well, he said, they will hide the newborn king from me; so I will find such counsel, which shall also be hidden from them. Now they weigh their children, give them porridge to eat; but this night they shall do it at last. Such bloodthirsty advice he holds secretly, and suddenly assaults them; otherwise every mother would have run out to the border with her child. It is a desperate, treacherous counsel, which cannot be prevented by human wisdom, nor can it be prevented; therefore the mothers of Bethlehem are safe, sleep with their dear little children and do not worry about it at all. In the morning, the king's messengers come with their terrible command, attack the children and strangle them without any mercy. This was a pitiful sight, for there were few houses in all Bethlehem and the surrounding area where two or three children were not found, for a woman often bears two children in two years. There has been wailing and howling about the bloodhound in all the houses; as also the evangelist draws from the prophet Jeremiah. Just as if we were there now, when the Turk snatches the children away from their mother's breasts and strangles them.
12 Thus the life of our Lord Christ begins, that the devil is soon there, causing trouble and distress. But what he has gained in it, that he has well come to know. For the little children have been taken out of this world and his kingdom into heaven. If the Roman emperor Augustus had wanted to serve these children and had given them his kingdom, he would not have served them as well as Herod serves them with his bloodthirst and murder. He tore the children away from their mother's breasts and placed them in heaven, making vain martyrs of them, so that their blood became precious before God. The parents were hurt, but the children were well: they did not feel any spiritual challenge; the Lord took them away when he came into this world, to be a sweet sacrifice. Thus S. Murder will also create much good.
Joseph and Mary do not know that the rogue is planning such an attack. Mary has been cleansed with her child in the temple, and now wants to return home with Joseph from Bethlehem and settle down in Nazareth. But the angel brings a different message and says to Joseph: "If you stay here, the devil's head will find you. Only flee away soon, it is here no longer longer to wait. Joseph obeys the voice of the angel, gets up by night and flees away. The angel could have indicated this a day or three before, but our Lord God lets it come to the greatest and last need, and does not tell them where to eat and drink, but has let it come to the last need, when there is no more waiting.
014 And hear how the angel saith, Take the child, saith he, and his mother. He does not say, "Take your child, whose father you are;" but rather says, "Take the child and its mother," giving the child to the mother alone. So also before, Cap. 1, when he also appears to Joseph in a dream, v. 20, he says, "Fear not to take Mariam thy spouse unto thee: for that which is born in her is of the Holy Ghost." He then places the child before and the mother after. Now the father and mother should be
according to the fourth commandment; but because the angel presents the child and the mother afterwards, he wants to indicate that the child of the mother is God and Lord, and yet is called Mariam its mother. From this it follows that this child is truly God, and yet at the same time a true, natural man; yet conceived without sin by the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin.
15 The angel also reports the reason why Joseph should flee. "It is present", he speaks, "that Herod seeks the child to kill it. As if he wanted to say: Herod has heard from the shepherds' cries and the wise men's message that a new king has been born. He cannot bear this; therefore he wants to commit an outrageous and diabolical act on the innocent blood, to choke the infants in a heap; therefore arise from this hour and flee with the child and its mother into Egypt.
16 From this you can see what misery and suffering the poor mother endured. She came to Bethlehem in a strange place and had to stay there until the time of her cleansing. In her town of Nazareth, she could have been much better as a mother of six, where she would have been better cared for. But she had to go to a foreign country. But the cross did not end there, but now that she hoped to return home, the persecution began and the child was in danger of being murdered. Both Joseph and Mary were frightened; the mother especially must have been very sorry. So they quickly come out of a small misfortune into a greater one, and must not only leave their home and the city of Nazareth, where their food and goods were, but even flee from the people of Israel in Egypt, since they were not God's people, since they have nothing of their own where they can live or from which they can live. It will have been a poor marriage. Even though the wise men gave them something, it was a great misery that they had to wander and live in a foreign country for six years. For when they wandered in Egypt, it was a great misery.
It was in the thirtieth or thirty-first year of Herod, when he almost brought the Jews to obedience. Therefore the Lord was six or seven years in Egypt, in a foreign land, a sojourner and stranger; there he had to enjoy the help of strangers whom he did not know, and Joseph may have fed and helped himself with his handiwork.
(17) This is the history of the flight of Christ in Egypt, and how Herod dealt with the innocent infants in Bethlehem; which shows how the Lord fared soon after the six weeks, and what persecution, mourning, trouble, and bloodshed followed. But why did he do this, that he went into such misery and subjected himself to so many misfortunes? Why did he not rather use his divine power or the protection and help of the angels, who could have soon taken Herod away? Answer: The Holy Scripture wants to portray this Lord as a true, natural man, who in all things, except sin, wanted to be like us; as St. Paul says Phil. 2, 7: "That he had manifested himself, and taken upon him the form of a servant, and was found like another man in deeds.
(18) Therefore, the book of Jesus' pueritia, how he was supposed to have performed miraculous signs in his childhood, is just a fool's work. For he has been mocked like another child, he has been treated like other children, he is protected by the angels like other children. For many a child falls from the table, bench, or into the fire, so that it is publicly seen that the angels are there to protect it. Six years ago in the Voigtland, not far from Zwickau, a maiden was sent out to look for cattle and drive them home. But since she got lost, she was found sitting in the forest on the third day, in the cold winter, and unharmed etc. This is what the dear angels do not only to Christians, but also often to the pagans; hence the saying came that one says: You have had a good angel today etc. Many a man often falls, so that it would not be a miracle if he broke his neck three times, and yet he is protected. On the other hand, one also learns
often that one breaks a leg on the level way etc.; because the angel is not there. I must confess that when I think back on my life, I have been noticeably protected by the angels three times. I have also seen that some have hardly left the house, and soon after that the house collapsed.
19. so Christ also wanted to keep, did not want to be something special in front of others; but because he wants to be a natural man, he also lives and behaves like a man, lets himself be wrapped in swaddling clothes, suckles etc., learns to walk on chairs and benches, has eaten and drunk, and in sum, keeps to all things like other children, except that he has done no sin, and has been an excellently sensible, disciplined, intelligent child above all others, so that one could well have felt that something special would become of him. For he wanted to conceal his majesty and divinity until he had accomplished the redemption of the human race. Although, when he entered his office, he performed great signs that no other man does, he died soon after and manifested himself in divine form. For he did not come to subdue the world and protect himself with the sword. No, he does like another man, is warned by the angel of harm and flees away.
(20) All these things are prescribed for us as an example and a lesson, so that we may be more certain and assured of the article of our Christian faith, namely, that Christ is a true, natural man, born of virgins, who lived on earth as another man. He makes no distinction between himself and others, but acts and suffers like another man, except for sin. As often as we read in the Gospel that he escapes, he wants to prove himself as a natural man, and covers up his divinity so that he hides it from the devil.
(21) We should do the same: if we can escape, we should not despise such means; as some enthusiasts do, who, in defiance of the devil, will not depart, when they might well depart. As one now
There are also many who do not want to go to church, nor do they want to use other means ordered by God, but want to have something special. But God has given you worldly rulers, princes, lords, etc., item, pastors, preachers, word, baptism, sacrament, etc., and everything that belongs to the bodily and spiritual life: according to this, as other people do, you cannot err. But if you want to do something special, you do it against God's will and command. So Christ also keeps the common way, wanting to be like another child: not like Manichaeus makes a changeling out of him, who takes the human nature away from Christ altogether; but wants to be like another child in all things and in all things.
The angels, as St. Paul says, are found equal to men. Just as he would have perished if he had not been warned by the angel. This is what is said about the comparison of the histories.
Now the other question and disputation is left from the three sayings that St. Matthew introduces. The same question I command the scholars. Matthew is blamed for not leading the proverbs correctly, because the prophet Hosea Cap. 11 speaks of the people of Israel who were to be led out of Egypt; item, the saying: "He shall be called Nazarene", one does not know where it stands. But he was not wrong, but well introduced. But it would be too long to talk about it now.