When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:13-15 NABRE)
When it was time for them to leave, the Magi departed for their country without informing king Herod about the location of the newborn King. Soon after, Joseph was given instructions to flee to Egypt to avoid Herod's anger.
Egypt was a traditional place of refuge for those fleeing from danger in Palestine (see 1 Kings 11:40; Jeremiah 26:21), but the main reason why the child is to be taken to Egypt is that he may relive the Exodus experience of Israel.*
The fulfillment citation is taken from Hosea 11:1. Israel, God’s son, was called out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus; Jesus, the Son of God, will similarly be called out of that land in a new exodus. The father-son relationship between God and the nation is set in a higher key. Here the son is not a group adopted as “son of God,” but the child who, as conceived by the holy Spirit, stands in unique relation to God. He is son of David and of Abraham, of Mary and of Joseph, but, above all, of God.*
Today, I will thank God for his son, Jesus.
Holy Innocents, boys of Bethlehem who were massacred by king Herod, martyrs, and patrons of babies, pray for us.
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