Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 I wonder what is in 2:16-18? hmmm..

Sunday we will read  Matthew 2:13-15

Now after the wise men had left, 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, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

Then we will skip over Matthew 2:16-18 (NRSV) 

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
¹⁸ "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

and pick up again at 19-23

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."

"Well we must read that some other Sunday, right?"
Nope. (you'd have to have been in church on Monday December 28th - not a big Church day around here.)

We Church Geeks ( I said "we"!) complain all the time that "people don't know the Scriptures."
While at the same time we are actively concealing the Scriptures from them!

The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents is an iconic piece of the Christmas story, (Google gave me 53,000 hits for artwork alone), there is an active and interesting scholarly debate about its historicity, it harkens back to pre-history & and the Exodus; and it informs today's debates from Darfur to Abortion; yet we are too squeamish to read, let alone preach it.

I wonder why some people see the main-line Churches as have a problem of relevance in the world today?

Sunday, some of you will hear Jesus at 12 years old in the Temple, some will hear the Adoration of the Magi, and some will hear the Flight into Egypt.

For those who hear the Flight, listen to see if you hear what they were fleeing from.
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