Scripture
Matthew 2:13
Sirach 3:2-6,12-14; Psalms 128:1-5; Colossians 3:12-17; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23
Sermon Week/Year
Sermon Topic
The Gospel of Matthew is the first Gospel in the New Testament order. It contains the most complete record of Jesus’ teachings. In the Early Church, it was used as a manual of instruction for new Christians. And it opens and closes with a military operation.
It begins with the Nativity Story, partly told in today’s Gospel Lesson. King Herod sends a detachment of soldiers to Bethlehem to kill the children. And at the end of the Gospel, a detachment of soldiers is assigned to kill the prisoner, Jesus.
Yet, within this framework, the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes peace — over-and-over-again the peace of God.
The Nativity Story as told in Matthew’s Gospel is well-known, of course. The Wise Men came from the East to worship the Christ Child. They had seen in a star a sign that a King was to be born, and they followed the star in the spirit of great anticipation and great joy. And they went into the place…
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