Going Somewhere?

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.

It begins with the Nativity Story, partly told in today’s Gospel Lesson. You’ll remember that King Herod sends a detachment of soldiers to Bethlehem to kill the children. And at the end of the Gospel, a squad 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 where the Child was born,…