Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Holy Gospel reading, in particular, the words "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Matthew 2:15).

Dear Friends in Christ, our Gospel reading from Matthew 2 occurs after the wise men had visited the holy family, bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh, worshiping baby King Jesus. We will actually focus on that story this Thursday night at our Epiphany service, which celebrates the revelation of the Savior to the Gentiles. But today we are still focusing mostly on the coming of God's Son, Jesus, Immanuel to ransom captive Israel.

In our Gospel text, the wicked King Herod had heard that a competitor for his throne had been born, and he was out for blood. So an angel appeared to Joseph, the guardian of Jesus, in a dream to tell him to take the child and His mother to Egypt, where they would be safe until the death of Herod. Eventually, when Herod did die, the family returned to the land of Israel and settled in Nazareth. St. Matthew tells us that all of this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Matthew 2:15).

Now you might be thinking, "Big deal. This is just a simple prophecy and fulfillment. Jesus went to Egypt for a while, and then moved back to Israel. That's what 'Out of Egypt I called my son' means." But the actual historical events of this story are only the tip of the iceberg; you'll miss the true significance of this story if you don't know seek out the background in the Old Testament. The prophet that Matthew quotes is Hosea, who wrote to Israel during the 700s BC. Hosea wrote, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11:1).

Here the ancient people of Israel is called God's son; the Lord chose them, He adopted that people as His own son. And in Hosee, the calling of God's son, Israel, out of Egypt is a reference to the Exodus. In our Old Testament reading from Genesis, we heard about God sending His people Israel down to Egypt and promising to call them back out again, and that would happen in the Exodus. In the meantime, they had become captive to the Egyptians, and so the Lord would ransom captive Israel from slavery to Pharaoh.

The events of the Exodus are familiar to most of us. In Deuteronomy, the Lord gave Israel a sort of Old Testament creed that recounted the events of the Exodus. The Lord told the people that when they came into His presence at the tabernacle to offer the firstfruits of the promised land, they were to make this confession of faith before the Lord: "A wandering Aramean was my father [that is a reference to Jacob, who went back and forth between the promised land and Egypt during famines]. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Deuteronomy 26:5-9).

God loved His adopted son Israel with an unfailing love. He wanted to be Israel's God, and Israel to be His people. He wanted to be Israel's loving Father. The Exodus and God's presence in the Tabernacle and Temple showed His love and mercy for Israel, God's son. But the love was unrequited. God's son rebelled and fled his Father's presence. The prophet Hosea recorded these words from the Lord: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. [But] The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught [them] to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them" (Hosea 11:1-3).

Perhaps the reason many of us do not like to read the Old Testament is because it is so depressing. The more the Lord called for His son to return to Him, the more they went their own way, enslaving themselves to false gods. Israel did not want the Lord to be their God; they did not want to be His people.

But since when has anything we sinners do caused God to forget His promises? Before the Exodus, the Lord had made this promise to Moses and Israel: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.'" (Exodus 6:6-8)

The Lord's calling is irrevocable, and His outstretched arm redeemed Israel when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the Lord's original promises to Israel. He gave a promise: "I will be your God." He did not say, "I might be your God" or "I'll be your God if you fulfill your end of the bargain." God's adopted son Israel did fail by continually turning away from their Father, the Lord their God, but the Lord would not be without His people. So He sent not His adopted Son to save them, but instead His only-begotten Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus would be the Son that Israel never could be; in fact, Jesus would be the older brother who made up for the sins of the younger brother. As we heard in our Gospel reading, like Israel Jesus traveled into Egypt with His mother and guardian, and then He was called out of Egypt to do right where Israel had done wrong. Even as a toddler, Jesus is shown to be the true Israel, Israel reduced to one, God's beloved Son who would finally ransom captive Israel from sin, death, and hell.

So when Jesus grew up, His first public act was to be identified as God's beloved Son in the Jordan River. At Christ's Baptism, the Father said from above, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased." Immediately He was led out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. And where God's adopted son Israel had constantly succumbed to Satan's temptations during their forty years in the wilderness, Jesus resisted and obeyed His Father's will. Throughout the ministry of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, we see Jesus standing fast where Israel fell; Jesus obeying where Israel disobeyed; Jesus laying down His own life as a ransom where Israel looked out for its own self-interests. And after He had suffered a bloody death on the cross for the sin of Israel and all people, on the third day God the Father brought His beloved Son out of the captivity of death and into resurrected eternal life which He shares with we who once had been enslaved to nothing but sin and death.

St. Paul wrote in last Sunday's Epistle reading, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4-5). As Gentile sinners we could never be true Israelites from birth, but we now have been adopted and incorporated through Baptism into Israel, into Jesus Christ. We are now part of God's family in the true Israel because we are in Christ, who is Israel reduced to One and perfected. By Baptism we are adopted sons of God, because we are in Christ, who is Israel, who is God's Son.

So as sons of God, you are now not slaves anymore but are heirs of the true promised land of heaven, which will have no end. While Old Testament Israel never could cling to the Old Testament promised land because of its sinful rebellion, God's Son Jesus Christ has overcome sin, death, and the devil and has won an eternal kingdom for you, an imperishable land flowing with milk and honey, a residence in God's house. In Christ you are God's beloved sons, and have access to His house. You even get to eat and drink at table with your big Brother Jesus Christ, feeding on His true flesh and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

The story of God's love and mercy toward Israel continues this morning. You are part of Israel's history, for God has called you here this morning as sons, all because Jesus is God's Son, and by Baptism and faith you are in Him, in the true Israel. So as we sang in the hymn, "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!" He does come to you this morning in His Word, in Absolution, and in the Holy Communion. He comes to assure you that the inheritance of Israel, the eternal promised land in heaven, is yours. So rejoice, O Israel, for Emmanuel has come, still comes, and will come again to bring our final salvation to completion on the Last Day. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.