Matthew 2:13-18

How's your geography? How's your geography? I'm not going to give you a quiz. I was really into geography. He's a geography teacher here. There's someone, I think, Naomi Lafroy is studying geography, some people doing A-level geography. Well, Matthew, the writer of the Gospel, he is really into geography, particularly in chapter 2. Matthew wants you to travel. Matthew wants you to get your map out. Get your sat map.

And he wants to take you to three places this morning. He wants to take you to Egypt, and to Bethlehem, and to Nazareth. And in each place, he wants to show you something about someone. Something about someone. And in each of these places, he's got history to tell you, like a good tour guide does. He touches an Old Testament prophecy. He wants to teach you theological geography.

So, first of all, we must visit Egypt. And when we visit Egypt, what Matthew shows us is he shows us the hope of God's people. We visit Egypt to see the hope of God's people. And he tells us about that in verses 13 to 15.

And especially how he tells us about how Mary, Joseph, and Mary and the child go to Egypt. Let me read them.

Now when they departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, rise, take the child and his mother. Note the order. It's not normal, is it?

Note who's got priority. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you.

Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.

And he remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Out of Egypt I called my son.

Now this isn't entirely straightforward, but he is quoting from Hosea, the Old Testament prophet Hosea chapter 11 and verse 1.

Hosea 11 · chapter mention

And it's hard to know exactly what it's got to do with Jesus.

Because if you go back to Hosea chapter 1, the whole verse reads.

Hosea 1 · chapter mention

So why don't you just come there? Hosea chapter 1 if you can find it.

Hosea 1 · chapter mention

Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah.

Hosea chapter 11.

Hosea 11 · chapter mention

And it says this, when Israel was a child, I loved him.

And out of Egypt I called my son.

So when you go to Matthew chapter 2,

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

the whole verse reads,

when Israel was a child, I loved him.

And out of Egypt I called my son.

But Hosea chapter 11 refers to Israel, doesn't it?

Hosea 11 · chapter mention

Not to Jesus.

So when Israel was young,

I called them out of Egypt, I called my son.

It's picking up on what God says in Exodus chapter 4, verse 22.

Exodus 4:22

Where God says,

Paul's Israel his son, his firstborn.

And again, what has that got to do with Jesus?

But hold the question.

Look with me at Hosea chapter 11, verse 2.

Hosea 11:2

It says this,

But the more they were called,

the more they went away from me.

They kept sacrificing to Baals,

and burning offerings to idols.

Again, what's that got to do with Jesus?

What is that talking about?

Well, it says the more they called them,

the more they kept going away from them.

The they's, God's prophets,

God's messengers, God's preachers,

the Lord's prophets,

they'd address the people of Israel,

and the more they addressed the people,

the nation of Israel,

and preached to them,

and the more they called them to faithfulness,

to come to God's ways,

the further the people of Israel went away from God.

They kept on sacrificing to Baal.

They kept on sacrificing to idols.

In other words,

what you have in Hosea chapter 11, verses 1 and 2,

Hosea 11:1

is really a mini history of Israel.

From the time they were called out of Egypt,

in the Exodus,

and then their history,

was one of sin,

and failure,

and rebelliousness,

and faithlessness,

to God.

And again,

what does all that got to do with Jesus?

Why does Matthew pick up this one liner from Hosea?

Out of Egypt,

I have called my son.

And it's because I think Matthew wants you and I to see a certain parallel

between Israel and Jesus.

So to recap on the history,

just like Jacob,

at the end of Genesis,

in chapter 46,

he goes down,

doesn't he,

into Egypt,

with all his family,

to get away from a famine

that was going to destroy his family.

And Jacob and his family went to Egypt,

and they found in Egypt a place of refuge.

So, in the same way,

the child Jesus is taken into Egypt.

Here, he is rescued from the sword of Herod.

And he finds in Egypt a place of refuge.

And just as now he is in Egypt,

he will eventually come out of Egypt,

in the same way that Israel came out of Egypt,

in the Exodus.

So Jesus will have an Exodus from Egypt,

when he eventually comes back to Palestine.

And just as Hosea,

Hosea 11:1

chapter 11, verses 1 and 2,

speaks of Israel when they were young.

So in chapter 2 of Matthew,

Jesus is young.

And he is as a child.

And just as Hosea 11 speaks of Israel as God's son,

so here Jesus is God's son,

as we'll find out.

So you see, don't you,

there's a certain parallel that you can see.

But Matthew not only wants you to see a parallel,

but a contrast,

as it were.

He is the new Israel.

He is the one true Israelite.

Jesus is the one who is retracing Israel's steps.

And so as he goes down to Egypt,

as a place in refuge,

and where he is as a youth,

as God's son,

will exit Egypt,

he will retrace Israel's history.

But what happened to Israel's history?

What does the mini Old Testament overview

of Hosea 11, verses 1 and 2 tell us?

Hosea 11:1

It tells us that the more they were called,

the more they went away.

They kept sacrificing offerings to Baal,

and burning offerings to idols.

Israel was a faithless son.

But Jesus will be a faithful son.

Jesus will begin a new history.

He will begin a new history of faithfulness,

and obedience,

and righteousness,

in contrast to Israel.

And that is why Matthew wants you to visit Egypt.

Because you will see in Egypt

the true, faithful Israelite,

who is the hope of God's people.

And you might say, so what?

What, after all, difference does it make

that Jesus is going to be

this faithful and obedient Israelite?

And actually, you need the rest

of the New Testament for this.

Because the difference that it makes

is this faithful and obedient

and righteous Jesus

can be credited to your account,

can be put to your account.

The New Testament is full

of a doctrine called

the doctrine of union with Christ.

Sometimes, in fact,

it speaks more often than this

about believers than any other phrase.

It speaks about being in Christ.

That is the way the New Testament

describes believers.

That if one is in Christ,

if one is placed into Christ

by faith,

if they trust and rest

in Christ alone,

then everything Jesus did,

and everything that Jesus does,

becomes yours.

I'm going to tell you,

I'm going to tell you,

the Scottish minister gave this

illustration,

I gave it to you before,

of a Frenchman who wanted

to become a British citizen.

This Frenchman,

he was attracted to the British

way of life,

to British food.

So he took the test,

he took his kind of

nationalisation papers,

whatever they're called,

and he went through the process

to become a British citizen.

And after he became

a British citizen,

he was asked,

how do you feel now?

What difference does it make

that you now are an Englishman?

And he replied,

well it means that instead

of losing the Battle of Waterloo,

I won it.

Because when he became

a British citizen,

all that Britain

had fought for and achieved,

and one became his.

And you see,

the faithful Jesus,

who is the faithful Israelite,

who in place of God's

faithless son Israel,

now is the new Israel.

Who will walk in faithfulness

and righteousness

and obedience to his Father.

And we are in him.

And that is when you are

united in my faith,

all of his righteousness

and all of his faithfulness

and all of his obedience

becomes yours.

That's why it's worth

going to Egypt.

You might ask,

where does my rebellion

and my failure go?

And if you've been in the service,

you know it,

don't you?

It goes onto the shoulders

of the Lord Jesus.

On the cross.

On the cross.

All my sin is laid on him.

Matthew says,

go to Egypt.

Matthew says,

come,

our next stop is Bethlehem.

We need to go to Bethlehem.

And you must visit Bethlehem.

And the reason you must visit Bethlehem

is because you need to see

in Bethlehem

the mystery of God's providence.

The mystery of

God's providence.

What does the word

providence mean?

Short Cascism tells us,

doesn't it?

What is God's works

of providence?

God's works of providence

are his most

holy,

wise,

powerful,

preserving

and governing

all his creatures

and all their actions.

It's that he's in control

of everything.

It's that there is nothing

outside of

God's control.

And so we go to Bethlehem

to see the mystery

of God's providence.

It's an amazing chapter

is that

we see

in verses 12

and 13

and 14

that the Lord

had given the direction

to major.

Start of chapter 2,

wise men.

Rest of chapter 2,

evil men.

Foolish men.

And the Lord

had given the direction

to the Magi,

the wise men

and he warned them,

don't go back to Herod.

And they go back

in a different route

and then the Lord

warns Joseph

in a dream again,

don't hang about

but take the child

and his mother

and go into Egypt

because Herod

is seeking to destroy

the child

and Joseph

evidently

he gets up,

he doesn't question,

he escapes

Bethlehem

to go to Egypt

and he leaves

no forwarding address.

They become

a fugitive family.

They become migrants,

they become refugees,

they're on the run.

And yet Herod

is outwitted again.

Herod is outwitted again

and Jesus is preserved.

And we look at chapter 2

and we say

isn't that amazing?

Isn't that the

marvellous providence

of God

in preserving

and governing

all his creatures

and all their actions?

the spectacular

providence

of God

in preserving

and protecting

the saviour

that was born.

And we say

isn't this amazing?

But what about

the parents?

What about

the parents

of the infant

toddlers

in Bethlehem?

In verse 16.

You've read that verse

of you.

And then Herod

when he saw

that he'd been

tricked by the wise men

became furious

and he sent

and killed

all the male children

in Bethlehem

and in all that region

who were two years old

or under.

according to the time

he'd ascertained

from the wise men.

What do you say

to those parents?

What message

do you bring them?

When all of a sudden

Herod's police

come bursting

into their home

three or four of them

they push the father

to the ground

they fling the mother

into a corner

they go into the nursery

and they turn it

into a butcher's shop

with blood everywhere.

What do you do

in another home?

A policeman

bursts in

through the door

this time

they don't even knock

he grabs the infant

from the breast

of his mother

and he rams a sword

right through it.

We don't know

how many babies

it might have been

it might have been 10

it might have been 15

for a child's size

it's bad for him.

But what do you say

to those parents?

As they simmer

in

helpless rage

and overflowing

grief

at what has happened

to their home?

Do we preach

to them

of the marvellous

amazing

providence of God?

No we don't do we

we talk about

the mysterious

providence of God.

And I want you

to see really clearly

that the Bible

places both of these

aspects of the

providence of God

the amazing

providence

and the mysterious

providence

side by side.

We look at the way

that Jesus is preserved

and we say

look at the

marvellous

providence of God.

Look how faithful

God is.

And then we see

the butchery

that Herod's men

do

and we say

there is

mystery here.

There is a

mysterious

providence

of God.

we say

how baffling

God is.

And we ask

the question

couldn't the

God who

preserved

the Lord

Jesus Christ

from Herod's

clutches

also kept

more than a

dozen children

from being

murdered

from the

jaws of

Herod?

Why?

Why did

God not do

something?

Why did

God allow

this?

We have to

say that we

in one sense

we have to

say that it

wasn't God's

fault

that those

babies were

killed.

We have to

affirm that

there is evil

in this world.

Herod

was a

murderous

vicious

tyrant.

he had

done it.

When we

think of

terrorist

attacks,

when we

think of

shootings

that take

place,

some of

the

disasters

that

happen,

we do

need to

look at

the

responsibility

of man.

The

fault of

human

beings.

We have

to say

that there

are men

and women

who do

evil.

And when

we say

why are

these things

allowed,

we have

to realise

there is

such a

thing as

evil.

There's

lots of

people who

don't

believe

that.

And there

are people

that do

evil things

and there

are evil

men and

evil women.

But with

all that,

the Bible

teaches and

this church

believes that

God is

sovereign.

We believe

that God

is in

control.

What are

the works

of God's

providence?

The works

of God's

providence are

wise and

most powerful

preserving all

his creatures

and all

their actions.

And so we

have to come

back and we

have to say,

don't we,

why does God

allow this?

Why did God

allow that?

And here we

are faced with

the mysterious

providence of

God.

And you and

I, we want to

get it all

together,

don't we?

We want to be

able to fit

this into a

nice, neat

package that

can be summarised

in a couple

of bullet

points.

Something that

we can handle

and we can

explain easily

to others.

And something

like this

situation is

very, very

difficult because

you have the

marvellous

providence of

God on the

one hand and

you have the

mysterious

providence of

God on the

other.

And I've

not got answers

for you this

morning.

But I want

you to notice

one thing

before we go

on.

Where is it

that we find

this question

raised about

why does

God allow

this?

You and

I need to

see that this

question jumps

off the pages

of the Bible.

It is the

Bible that

raises this

question.

The Bible

doesn't hide

it.

It is the

Bible that

presses the

issue home as

we carefully

read the

text.

It is the

Bible that

brings this

issue in

front of

your nose.

It is not

some sceptical

21st century

philosopher.

It is not

some angry

atheist that

suddenly realises

this as if

you've never

thought about

it before.

We don't

have to wait

for some

tragedy to

strike.

No, it is

raised in the

Bible.

It is raised

all over the

Bible.

The Bible is

the place where

this issue is

raised.

It spells it

out plainly.

The marvellous

and the

mysterious

providence of

God.

What an

honest book

the Bible is.

How can we

get perspective

on this?

Matthew says

that the

incident is a

fulfilment of

prophecy.

Verse 18,

can you see

that verse?

That comes

from Jeremiah

Jeremiah 31:15

31 verse 15.

And Matthew

takes that text

from Jeremiah

Jeremiah 31:15

31 verse 15

about Rachel,

Jacob's wife,

and Jeremiah's

prophecy in

verse 31.

and in verse

15 he

pictures Rachel

personified.

And Rachel is

weeping and

mourning and

wailing over her

children.

Who is her

children?

Well, in

Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

31 it's either

the northern

kingdom of

Israel being

taken into

captivity to

Assyria or

it's the southern

kingdom going

into captivity

in Babylon.

it's her

children being

taken away to

captivity.

But Rachel,

the mother of

Israel, is

weeping over

her sons and

daughters because

they're being

carted off into

exile.

And she refuses

to be consoled.

She refuses to

be comforted

because she says

at the end of

verse 18,

they are no

more.

What has that

got to say?

It's interesting

when you look at

Jeremiah chapter

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

31, that

verse 15 of

Jeremiah 31 is

the only negative

verse in the

whole of the

chapter.

If you break

Jeremiah 31 up

into the sections

that it should be

broken up into,

it comes to 10

sections of

prophecy, of

speaking the word

of the Lord,

of prediction.

And every one

of those sections

is positive and

helpful, even

joyful and

tone.

And this is

the point.

When the New

Testament cites

a verse from

a chapter in

the Old

Testament, which

they frequently

do, they

frequently cite

one-liners,

they expect you

to look at the

whole of the

Old Testament

chapter.

They expect you

to look at that

little verse in

the Old Testament

but look at the

context which it

comes in.

And after

Jeremiah states

this about

Rachel and

weeping for

her children,

the answer to

it comes from

Yahweh, the

God of Israel

in the next

line.

So let me

read it to

you.

Jeremiah 31.

this is what it

says.

Thus says the

Lord, keep your

voice from

weeping and

your eyes from

tears, for

there is a

reward for

your work,

declares the

Lord.

And they

shall come back

from the land

of the enemy.

There is hope

for your

future.

future.

Do you see

what God is

saying?

God is

saying, and

it doesn't

take all the

pain away, it

really doesn't.

It doesn't take

all the pain

away on the

spot, but

what the

Lord is

saying, look,

you think

that you can

write finished

over, over

the history of

Israel.

But in those

moments, he

says, keep

your eyes

from tears.

they will

come back

from the

land of

your enemy

and there

is hope

for your

future.

And Matthew

takes that

over.

And what

does he want

us to hear?

He wants us

to see that

just as again

in Bethlehem,

Rachel and

Israel come

into awful

suffering, this

situation.

Yet there

is hope.

There is

hope for

the grieving

parents of

their sons

in their

son, the

firstborn

son.

And even

afreshly, God's

people are a

suffering people,

aren't we?

And the

message of

Jeremiah still

holds that even

though God's

people are a

suffering people,

they are not a

hopeless people.

And the

path of

God's

kingdom is

wet with

tears.

There's no

avoiding that.

Jesus says,

marvel, don't

marvel not if

the world

hates you.

And he's

saying to you

very, very

clearly this

morning, there

is this

mysterious

providence of

God.

God.

And what we

do then is

we live by

faith beneath

the mysterious

providence of

God.

And it

means that we

don't, we

refuse to

bring up

simple, easy

answers for

such issues so

that they can be

made rosy and

cosy again.

And as God

preserved the

infant

stevia from

the knives of

Herod, even

in our weeping

and our tears

and our anguish

over strange

providence, he

still says to

you and I,

there is hope.

There is hope.

There's hope for

your future.

Matthew wants

to take you to

Bethlehem.

And then he

wants to take

you to

Nazareth.

He wants to

take you to

Nazareth to

see the

humiliation of

God's son.

Nazareth is

his third

stop in

verses 19

to 23.

Joseph wants

to go back

to Judah,

probably to

Bethlehem again,

but he finds

out that,

what's he

called,

Alcalaus or

whatever, is

ruling in the

place of his

father Herod,

and like

father, like

son.

And he

doesn't want

to go back

there, so

being warned

in a dream,

he goes up

north to

Galilee, and

it says he

settled there,

doesn't it?

He settled

there in a

city called

Nazareth, so

that what was

spoken by the

prophets might

be fulfilled,

and he would

be called a

Nazarene.

Now, why

this place?

Why all this

festival of

Nazareth?

Notice he

says, so what

was spoken by

the prophets,

he doesn't

just cite one

particular one,

so you don't

have an exact

quote to find,

but he

will be

called a

Nazarene.

Matthew says,

why all the

fuss, why

worry about

that?

The word

Nazar means

branch, there's

an illusion I

think to

Hebrews 11,

you know Hebrews

11, do you

remember that?

The tree that

is cut down

on a stump,

there's a

stump in the

field and a

root will come

out of

Jesse, and

that is a

fulfillment of

this, he will

be called a

Nazarene, but

what is all

this fuss

about it?

Nazareth had a

bad reputation,

as did

Galilee in

general.

The folk

down south

around Jerusalem,

the kind of

more true

blue Jews,

who had a

more straight

base Judaism,

they always

looked with a

sceptical eye

on Galilee.

Galilee was

regarded with

contempt.

There was a

saying, if you

want to get

rich, go

north, and

if you want

to get wise,

go south.

north around

Galilee, that

was where the

trade was.

The south

was the

study of

the law

of God.

And they

were saying

you can't

be prosperous

and pious.

Galilee was

more open to

outside influences,

more interaction

with pagans,

they were less

strict in their

religious

observances.

True Jews

regarded Galilee,

that area, with a

kind of quizzical

look.

And Nazareth in

particular.

even other

Galileans seem

to regard

Nazareth with

repose.

So in

John's Gospel,

Nathaniel from

Cana in

Galilee, when

he was told

that the

Messiah was

from Nazareth,

he said,

what are you

kidding me?

Can anything

good come out

of Nazareth?

And that's

why Matthew

has to explain

this.

How can you

have someone

who is really

the Messiah

coming from

such a rotten

place like

Nazareth?

I'm trying

to think

the

first one's

ridiculous.

But when I

was growing up,

two years before

I went to

my high school,

the Welsh

school,

Astrol

Goven

Goir,

took and

were given

our lower

school.

And I

think it's

fair to

say the

school I

went to,

Gowden

Comprehensive,

hated Astrol

Goven

Goir.

As far as I

was aware,

we had never

lost a rugby

game to them.

It was

unthinkable.

We treated

them with

absolute

disgust.

And you

always knew

that no

matter who

you played

in rugby

during the

year,

there was

always one

game you

would win,

Astrol Goven

Goir.

I can't

stand them

even now,

really.

We looked

down on

them.

John

Hartson

went to

Astrol Goven

Goir,

that kind

of person.

And what

Matthew is

saying is

Jesus grew

up in

Astrol Goven

Goir.

And the

reaction that

I had as

a teenager

to that

school,

that is the

reaction people

had towards

somebody in

Nazareth.

Can't you

have a

Messiah who

was a

little bit

more class

than to

grow up and

live in a

place like

that?

And he

had to

explain to

Jews who

would be

offended and

have a

problem with

that.

And that

is why

Matthew

goes to

the problem

and he

says,

wait a

minute,

there was a

line in

prophecy,

people saw

those things

as mutually

exclusive.

They thought

you can't

have a

Messiah,

God's

chosen king

who comes

from Nazareth.

It would be

like saying

the Pope

is a

Presbyterian,

you can't

have those

things,

it can't

be.

And Matthew

says,

but that's

what's

prophesied

in God's

word.

That the

Messiah would

really have

humble

associations.

Do you

see God's

humility?

Let me

read to

you from

J.C.

Ryle.

In

Nazareth,

the Lord

Jesus lived

thirty years.

It was

there he

grew up,

from infancy

to childhood,

from childhood

to boyhood,

and from

boyhood to

youth,

and from

youth to

man's

estate.

We know

little of

the manner

in which

those thirty

years are

spent.

That he

was subject

to Mary

and Joseph

were expressly

told.

That he

worked in

the carpenter

shop with

Joseph is

highly

probable.

We only

know that

almost five

sixth of

the time

that the

saviour of

the world

was on

earth,

was passed

among the

poor of

this world,

and passed

in complete

retirement.

Truly this

was humility.

Let us learn

wisdom from

our saviour's

example.

We are,

most of us,

far too

ready to

seek great

things in

this world.

Let us

seek them

not.

To have a

place,

a title,

a position

in society

is not

nearly so

important as

people think.

It is a

great sin

to be

covetous,

and worldly

and proud,

but it is

no sin to

be poor.

It matters

not so much

what money we

have and

where we

live as

what we

are in

the sight

of God.

Where are

we going

when we

die?

Shall we

live forever

in heaven?

These are the

main things

to which we

should attend.

I was in

McDonald's on

Friday,

I know it

was the

day of

fasting,

but I

ended up

studying at

the moment

so I'm

working in

different

coffee shops

and you

tend to

get to

mid-afternoon

and even

McDonald's

coffee tastes

good.

So I was

in there,

working away

and not

eating,

I promise

you.

It was a

remarkable

afternoon

really,

in that I

don't know

how it

happened,

but a

fight broke

out between

two girls.

One was a

Polish girl

and one

was a

Somali

girl.

I don't

know what

was said,

but it

erupted

very,

very quickly.

And the

words,

if I can

omit the

expletives,

are,

what are

you looking

at me,

you Polish?

To which

the response

was,

off you,

Somali

girl.

It's

quite weird,

I looked

around and

kind of

everybody was

just working,

well not working

normally,

but eating

there,

whatever it

is.

And it

struck me

doesn't it,

that both

immediately

went to

where they're

from,

and addressed

each other's

home country

with hate

and shame.

And both

were alleging

they are

outsiders who

don't belong.

And here

you have

Jesus,

don't you?

The

Messiah,

the Son

of God,

with humble,

shameful,

hated roots.

Do you

see how

Jesus is

willing to

stoop and

take the

lowest place?

I don't

know where

you're from.

I don't

know what

your background

is,

maybe you're

ashamed.

Maybe you

feel an

outsider,

even the

church.

But do you

see how

your saviour

is not

ashamed to

be smeared

with the

scummy name

of Nazareth.

And this

is our

encouragement

there.

That if

you have

in your

saviour a

fugitive,

a migrant,

a refugee,

who grew

up in a

despised

village,

do you

think that

maybe,

just maybe,

he might

be able to

understand you?

because the

centre of

this passage,

the centre

of Luke

Luke 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

is a

child.

And amidst

all the

geography,

what Matthew

wants to

show you

is a

child.

And don't

take your

eyes on

him.

And Matthew

says everywhere

he went,

he was a

fulfilment of

scripture.

Spurgeon

wrote,

our prince

steps along

a pathway

paved with

prophecies.

And he

is one

who is

humble.

And he

is one

who is

able to

take the

lowest

place.

Go to

Egypt.

Go to

Bethlehem.

Go to

Nazareth.

Let's

pray.

Heavenly

Father,

we thank

you for

your

word.

We thank

you that

though there

were many

human

writers,

there is

one

writer.

The

Holy

Spirit

inspires

men

who

wrote

your

word.

We thank

you that

the

author

of

scripture

is

God.

And as

we see

the

Old

Testament

and how

it

connects,

Lord,

and is

fulfilled in

your Son,

the Lord

Jesus Christ,

we marvel at

your wisdom.

We marvel at

your grace

and your

power.

We thank

you that

there is

hope.

There is

hope for

the grieving.

There is

hope for

the mourning.

we thank

you that

the Lord

Jesus is

your

firstborn

son,

that where

we have

failed,

he has

succeeded,

where Israel

was disobedient,

he was

obedient,

he is

your

faithful

son.

And we

thank you

that Christ

is not

ashamed to

call us

brothers.

We thank

you that

he came

from the

highest to

live amongst

the despised.

may we

never think

more of

ourselves

than we

are

Lord.

May we

rejoice that

there is a

welcome even

for us,

for people

like us.

For we

pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.