Following after Jesus #2

Just as the wisemen followed the star to find their way to Jesus, we have begun following after Jesus, Who was taken by his parents to safety in Egypt, to avoid the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. Matthew 2 continues:

 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Joseph was entrusted with the safety and well-being of God's Son.  Parenting our own children has enough challenges of its own. Imagine the pressure Joseph must have had. Again, Joseph has learned to listen to the instructions God gives. He heads back with his family to Israel, but the closer he gets, the more uneasy he becomes, because the new king, Archelaus was just as cruel as his father had been, only more erratic and unpredictable. Again God sends him a dream, so Joseph goes to the outskirts of Israel, 70 miles away from Jerusalem to Nazareth. There they lived on the fringe, but they were safe from craziness. In all of these travels, Joseph was fulfilling prophecy about the Messiah. But I really don't think that was going through his mind at the time; Matthew is able to step back and see that for us. Joseph was obeying God one step at a time.  That's what we are called on to do in following Jesus: take one step at a time. In may not make sense at the time, but one day we will be able to look back and see the path and how it fits in God's plan.