Submission to the King

1. Read verses 13-15. What action is the angel asking Joseph to take and how does he respond? Look closely at the verbs in verses 13 and 14 to see how quickly Joseph responds to the angels warning. Why do you think Joseph was able to respond so quickly, and do you think that seeing the faithfulness of God to this point had anything to do with it? Take note of the fact that to this point in Matthew it is not just a one-time act of obedience by Joseph, but instead continued obedience and faithfulness to trust God’s plan. Would you be willing to respond with this same type of obedience? Why or why not?

2. Read verses 16-18. Why did Herod wish to have Jesus killed? What do you think this says about Herod’s heart that he would order for all of the babies in the village to be killed? Take some time to think about how evil his heart, and the hearts of all men without Jesus are, that he would wish to kill an infant because he felt threatened. What do you think this tragedy says about the ability of God to bring redemption out of something so terrible? Whenever seemingly unthinkable things happen in your life, do you find it easy to remember that God really is in control of all things and has a plan?

3. Read verses 19-23. In this passage we see Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus out of Egypt. However, Nazareth would not have been a place where earthly kings would have come from. What do you think this says about Jesus that he came from somewhere so humble? Think about this in light of the fact that earthly kings hated him, even as an innocent baby.

4. Take some time to review this passage. What attribute of God sticks out to you from this passage? How does a better understanding of this attribute change the way you walk with Him?