The New Exodus

Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Matthew 3:13-17

Torah, the five books of Moses, has been the foundation for all belief and practice of the people of God for centuries. With time, the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures were compiled to become what Christians call today the Old Testament. We must never forget that the Hebrew Scriptures are “the bible Jesus read.” Jesus’ favorite book, according to the references to scripture noted in the gospels, was the book of Deuteronomy. During his temptation Jesus quoted this book three times from memory, preceded by the famous saying “It is written…” No serious Christian theologian or bible scholar would suggest the Hebrew Scriptures are unimportant or irrelevant to the followers of Jesus today.

The Torah was of utmost importance to Matthew. The narratives of Genesis and Exodus were assimilated by Matthew’s memory to such an extent that they show unmistakably as a sub narrative of his gospel. Joseph the dreamer, angelic visitations and announcements, the flight to Egypt and the unrepentant King ordering the killing of the infants are all themes common to Torah and Matthew. A writer of fiction would have gone farther and actually arrange his narrative to mirror step by step the old stories of Moses. But Matthew writes as a witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, so he serves the gospel story faithfully; the similarities to Torah show like recognizable scenery and background resonances, like the drum beat that keeps the parade in step.

When Matthew’s story moves south (from Nazareth in “Galilee of the gentiles” to the waters of the south Jordan River in Judah) we perk up like eager children: “Tell us another Torah story, Matthew!” And Matthew does. For after the “Son” (the name Son was commonly used by the Hebrews as a metonym for the People of God) went to Egypt, and the murderous King persecuted the Son, Moses stood before the waters of the Red Sea and Yahweh opened a way for the Son to pass through. The man in the water is John the Baptist, calling people not to Baptism but to repentance. Baptism was the outer sign of the inner attitude of the heart. People who seek the outer sign without the inner repentance are chastised. God is not like the pagan gods that must be impressed with our performance; The God of Israel does not bargain with human merit. But Jesus’ inner attitude shines through with such power that the necessity for repentance and the outer sign of baptism are ridiculously unnecessary. After a brief dialogue by the water, John acquiesces and glory breaks upon the water. Through this episode recorded by Matthew we recognize what actually happened hundreds of years ago by the Red Sea: The leader of the people, staff in hand, humbly waited for Yahweh to go before the Son, that is to say, his people. Jesus, resplendent with God’s glory, goes through the waters inaugurating a New Exodus for his people. And Jesus, the Son of God, is Yahweh parting the waters: He is making a way for you and for me to become the Son, his people, and follow him. What could be more glorious than that?