Now here is what is ironic about the whole situation. Everything that happened to Jesus in the midst of this trial positioned Him to fulfill prophecy. As God brought Israel, His son, in a corporate sense, out of Egypt. This trial was the set up for Jesus, the new representative of Israel, to come out of Egypt, thus re-living their history. Three times Matthew says in this one story alone, “That it might be fulfilled…” “That it might be fulfilled…” “That it might be fulfilled…” This is one of the central themes of the book of Matthew, that everything that is happening in the life of Jesus is actually Him fulfilling prophecy as the Messiah. Nothing is just happening to Jesus. And its the same thing with you...

As Joseph begins to wake up out of his dream it becomes clear that it’s not enough to just listen. The text seems to imply that Joseph was sleeping at night and the moment he got up from the dream, he took Mary and Jesus and left for Egypt. You see at some point we’ve got to go beyond just listening to what the Lord is saying. We’ve actually got to do what He says. Because to make it through your trial you’ve got to …

Let’s face it. Sometimes life is hard. Life has a way of throwing you some curveballs that, in the moment, seem impossible to get through. One moment things are going well and it may feel like your having a mountain top experience. Then you get some bad news, or you get laid off, that special someone breaks up with you or maybe you get a bad diagnosisand suddenly you find yourself in the valley low of that thing we call trials.