Matthew 2 :13-23
After the departure of the Magi, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 Joseph rose, took the night the little boy and his mother, and departed into Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod's death, to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.
16 When Herod saw played by the Magi, his fury was extreme, he slew all the children two years and below who were in Bethlehem and its territory, from the time he had ascertained from the magi. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 A vote was is heard in Ramah, Tears and much lamentation: It is Rachel weeping for her children, she would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 After the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 and said, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and return to the land of Israel, because those who sought the young child's life are dead. 21 Joseph rose, took the child and his mother and entered the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there, and divinely warned in a dream he withdrew into the territory of Galilee 23 came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: He shall be called a Nazarene.
Is it possible that God saves his son from the clutches of the tyrant Herod even at the cost of exile and let the despot's henchmen kill innocent children? You can not read this without that ask this question. The answer that comes immediately to mind is that this is consistent with Scripture. But this explanation does not satisfy us. For anyone who has a regular practice of Biblical texts, a more complex response comes quickly to mind. It seems obvious that these events are related to events that have shaped Israel's history in the past.
Indeed, it is a massacre of innocent children that begins the story of Moses who is the founding father of Israel. By order of the reigning pharaoh at the time, all young male children were to be thrown into the Nile waters to reduce the population of the Hebrews that were becoming too numerous. Moses was saved by two women, his mother locked him in a basket she gave to the river and the daughter of Pharaoh, who took the child and raised him as his son.
In this Gospel, we are told that Jesus child was saved by Joseph, who took him into exile in Egypt, as if the story would suggest that with Jesus the people of Israel would revive a new history of liberation. If this explanation gives new meaning to the story in connection with tradition, it does not justify the massacre of innocent children, even if the story of a 
killing of children is part of the founding narratives of the people of Israel.
could way out of trouble imagining that the story of the massacre is an addition that would have made to paste the text after the fact with tradition. But on reflection the argument does not hold. Indeed, when usual elements are added to the original text, but rather to mitigate violence or to give details giving in the wonderful, but not in the sordid.
It also said that the event has not really occurred because historians, apart from the author of the Gospel of Matthew do not relate . That does not mean that the story is not historical . Herod was a rather cruel to have ordered such a massacre, which, given the small number of child victims, could pass unnoticed among the other forfeitures made by the king.
So there is no argument that can really avoid the event or even to deny it. If this account of the massacre small children was reported to us, is that was indeed the intention of Matthew provoke us our reflection. It is the event of the birth of Jesus in a world of violence was one in which Jesus came into the world despite all the wonderful that is the visit of the Magi.
This violent and unjust world is also consistent with ours. Abuses still exist and innocent people are not spared the harsh times. So in a world where the widow and orphans are not protected and where the weak are victims of the strongest that Matthew began to brush our salvation history. This is not the cruel act of the king who ordered that the children are passed to the sword which challenges us, but the fact that Jesus was saved thanks to the vigilance of God, so that vigilance will has not exerted to save other children.
In fact, if Jesus had not escaped, the story of redemption had not occurred. If Jesus had died in the turmoil of a pogrom, we would not gathered in this place to celebrate his birth! Nevertheless, the question posed at the outset of this text remains relevant. Why did God not spared other children? Why has he sent his angel to Joseph, not all fathers to the children involved? This same "why" arises whenever a disaster, some have saved lives and others lost. God Has the criteria of its own to speak in favor of some and not others?
On this point, which can not be a detail here, we'll stop. It has vital importance and the answer we will give it no doubt will enlighten our faith. This story takes a value liberating if we receive it in a constructive manner. We begin by remembering that Joseph received three times the visit of the angel. Each time the visit occurred in the same way.
Every time Joseph was asleep when he was tormented by the situation he faced, then it is an angel tells him what to do. At the first visit, Joseph had learned that his girlfriend was pregnant and he wondered how he could divorce her. In the second case is one that we have a problem here , the Magi and Joseph were to leave no doubt wondered about the way What were the events take. During the third visit, King Herod had died and Joseph wondered if he should return to Palestine. 
In the Gospel of Luke the angel visiting Zacharias and Mary has a name, Gabriel. It delivers a message to one as to another and enter into discussion with them. It really appears as a celestial character. In Matthew, this is not the case. The angel has a different presence. It occurs only in the choice good solution that seeks Joseph in his questioning. It does not offer a message of God per se, but he shared the concern of Joseph.
It is as if Joseph, absorbed by his concern and worry was descended into himself, into a deep meditation to manage his face thinking to himself and ponder the situation. It is in his inner, intense meditation in God becomes present to him in the form of the angel. That's when the thought of Joseph and lights that takes the decision according to the divine wisdom .
Matthew does not actually say that God is the partner of Joseph in the inner struggle he has with himself, but it still happens. God then allows Joseph to make the right decision. Joseph did not sit waiting for God to do a miracle for him. The intervention of God only served to guide his decision to make it good. Joseph was so absorbed in his inner reflection that seemed asleep as he focused on himself.
Thus, after the first visit of the angel Joseph wisely decided not to separate himself from Mary. During the second visit, he is troubled by the consequences the visit of the Magi not gone unnoticed at the palace. Joseph feared the wrath of Herod. Sure there will be retaliation, he'd rather go in haste in taking her own
Can we then say that God saved Jesus and he left the other children die? Certainly not. If God played a role in history because he helped Joseph in prayer to see clearly in his situation. God did not make a miracle, he helped the thinking of Joseph.
It occurs in the same way in the life of every believer when he prays to God to help them to identify in a confused state. When we trust God and hopefully it will have enough wisdom to us that the solution chosen allows the situation to change hopefully! So when Joseph questions about what to do after the death of the king, God help again, for the third intervention of the angel to take stock of the situation policy and make a wise decision which makes choosing the Galilee instead of Judea as the land back because the king appears to be milder than in Judea.
We 
described in this case how prayer could open up a miracle, made by man, when one who puts all requests his trust in God. Thus God illuminates the events of his presence and directs choice of men to the right solutions. Joseph us presented here as the type of thinking that leaves God guide his thinking so that it makes the right choices. God does not intervene in the world by spectacular miracles, but by the action of humans who know find the wisdom of God by standing before him in prayer.
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