When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’ When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’
Matthew 2:13-18 NIVUK
In many Bible stories there are deep, challenging truths that we skim over and don’t want to talk about. This is one of them.
The Massacre of the Innocents doesn’t sit well with our greetings-card-perfect view of Christmas. Firstly, of course, because it’s a barbaric attempt at genocide just to strengthen the grip of a desperate leader. We prefer not to talk about that. It shows an aspect of human nature that we all would rather didn’t exist.
But secondly because it cuts right to the heard of the right-wing, ultra-nationalist conservatism that is prevalent in some churches.
So let me explain the heart-rending, difficult truth here.
Mary and Joseph have been warned in a dream that it isn't safe for them in Bethlehem anymore, now that the Magi have been. They are told to flee for their lives.
They realise they have to go somewhere out of the reach of both the Jewish and Herod. So they travelled to another country under Roman rule, but led by someone else – they went to Egypt.
When they arrived in Egypt, what would they have found?
Well, there would have been a small community of Jews who had been there since the Exile.
But other than that, they would be in a country that spoke a different language, wrote in a different way and worshipped different Gods. This was, in every possible way, a foreign country.
Many of us recall the long column of refugees who fled from Syria and Iraq across Europe when war broke out in these countries. We recall the hand-wringing condemnation from certain quarters, as well as the fear-mongering and posturing from those who had no desire to see an influx of people with a different coloured skin and with a different culture landing on their doorstep.
There is an ancient Jewish law that is completely relevant here:
‘Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 NIVUK
In other words, if you have experienced what it feels like to flee for your life, why would you mistreat those who are only doing what you did?
But Jesus’ flight to Egypt gives us another perspective on this troublesome issue:
How can we mistreat those who have fled the way Jesus did?
Thinking about the Christmas story should do more than just make us all warm and fuzzy and grateful inside. It should also challenge us in the same way His coming disturbed both the Roman and Jewish authorities in His day.
Jesus was not recognised for who He was when He was born. He spent time as a refugee and asylum seeker in Egypt. He knows, way better than most of us, how it feels.
This must have an impact on how we react towards those in a similar position.
Questions
What do you think about refugees and asylum seekers? What is your attitude towards them?
How does the reality that Jesus had to escape to Egypt to save His life make you feel?
How has this meditation challenged your thoughts towards those who’ve had to escape to save their lives?
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