What was the impact of the birth of Christ on the people around him? The shepherds ran to tell everyone what they had seen. The wise men came from afar to worship him. But there was one man who felt particularly threatened by Jesus–King Herod. When the wise men 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.’ (Matthew 2:13) King Herod was particularly paranoid when it came to his rule. He even had his own family members killed when he sensed a plot to dethrone him. He told the wise men that he also wanted to worship the child, but he had a more treacherous intent. Even today there are followers of Christ in Africa being hunted down and killed because they are viewed as a threat to the powers that be.
“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.’” (Matt. 2:14-15) Joseph responded immediately to the angel’s warning and took his family to Africa where they became refugees for a time. I imagine that current refugees in Africa take solace in the fact that Jesus understands what it’s like to be on the run because of their faith.
“When Herod realized 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.” (Matt. 2:16) Can you imagine what kind of impact that order would have on our own community here? My own grandson would be one of those who would be killed simply for being a boy under two. I can’t comprehend the pain that the families must have felt! “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.’” (Matt. 2:17-18) This is part of the birth narrative of Jesus that doesn’t seem to fit on a greeting card or in a Christmas carol. Still it happened that way and the Bible doesn’t sugar coat it. Sometimes when the light breaks into the darkness, the darkness tries to fight it. Praise the Lord that the child Jesus was spared in Egypt so he could later be called to the cross at Calvary!
