19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. 23 He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
Reflection
Few Christians spend much time reading these verses about the life of that young boy, Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph. We tend to merge the birth stories of Matthew and Luke, ignoring the fact that these two birth stories are more mythological than factual. In our verses from yesterday, Sunday, January 4, Matthew 2:1-18, and our verses for today, Matthew 2:19-23, we merge the actual happenings of King Herod, giving substance and anchoring the birth and
early childhood of Jesus in history. For the first years of Jesus’ life, he and his parents were refugees in Egypt to avoid the mass slaughter of babies in Israel. A few years later, after the death of King Herod, his kingdom was divided among his three sons. Some of this land was more favorable than others to those of David’s lineage. Hence the eventual home of Jesus and family in Bethlehem, which is David’s hometown. There are prophetic passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that indicate a strong desire on the part of many Jewish people for the restoration of the Davidic kingdom of Israel, which King Herod referenced in Matthew 2:6.
What caught my attention in today’s passage was the image of young Jesus and his family as refugees fleeing from Israel to Egypt to escape his death. The juxtaposition of contemporary images of immigrants today being rounded up by ICE in the United States remind me that refugees have been with the world for thousands of years as people run from war and seek a better life for their families. There are as many reasons to become a refugee as there are people who leave home in search of basic needs, security, and well-being for their children. Those of us who have grown up and raised a family in the United States have little or no concept of the life of a refugee. When Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned to Bethlehem, Jesus grew into the man we emulate and follow. We have no real idea what a challenging life Jesus encountered in his brief ministry. God bless today’s refugees, especially the children, as God did for Jesus so that they, like he, might grow into an adult.
by Kathleen Stolz
For Pondering and Prayer
As a reminder that God has a way of hitting us over the head with what I call a “God-incident” I am currently reading a novel for a book club by author Christy Lefteri called “THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO”. It takes place during the Syrian civil war which began in 2011 and lasted almost 14 years. One of the recommendations for this novel resonates with me as I feel both horror and empathy. Benjamin Zephaniah, author of “REFUGEE BOY,” writes “Every character is fully formed, every word is perfectly placed, and every emotion is fully expressed. This novel speaks to so much that is happening in the world today. It is intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant, and also accessible. I am recommending this book to everyone I care about.” I second that
recommendation!
**What are your true feelings about immigration?
**What do you know about your own family’s immigration to the United States?
Have a conversation with someone about immigration.
**I encourage you to check the internet for a song called “Deportee” written by Woody Guthrie that was inspired by what he considered the racist mistreatment of the passengers of a plane wreck in 1948 in Los Gatos Canyon. The crash resulted in the deaths of 32 people, 4 Americans and 28 migrant farm workers who were being deported from California back to Mexico.
Prayer: The lyrics to “DEPORTEE” are used as today’s Closing Prayer:
Gracious God, The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are filed in their creosote dumps.
They’re flying ’em back to the Mexico border
To take all their money to wade back again.
My father’s own father, he waded that river
They took all the money he made in his life.
It’s six hundred miles to the Mexico border
And they chased them like rustlers, like outlaws, like thieves.
Goodbye to my Juan, farewell Roselita
Adios mes amigos, Jesus e Maria
You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportees.
Amen.
