Christmas I Reflection: God of refuge

A reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew,

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ 

 ---

Some preachers enjoy nothing better than debunking the sanitised Christmas depicted on cards and in our carols (‘But Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.’  Really?!).  It is, perhaps, a bit Scrooge-like not to allow ourselves a moment of warmth and wonder at the birth of Christ.  Yes, the conditions were squalid, but every birth is a great and mighty wonder, and, while fear and fragility are never far away, we shouldn’t miss the magical newness, the sheer sense of promise that this newborn evokes.  

However, in Matthew’s gospel the Magi are barely out of the door before Joseph receives the message of danger.  They must flee. Adjusting to parenthood is surely hard enough, even when you’ve had time to prepare the nursery and organised your shared parental leave.  The last thing you need is political instability, raging egos in the public square, and violence and turmoil all around.  

The Holy Family seek asylum in Egypt as refugees, in a place where they presumably had no right to be. The contemporary issue of immigration is clearly nothing new. Jesus was not immune from the politics of his time, not even as an infant.  It would challenge and threaten him throughout his ministry and eventually bring him to the Cross; that great and mighty wonder through which we are welcomed into the Kingdom where we have no right to be, but where God gladly welcomes us.