Matthew 2:13-15
"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."
We like to skip this part. It does not fit the Christmas card aesthetic. The angels have sung. The shepherds have visited. The Magi have brought their gifts. Everything is warm and golden and peaceful. And then Herod enters the story. A paranoid, power-hungry king who feels threatened by the news of a newborn rival. A man who would rather slaughter innocent children than risk losing his throne.
Herod ordered the death of every boy in Bethlehem two years old and under. Think about that. The first response to Jesus' birth from the world's power structure was violence. Mothers screaming. Fathers weeping. A town drenched in blood. This is the world Jesus was born into. Not a peaceful winter night. A world where power protects itself by killing the vulnerable. And it has not changed much since.
But God. God warned Joseph in a dream. Get up. Take the child and His mother. Run. Do it tonight. Do not wait. Do not pack. Just go. And Joseph went. He took his family into the night, into exile, into Egypt, the very land where Israel had been enslaved centuries before. God sent His Son to the place of bondage to show that no place is beyond His reach. He would be a refugee. He would know what it means to flee for your life. He would identify with the displaced, the hunted, the terrified parents running through the dark with a baby in their arms.
I think about the families running right now. The ones leaving everything behind because staying means death. The ones crossing borders with nothing but a child and a prayer. The ones who feel the boots on the stairs and know they have minutes to decide. Jesus knows. He was one of them. God did not send His Son to a safe neighborhood. He sent Him into danger. And when danger came, God did not remove it. He provided a way through it.
That is how God works most of the time. He does not always prevent the storm. He walks us through it. He does not always stop Herod. He gives us legs to run. He does not always explain the suffering. He enters it. The flight to Egypt is not a detour from God's plan. It is part of it. Hosea would write, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." Even the escape was prophesied. Even the running was part of the rescue.
"Get up, take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt."
If you are running right now, I see you. And God sees you. He saw Mary and Joseph in the dark on the road to Egypt and He was with them. He is with you too. Your flight is not a sign of His absence. It is part of His protection. Keep moving. Keep trusting. The God who led His Son through the valley of the shadow of death will lead you through yours. And on the other side, there is a home waiting.
With the nineteenth candle burning through the dark, I am running with the Holy Family and trusting the God who leads refugees home. Claire