Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Well… by now we start looking at the remainder of 2021 in hours, not days, right? What will the last few hours of this tumultuous year be for you? How will 2021 be remembered in your life story? Are there things you can do, in these last two days, to repair any torn relationships, correct any misunderstandings, make right any wrongs, so that you will step into 2022 with as clean a slate as possible?
This week we’ve been looking at the journey AFTER the miraculous Christmas event, and yesterday I left you in Bethlehem with Joseph, Mary and toddler Jesus. Jesus was by then about 1 year old. The “Magi” visit had happened, leaving Joseph and Mary wondering about it all, and looking at three gifts these foreign visitors had left behind which were simply amazing. What did it all mean? How do they explain it to their neighbors?
They didn’t have long to wonder about these things for Matthew tells us: “When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up, 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.” (Matt. 2:13) May I point out something important? Did you notice the angel referred to infant Jesus as “the child and his mother”? Why did the angel not say, “your son”? I think it was a reminder to Joseph that he was entrusted by God to be guardian and adoptive father to Jesus, but Jesus was NOT his blood son. No sinful nature had passed from Joseph to Jesus through the conception process. Joseph must steward, very carefully, this huge privilege of raising the Son of God here on earth! If you are a Dad or Grandad, do you understand the privilege and role you have in raising, teaching, training, mentoring, your children, especially sons?
One of the most damaging problems around the world, especially in America these days, is fatherlessness. It comes in many forms… absentee fathers spending way too much time at work or with their buddies instead of their families. Or how about fathers who have simply abandoned their children, leaving them to their mother’s care and responsibility. Or how about abusive fathers? Or sadly, how about incarcerated fathers or addicted fathers or deceased fathers? Few things are contributing to the dysfunctionality of our societies more than absentee fathers! By God’s design the male role of ‘father’ is vitally important to children! I urge all of us who have that father or grandfather role to take it very seriously and lead our families in God honoring ways!
Yesterday I told you Herod was a paranoid egomaniac! Anytime he felt his throne or authority was in the least bit threatened, he lashed out in anger and often killed people. Matthew explains why the angel warned Joseph to act quickly and flee Bethlehem: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and gave orders to kill all the baby 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)
“So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. (Matt. 2:14)
Now don’t rush past this remarkable scene my friends. We’ve all seen pictures of fleeing refugees in many parts of the world over the past several years, haven’t we? Some fleeing bombs and bullets, others fleeing drug cartels, others fleeing religious persecution, others fleeing abject poverty and starvation. It should be quite easy for us to envision this site, as Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus head out of Bethlehem in the middle of the night, carrying whatever they can carry with them. They’ve never been to Egypt; they know virtually nothing about it except the stories of their ancient ancestors who lived as slaves there in the days of Moses. They don’t know the language or culture or even where to begin finding a place to stay, food to eat, or work. Talk about helpless and hopeless! What would you have done if you were either Joseph or Mary? What would you be thinking about this miracle plan of God to bring Jesus, Messiah, into the world? Might you be wishing God had NOT invited you into the Christmas story, if you were them that night?
The Bible doesn’t give us any details of those months, perhaps years, Joseph and his little family lived in Egypt. We know they did not return to Israel until after Herod’s death in 4bc. Jesus would have been a little more than 2 years old by then. So where did they live, what work was Joseph able to find to provide for his family, how did they communicate without knowing the Egyptian language? How did God guide them day after day? Did they have to sell those precious gifts the Magi gave them, in order to survive as refugees in Egypt? And can we ask the bigger question here…WHY?
Why would God allow all these difficult things in Joseph and Mary’s life when they were being fully obedient and submissive to God’s plan? Why a tax census forcing a trip to Bethlehem just when Mary is 9 months pregnant? Why birth in a stable of all places? Why now Herod killing babies and Joseph and Mary having to flee as refugees in the middle of the night, to a foreign country with infant Jesus? Why living for many months as impoverished refugees in Egypt, when Jesus is the Son of God and Joseph and Mary are following God’s directions flawlessly?
Could it be that the answer for Joseph & Mary is consistent with God’s pattern throughout the Bible and in our day? Being a God honoring person, following God wholeheartedly, does NOT insulate us from the pains of life nor the schemes of the dark kingdom opposing God and God’s purposes and God’s people at all times? Rather, God promises to provide HIS strength to sustain us in times of great difficulty. For Joseph and Mary, they had received God’s warning from the angel ahead of the terrifying invasion of Bethlehem by Herod’s vicious soldiers. They had God’s provision of expensive gifts from the Magi. They had experienced the awe of both shepherds and Magi who had been summoned by supernatural means, to find and worship infant Jesus. All of these things assured them that God was there with them and watching over them, providing for them, protecting them! I wonder how often they had to remind themselves of Jesus’ name “Immanuel”, God with us?
Do you have that strong assurance my friends in these final two days of 2021? Let’s spend some time thanking God for how He is watching over us, guiding us, providing for us, protecting us, and is WITH us, as we follow Him! Here’s a song to help us reflect on that…
Today’s Scripture is Matthew 2:13-17.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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