13 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.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 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.”
16 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. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “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.”
There were several attempts on Jesus' life. At one point, the people of Nazareth planned to throw Him over a cliff (Luke 4:28-30). There were various plots against Him and, in the end, of course, they were successful.
Well, it looked like they were. In fact, they were simply fulfilling God's plan and they would succeed only when the time was right. The time was not right when He was a baby. In God's plan, Jesus had to go to the Cross. This early attempt on His life was simply Satan's plan to prevent Him dying on the Cross for the sins of the world. If He died on the Cross, God's plan would succeed and people would be saved. Satan did not want that.
But God did and God is in control. He sent an angel to Joseph. Joseph obeyed immediately. Jesus became a refugee.
Herod's brutal killing of the boys in and around Bethlehem had been foretold centuries earlier. He might have thought he was in control. He wasn't!
These Herods get a bit confusing. This Herod is the misnamed Herod the Great. He was an unbelievably cruel man. Any threat to his reign was eliminated with frightening brutality. He killed members of the Jewish nobility, his uncle, his own children (plus 300 of their followers), even his own wife. This incident is fully consistent with his paranoia.
This Herod died in 4 B.C. which tells us that Jesus was born, not in the year 0 (there was no year 0) but sometime in or before 4 B.C.
Herod The Great's oldest son was Herod Archelaus. He was reigning when Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt. Matthew 2:22 tells us that, because Herod Archelaus was on the throne, Joseph was afraid to go into Judea and, instead, settled in Galilee in the north (which was not ruled by Herod Archelaus).
Another son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, ruled over Galilee. He was more tolerant but it was he who later killed John the Baptist and who tried Jesus and had Him flogged. He then colluded with Pontius Pilate.
They all had power and they used it but none could win against God. God had had a plan for millennia to save the world. That plan would work.
Can you think of other examples of people opposing God's salvation plan (even in our own day)? Read Psalm 2:1-3 and then look at God's response in verses 4-6.
Reflect on the fact that Jesus was a refugee at this point in His life. What does that say to you?
Geroge Frideric Handel wrote his oratorio Messiah in 3 or 4 weeks in 1741. Originally, it was intended as music for Easter but the first section deals with Jesus' birth and it has become so associated with Christmas that it is a deeply-rooted tradition now. Many, many choirs around the world look forward to performing this work each year. It is a masterpiece that has become a firm favourite.
Originally performed in Dublin in 1742, it immediately gained huge popularity which has not waned.
It is also traditional for the audience to stand for the Hallelujah Chorus? It is said that King George II, during the 1743 London premiere, was so moved by the music that he stood to show reverence. It was etiquette, if the king stood, for everyone else to also stand and a tradition was born.
That might, or might not, be true, but there is no doubting the majesty of the music and of the Person it commemorates.
We have already listened to one song from the Messiah (and there is still one to come) and there is the medley above, but, if you are inclined to listen to the whole oratorio, you can do that by clicking on the video above.
Play "For Unto us A Child Is Born" and all join in.
Dear Lord, may I never think that I know better than You or that I am more powerful than You. Both are ridiculous thoughts but I can still be tempted to believe them. Convict me when I want to do what I think but it conflicts with Your will.
In Jesus' name, amen.