In an effort to drive home a point or advance an agenda, many people exaggerate a real event or occurrence. While some parts of the story may be true, or even technically correct, the whole narrative is skewed so as to become propaganda to further a cause. As Christians, we should strive to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” so as to not bring harm or slight upon the perfect person of Jesus Christ.
One such popular slogan tossed around today is that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were “refugees” because they fled to Egypt to avoid Herod’s persecution. That is an example of what I am talking about. People are trying to take a modern connotation of what a refugee is and superimpose it onto a historical event. Jesus did go from Israel to Egypt for a short period of time. However, both Israel and Egypt were Roman Empire territories. They did not flee to another country such as modern-day refugees fleeing war torn Syria for Sweden.
Jesus’ flight into Egypt would be more like someone fleeing Newsom’s California for DeSantis’ Florida. Still remaining in the United States but going to another jurisdiction to avoid political persecution. We would not call them a refugee. Also, the trip was self-funded. Mary and Joseph had received the gifts from the Magi – gold, frankincense and myrrh – which would have provided plenty of money for the young family to travel, find a home and set up shop in the large Jewish community already residing in Egypt. After a couple years, as soon as Herod dies, they return back to Israel and settle in Nazareth.
Now, under a very broad definition of refugee, a person fleeing from political violence, for a very short period of time, one might consider Jesus to have been a refugee. From a practical standpoint, no, He wasn’t. And He wouldn’t identify as one since He was under 5 when all this took place anyway. He would have little to no memory of it as His childhood was stable, growing up in Nazareth. Those who bandy this about are trying to drive an agenda that doesn’t need support from stretching the truth like this. We already have commands of Scripture to take care of others, to support the poor and indigent, to treat all people with dignity and respect, both countrymen and the alien among us.
Using an event like the Bethlehem slaughter of infants to try and score political points today does an injustice to Scripture. The flight to Egypt would have happened anyway because it was a prophetic event. This was done to fulfill the Scripture “Out of Egypt I have called My Son”. A temporary (estimated 3 1/2 years) of hiding and then a return to one’s homeland is not the same as permanent refugee status today inside another country. Temporarily fleeing political persecution would be a more accurate way to describe what occurred, although it wouldn’t fit the current political narrative being pushed. And this is too bad, because Jesus doesn’t need us to “spin” events for Him. He simply needs us to present the truth simply, cleanly, and clearly.
ta ethne 