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Matthew
2:13-18
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.’
Our
safe place
Joseph’s anxious eyes survey the road behind his
little family to see if anyone is following. He is afraid of Herod’s soldiers
as he keeps his family moving toward a safe place. The child who is born to
save a world needs to be saved from murderous hands so that one day we might
see and know what is in his heart.
Herod, too, is afraid. He fears losing his power and
is willing to kill infants on the odd chance that one of them might one day challenge
his reign.
Joseph will find a safe place for the child and his
mother. But Herod will kills dozens of children looking for him. Their mothers
will weep the bitterest tears a heart can know, all because of Herod’s fear.
Fear kills. It kills the heart of our humanity
before it destroys others.
But this child, Jesus, comes to save us from the fear
that kills with the Love he is. Love drives out fear. The child Joseph
saves is the face of the Eternal Love who conquers death and is the refuge of
those grieving mothers.
He is our safe place, the Love who is always waiting to
receive us no matter where we go or how far we wander. He is the Love who goes
before us and is waiting for us at the end of every journey.
He is the Love and the Joy awakened in our hearts
every time a single ounce of his love touches us.
‘Come to me,’ he says, with each new sunrise. ‘I am
your refuge, the place fear disappears.’
Pr. David L. Miller
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