In conversations such as these, it is important to be aware of our social identities. I am a white, 22-year-old Christian woman attending seminary. I am straight, married, have healthcare, and earn enough money to live relatively comfortably. I was born and raised in the United States and have never been persecuted for my faith. I am not scared for my life, I have an American passport, and all members of my immediate family are alive and in good health.
That being said, I am no expert on immigration, nor do I claim to relate to the experiences of refugees. I do, however, believe that within my context, this is something I need to care about. Jesus was a refugee, and the Bible is flooded with commands to love the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.
This is a picture of Syrian refugees. I am sure you have all seen heart-wrenching images of Syrian families floating on the coast of Greece, scared, cold, wet, alone, and barely alive. But that's happening over there, not over here. So we keep scrolling through our news feed onto more important matters, like Star Wars.
So if you would, pause with me for a moment and take the time to read this post dedicated to the story of Jesus as a refugee and what that means for us.
After [the Magi] were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream saying,
"Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.
For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him."
So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.
He stayed there until Herod's death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet
might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage.
He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years
old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.
Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.
Matthew 2:13-18
Egypt traditionally provided refuge for those who were fleeing the deathly power of rulers: Jeroboam from Solomon (1 Kings 11:40), the prophet Uriah from King Johoiakim (Jeremiah 26:21), the High Priest Onias from Antiochus (Josephus, Ant. 12.387). While this story also invokes similarities to the story of Moses delivering Israel out of Egypt. In fact, there are many similarities to the flights of Jesus and Moses in Exodus 2.
- The ruling power issue attacks on male children
- God's protection through exile
- Returning from exile after a revelation of the ruling power's death
- Saved in order to save God's people
Meanwhile, Herod is paralleled with Pharaoh as both portray pervasive oppressive and destructive ways of rulers misusing their power. So when Matthew's Jewish Christian audience heard this story, they undoubtedly recalled these stories from the Scriptures and made parallels between Moses' deliverance of Israel and Jesus' deliverance of Israel.
This is easily the most overlooked part of the story, yet it is the most important. Jesus was not born into a peaceful world, rather a tumultuous and corrupt world riddled with oppressive power systems. Jesus was born into a genocide dictated by a fearful and corrupt ruler. So this poor family leaves its homeland, crosses borders, and lives as foreigners in a foreign land. Like many other immigrant before and after them, Jesus and his family are political refugees seeking asylum wherever they are welcome.
This changes the Christmas story a little bit, doesn't it?
Immigration happens for two reasons: there is a PUSH or a PULL. Most often it's the former. Refugees and immigrants are pushed out of their home country due to abuses of power and the unjust systems that sustain them. In other circumstances, they can be pulled out of their countries by the promise of a better life, money, and more opportunities for their children.
For Jesus and his family it was a push: genocide of all baby boys around Bethlehem under two.
For the Syrian refugees it is a little more complicated.
- Violence: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, since the Syrian civil war began hundreds of thousands have been killed and upwards 1.5 million have been injured and/or permanently disabled. Foreign powers becoming involved has only escalated this violence.
- Collapsed Infrastructure: Within Syria, the economy, healthcare, and education systems have all crashed.
- Children's safety: Syrian children no longer have access to education, they have witnessed great cruelty and violence, lost families and loved ones, and are being abducted to serve as child fighters, humans shields, and prostitutes.
This is messy and dangerous, and people are becoming desperate. Yet what are we doing? Allowing our fear and bigotry to inform our praxis. There are people within our country advocating for closing our doors to these refugees!
How the hell can this actually be happening? Have we become so calloused and comfortable to not welcome those who desperately need safety and shelter because we are afraid of them?
To my Christian brothers and sisters, JESUS WAS A REFUGEE. Our story would probably look a whole lot different if Egypt decided to close its doors to the Israel refugees because they were afraid of them.
To my country, THE FIRST SETTLERS WERE RELIGIOUS REFUGEES. Granted, they later performed unspeakable acts of violence and genocide on Native Americans, but stop using the excuse that this is "our country." We are immigrants just as much as the Syrian, Mexican, Somalian, Hmong immigrants are immigrants.
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In the wake of immigration debates and movements to close our borders, and in the midst of racist and fearful social media posts, let us remember the words of Jesus.
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me,
Sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me...
Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of Mine,
you did for Me.
For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat;
I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink;
I was a stranger and you did not take Me in;
I was naked and you did not clothe Me,
Sick and in prison and you did not take care of Me...
Whatever you did not do for the least of these,
you did not do for Me either.
Matthew 25:35-36, 40, 42-43, 45
Jesus was a refugee, how does that change the Christmas story for you and what are you going to about it?
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Here are a few helpful links to peruse if you are interested in engaging with this topic at a deeper level.
- Refugees are not dangerous, and in fact, the US legislation process of attaining refugee status in America is ridiculously tedious and difficult
- A website dedicated to petty much everything you need to know about the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe
- The crisis and its impact on refugees and children
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