A Place to Be BornSample

CLOSE ALL THE DOORS

“After the magicians left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: — Get up, take the boy and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I let you know; because Herod will look for the boy to kill him.

When Joseph rose, he took the boy and his mother by night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod's death. This happened to fulfill what was said by the Lord, through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my Son."  (Matthew 2:13-15)

Powerful men and women are, for the most part, insecure and suspicious people. The news given by the wise men about the birth of the king of the Jews was too much for Herod and certainly destabilized him. To become king of the territory of Judea and representative of the Roman Empire, he had dethroned the kings of the dynasty Hasmonean, who had ruled Israel for more than a century with the assistance of the party of the Sadducees. Losing his position was not in his plans, so he does the unthinkable and has all Jewish boys under the age of 2 killed. 

The Bible is full of texts that teach us never to plan and execute evil, especially to someone weaker, because God is always on the side of the oppressed: “Woe to those who, before getting up in the morning, already make plans to exploit and mistreat the others! And as soon as they get up, they do what they want, because they are powerful! When they want land or houses, they take it. They mistreat others and do not respect anyone's family or property. Therefore, the Lord says: — I will bring disgrace upon you, and you will not escape. It will be a time of suffering, and you will no longer walk so full of pride.” (Micah 2:1-3) The plans of those who devise evil may seem to work for a while, but divine justice always comes.

Jesus is the main sign of God's righteousness. In fact, Christ is the one who justified us, and faith in Him is the only way to escape the wrath of God, as the apostle Paul teaches us: “All have sinned and are far from the glorious presence of God. But, by his grace and without demanding anything, God accepts everyone through Christ Jesus, who saves them. God offered Christ as a sacrifice so that, through his death on the cross, Christ would become the means for people to receive the forgiveness of their sins through faith in him. God wanted to show with this that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and did not punish people for their sins; but now, through Christ's sacrifice, God shows that He is righteous. So he is righteous and accepts those who believe in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-27)

When you are with your relatives, teach about God's righteousness and Christmas. Talk about how Herod, to appease his anger, had children killed while Almighty God gave his own son to die in our place, making him pay our debt. Praise the Father and the Son for this. Amen!