Friend of Strangers预览

When Jesus came to earth, He first left his heavenly dwelling to live in our world as a guest and stranger. As a newborn, Jesus is welcomed by both Jews and Gentiles, but He is soon forced to flee to escape King Herod:

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, 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.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Mt 2:13-15)

It is almost ironic that foreign Gentiles come to worship Jesus while the Jewish king behaves like an Egyptian Pharaoh as he murders Hebrew boys.

Thanks to foreign aid, in the form of valuable gifts from wise men, Joseph can flee with his family to the nearest neighboring country and stay there until the political situation in his home country has changed enough for him to return home with his family.