The Beginning and the End

In the narrative of the infant Jesus there is that moment when leaving all that is familiar and going to the unknown and uncertain becomes a reality to consider.  The need to leave is underscored in the beginning by the fears of the men from the East who came to worship Jesus and, then, later in a dream where an angel spoke to Joseph saying, "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."  (Matthew 2:13)  The world would see the murderous intent of Herod with the slaughter of the innocents described in the next few verses.

 

While there are many things which can be seen in this part of the story, one thing which surely stands out is the provision of the Father.  The men from the East came to worship, but also to bring expensive gifts which no doubt were useful for barter on the journey to Egypt and for daily care when they arrived.  From two different sources Joseph was directed by God to flee to a safe place.  From the beginning it was known in the heavenly place that Jesus would die for the sins of the people, but the time for that single act of sacrifice had not yet fully come.

 

It is strange that Egypt would be the place Joseph would take his family.  His ancestors had gone to that place generations before and become slaves.  It was a place of deliverance for his Hebrew ancestors and it would be a place of deliverance for him as well.   Like every part of the story, it is one which none of us would have thought to write.  Of course, we were not the writers of that story of salvation which opened that night in Bethlehem.  And, neither are we the writers of the story being written even in this very moment.  It is likely we would not write our story exactly as it is being written, but then, the God who knew the beginning and the end of the story of Jesus' journey on the earth knows ours as well.