The Left wants nothing to do with Christ Jesus. The Left wants to silence Christian voices. Yet, Christ Jesus is useful to the Left occasionally. Leftists increasingly exploit Him for their own political purposes. In this, they are like Judas.
This year, Leftists apparently got together to formulate and launch a narrative about Christ Jesus, His birth and subsequent escape to Egypt from Bethlehem. The narrative goes something like this: if Herod had built a wall on the southern border of Judea, the Holy Family would not have been able to escape to Egypt, and Herod’s soldiers would have killed the Baby.
Obviously, the narrators want you to believe Trump equals Herod, and the Holy Family is comparable to migrants amassed at our southern border. You are also supposed to feel guilty because your support of the Wall makes you a criminal dictator and murderer, just like Trump and Herod.
This Christmas — according to the Christ-hating Left — Christians who support enforcing immigration laws are nothing more than murderers. Now that two children have died at the border, the Left gleefully exploits the narrative further.
One must admit, as deceptions go, this one is very, very clever. But then, the father of lies has always been very, very good at twisting the truth and leading people to hell. Let’s dissect the narrative in our search for the truth.
In the first place, did Joseph and Mary violate Roman or Herodian law?
The Holy Couple traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem in obedience to Roman law. Caesar ordered everyone to his hometown to register for the census. Joseph was of the house of David. His hometown was Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary walked 100 miles to comply with Roman law. They were also obeying the will of God in fulfillment of the prophecy the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Nothing from Scripture or the historical record indicates Joseph and Mary violated any Herodian law. Indeed, by obeying Roman law, Joseph and Mary re-enforced Herod’s position with the Romans. Herod, a Roman puppet, feared he would be overthrown by a King foretold by the Prophets. Herod believed the prophecies — recorded hundreds of years before the actual event — that the King of the Jews, the Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem. This is why he told the Wise Men to locate this newborn King and report back to him. Herod had murder in mind.
Much like the Left today, Herod was addicted to power. Like the Left, Herod perceived Christ Jesus a threat and sought to destroy him. Toward that end, Herod slaughtered all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem when the Wise Men escaped without reporting back him. Like the Left, rage and violence are frequently employed by dictators as final solutions.
Did Mary and Joseph violate Egyptian law when they walked approximately 120 miles from Bethlehem to enter Egypt?
For believers, it is important to remember that God spoke to Joseph in a dream, telling him that Herod sought to kill Jesus. Consequently, God told Joseph to take the child and Mary and flee to Egypt to escape Herod. Since God’s will is superior to human law, it really doesn’t matter about Egyptian immigration law at the time. Yet certainly, the Egyptians must have had some control of their border. (All sovereign nations control their borders.) However, the Egyptians did not face the problem of massive movements of millions of migrants overrunning their country. Evidently, the Egyptians had no problem with three people crossing into Egypt as legitimate asylum seekers. Therefore, no doubt, Joseph and Mary crossed into Egypt legally and did so with no intention of establishing permanent residence, for the Lord instructed them to wait in Egypt until the death of Herod, at which time they were commanded to return to Nazareth, another fulfillment of prophecy.
So we see that unlike millions of migrants and refugees and illegal immigrants pouring into the U.S., the Holy Family broke no law, violated no conventions, and demanded nothing along their way, a Way guided by the Most High, all for the supreme purpose of saving the world via the eventual death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
To liken the quest of the Holy Family to the situation on our southern border is to compare apples to stones, and to play Judas, reducing the sublime to the mundane: betraying faith, preferring politics, a satanic deception.
