Daily Devotions – Political Exile

Daily Devotions – Political Exile

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

 

Matthew 2:13-15 (NIV)
The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

 

Did you know Jesus was a political exile? A tyrannical king, Herod, well-known for his brutality (he killed his own son) caused Mary and Joseph to take their new son into exile in another country. Why? Because Jesus was a threat. Remember, the “wise men” called Jesus the “king of the Jews”. Herod heard this and was scared. He had converted to Judaism and called himself the “king of the Jews”. He was not a descendant of David, but Jesus was. We might not be evil dictators like Herod, but sometimes we see Jesus as a threat, too. If Jesus really is the King of kings that means, we are not! What are some of the ways that trusting in Jesus scares you? With finances? The future? Your family? Jesus threatens our powerplays and self-created kingdoms. But he promises to be a loving king who will do a far better job of running our lives that we ever could.