The Holy Family in Egypt

 

Mathew 2:3-6, 15-19

Christmas 2 / Year C

We want to know about the childhood lives of great people.  We long to learn about the early experiences which forged who they became.  Mason Locke Weems didn’t quite understand this when he set out in 1800 to write a biography about George Washington, who had died a year earlier.  The book was wildly popular, but the reading public craved more insight into Washington’s childhood.  Since Weems had no real way to garner such information, he simply made up stories designed to demonstrate a link between Washington’s private virtue and his public greatness.  The most endearing and enduring of these myths involved a cherry tree, which first appeared in the book’s fifth edition, published six years after the initial release.  “I cannot tell a lie” satiated the American public’s hunger to know more about the childhood of their deeply revered leader.

This morning we ponder one of the tantalizingly few bits of information available to us from Jesus’ early life.  Only Matthew records the visit of the Magi and subsequent events it spawns – the dreams of angels issuing warnings and directions, Herod’s order to kill male infants and toddlers in and around Bethlehem, and the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt.  It is an immensely interesting account, but sparse on details and Luke, who is the other gospel writer providing us information about Jesus’ birth, either is unaware of this story or judges it not to be significant enough to include in his account.

Based on historical records which chronical the reigns of Herod, his directive to slaughter children, and the rule of Archelas (Herod’s son), scholars deduce Jesus is born in 5BC, his family flees to Egypt when he is younger than two, and they remain there until sometime before Jesus turns nine¹.  So Jesus spends a significant amount of his formative years as a refugee in Egypt. 

Why Egypt?  Scholars point out this province, along with Babylon and Persia, is a home to sizeable number of Jewish settlements.  Any of these regions is a viable option for Joseph and Mary, but Egypt is closest to Bethlehem and, as some scholars suggest, the couple may have relatives or friends in this area.  In Egypt, the Holy Family will be able to find people willing to provide food and shelter.

We don’t know which route they take to get there, but either it is on the coastal road, the most direct and most travelled way or they journey through the desert; a safer option if you fear Herod’s soldiers are looking for you, but more difficult to undertake with a toddler. 

The bible gives us no details of the family’s time here.  If we are going to do as Mason Locke Weems did, we would have Jesus chopping down a palm tree, rather than a cherry.  Which is kind of what we find in several non-biblical sources seeking to flesh out these years by drawing on a myriad of folktales.  The Coptic Church today stewards the different local traditions about the route the family takes around Cairo and the Nile River: 

s There is a site where it is said Jesus steps on rock and leaves on impression of his tiny foot, still visible even today. 

s Several locations lay claim to trees which provided shade for the family. 

s One village asserts when baby Jesus enters it the statues of idols tremble and fall to the ground. 

s Another village holds it is the place from which the family crosses the Nile in a boat.  Another states they live in their community for six months before moving on. 

s One time, the family encounters a peasant planting seeds.  He offers them a blessing before they continue on their way and the next day the planter discovers his seeds have grown into large, ripe watermelons.  Herod’s messengers soon learn of this and interrogate the peasant.  He describes the Holy Family but, to protect them, says they passed by months earlier.

s All told, 18 different locations are said to have a well which spring forth when the family visits them.

s Over the ensuring centuries, numerous churches and monasteries are founded at sites said to have been visited by the family.

s No other region lays claim to similar stories and traditions.

All of this suggests the Holy Family spends at least a few years in Egypt.  While there, most likely they seek anonymity, lay low, stay quiet, and rely on the help and support of others.  Surely young Jesus is aware of some, if not all, of this.  Such harrowing experiences during our early years tend to be sticky.  They remain with us for the rest of our lives and shape who we become, what we value, and how we act.   

In our current context, plenty has been said and written about what the refugee status of the Holy Family has to say to us in our day and time as countries all over the world wrestle with the impact immigration is having on their societies.  Let me say a few things about this.

First, borders in Jesus’ day are much more permeable for immigrants than in our time.  Individuals and peoples move about for a variety of reasons, personal safety being one.  Second, there is no indication the slaughter at Bethlehem triggers a mass exodus of people.  Those who do flee to Egypt are easily assimilated by extended family and/or Jewish communities.  In these two ways at least, the Holy Family’s solitary flight differs from the massive challenges we are encountering on our southern border.

Still, we learn from this story the value of every human being seeking asylum in one form of another.  You never know what a child given sanctuary can become.  In that our baptismal vows commit us to seeking and serving Christ in all people, we are called to discern our Lord’s presence in every refugee, especially children.  Each person deserves to be treated with the same dignity Joseph, Mary, and Jesus find in Egypt.  No one is to be reduced to being a part of a demonized herd.

While our challenges around this issue are complicated and immense, the flight of the Holy Family and the values we cherish call us to a faithful and godly response.  We live into this through our prayers, our attitudes, our conversations with others, our voice at the ballot box, our support of resettlement efforts throughout the Episcopal Church and the Anglican world, and, sometimes, through personal engagement and compassion.  Never forget, the very faith we celebrate here today has its roots in a person who began life as a refugee.

¹ Here is something of a timeline around Jesus’ early childhood based on some historical information, some speculation, and a healthy dose of folk lore:

·      Luke tells us Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem because a required census has been instituted at a time when Quirinius is governor of Syria.  Since his rule lasted only from 6BC to 4BC, scholars place the birth of Jesus during this time. 

·      Matthew reports when the Magi travel to Bethlehem they find the “child” and his mother in a “house”.  Apparently, some time has passed since the birth.  How much?  Well, based on Herod’s decree to slaughter all boy two years and younger, we can place Jesus the child within this age range.

·      Historical records seem to indicate Herod dies in 4BC and his son, Archelaus becomes governor.  He, in turn, is deposed by the Roman emperor in 6AD. 

·      All of this suggests Jesus may have been born in 5BC.  A year or so later, Herod issues his murderous order, forcing the Holy Family to flee to Egypt.  An undetermined amount of time passes before they return to Israel, but because the family decides not to resettle in Bethlehem while Archelaus rules over the region, it is before 6AD.   

Based on all of this, we expect Jesus lives in Egypt from the age of 2 (at the youngest) to the age of 9 (at the oldest), but all of this should be taken with a grain of salt (as if you read it on Wikipedia) because not all sources agree on all of the dates cited.