Homeless, Refugee, King of Kings: Christ the Savior is Born
Salt and Light
By Brent Davis
It may have been for only one night, but on the night Jesus was born, he was homeless—unless you count a stable as a home. Later, magi came to his home in Bethlehem and gave him gifts fit for a king. That’s great, but then an angel told Joseph: “escape to Egypt … for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (Matthew 2: 13). Now, Egypt was outside the Kingdom of Judea, but still within the Roman Empire so if you want to be technical, Jesus was probably internally displaced but not a refugee. Having someone looking to kill you is not a good thing in either case. Why did God send His only begotten Son to a world where “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1: 11)?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: 16, NIV).
As we enter this Christmas season, I would like you to reflect on two things: Have you received Jesus? Have you received the homeless and the refugee? John continues (1: 12): “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” You need to receive Jesus as your king to enter His kingdom and have eternal life, a life of peace and joy. As for receiving the homeless and the refugee, James tells us: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1: 27). Orphans and widows are vulnerable to homelessness and exploitation, forcing them to flee for safety. Also, the author of Hebrews admonishes us: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13: 2).
Angels, strangers, orphans, widows, people experiencing homelessness, refugees—receive them as you would receive Christ this Christmas. You will be blessed to be a blessing.
https://worldrelief.org/blog-was-jesus-a-refugee/