Below is a screen shot from a new ad campaign called,
"He Gets Us'" which is claiming that "He" meaning Jesus Christ,
was a refugee, had a disdain for hypocrisy, and was also unfairly
judged like other marginalized members of our modern society.
While Jesus spoke out against the hypocrisy of the religious
Pharisees and was in turn scorned by them, was Jesus also
a refugee? Nothing could be further from the truth.
In one of the commercials of this controversial ad campaign,
the Son of God is compared to a black and white slideshow which
tells the story of Central American migrants who are fleeing
persecution in their homeland. The ending compares this
flight with the one taken by Jesus and his parents, who
left Bethlehem and fled to Egypt after Herod sought
to kill the Christ Child. Mary and Joseph, however,
later took Jesus and returned back home to Israel
after the ruler's death.
This ad campaign is reported to be funded by the store
chain, Hobby Lobby and according to Christianity Today,
another evangelical Christian group known as The Signatry.
Other donors to this campaign remain anonymous.
In Luke's account of the Nativity story, Joseph responded to
the decree of the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, who
demanded that the entire world be registered in a census
for the purpose of taxation.
In order for this to take place, the people had to be
be registered in the town or city of their birth, which in
Joseph's case was Bethlehem, because he was of the house
and lineage of David.
While they were there, his wife, Mary, being great with
child, gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn, and wrapped Him
in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there
was no room for them in the inn.
Fast-forward a few years, where "He Gets Us" claims that after
Herod's decree that all children two years and younger be killed, "with
Herod's henchmen bearing down on Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary fled with
their young child to Egypt."
According to the Scriptures, prior to Herod's decree, Joseph had already
been forewarned in a dream by God to take the Child and Mary and
flee into Egypt: "Now after they, the wise men had gone, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up!"
Tenderly take unto you the young Child and His mother and flee
to Egypt and remain there till I tell you otherwise; for Herod
intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him."
(Matthew 2:13)
While Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem at the Lord's command, the fact that the
angel spoke to Joseph saying, "Tenderly take unto you the Child and His mother"
seems to indicate that God had given them plenty of time to flee from Israel
in order to completely avoid, "Herod's henchmen bearing down on them".
While there is a ring of truth in "He Gets Us" condensed re-telling of the
Flight Into Egypt, why is God's essential role conspicuously absent?
Although the Bible does not mention how much time was spent in Egypt,
like the events leading up to the birth of Messiah, the personal faith of
Mary and Joseph in God's provision certainly played an integral role
in their situation in Egypt as the earthly parents of His Son.
After the danger in Israel had passed, an angel of the Lord
appeared again to Joseph in a dream saying, "Rise and tenderly
take unto you the Child and His mother and go to the land of
Israel, for those who sought the Child's life are dead."
(Matthew 2:19-20)
The Ad version declares, "After King Herod's death, Joseph and Mary
returned to Israel. But the impact of being displaced always stuck with Jesus."
Where is this particularly referenced in the Scriptures?
Matthew's Gospel tells us that after Joseph and Mary and Jesus
returned to Israel, Archelaus, the son of Herod was ruling over
Judea in place of his late father. Joseph was afraid to go there.
However, " After being divinely warned in a dream, he
(Joseph) withdrew to the region of Galilee."
(Matthew 2: 22)
Thus, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, was obedient in his faith,
and in keeping with a Divine Appointment, one which was spoken
of by the prophet Isaiah nearly 700 years before the birth of Messiah:
"He went and dwelt in the town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken
through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene.
"Branch, Separated One."
(Isaiah 11:1)
Raised in Nazareth, where He worked as a carpenter before embarking
on His ministry, Jesus was full of compassion and mercy for His people,
whom He called the "lost sheep" of the House of Israel. He healed the
sick, cast out demons, and was kind to the outcast, yet, He never
compromised with sin. He spent a lot of time walking the dusty roads
within the borders of His nation, Israel, until He was rejected by
His people and sent to die on a Roman cross at Calvary.
He was never a refugee nor a victim of displacement.
So, regardless of how well-intentioned this new line of
advertisements may seem, for professed believers to
equate the Lord Jesus Christ with the plight of migrants
allegedly fleeing persecution in their nations while teeming
north to illegally cross our borders seems like a compromise
with the thoroughly corrupt federal government in Washington,
which is allowing this unlawful invasion to take place.
Not only is the Biden Administration's agenda of "open borders" and
unchecked immigration a clear and flagrant violation of our nation's
long-standing immigration policies, but it has placed American
citizens in serious jeopardy, be it exposure to a once eradicated disease,
possible victimization by drug-dealing gangs and human sex traffickers,
or other violent criminals, who are also being allowed to freely traverse
our borders along with the homeless refugee.
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