The World According to Jesus

Massacre of the Innocents, Leon Coignet, 1824

My last book, Everywhere, got me thinking about the role persecution plays in the movement of God. Reading Matthew has got me thinking about the world Jesus was born into. A world in which both God and evil are at work.

The Magi from the east came searching for the king of the Jews, led by a shining star. They came to worship and deliver precious gifts. Warned in a dream, they returned home by a different route. For Herod was roused and seeking to kill the child who would threaten his throne.

No sooner had the Magi left than, in the night, Joseph, Mary and the child fled for their lives into Egypt.

Furious at being outwitted, Herod had every baby boy in Bethlehem and surrounds murdered, fulfilling Jeremiah’s word:

‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more’ (‭‭Matt 2‬:‭18).

This strange paradox right from the start. Jesus is the promised Messiah who will shepherd God’s people, Israel. His birth fulfills the Scriptures (Matt 2:6). He is worshipped and honored by the Magi. Yet he is hunted by Herod’s men.

God is in control. He fulfills the Scriptures. He brings the Magi from the east, guided by a light in the sky. He sends an angel to warn Joseph and they flee into Egypt.

God is in control, yet Herod murders the young boys of Bethlehem.

This is the world into which Jesus was born. A world of angels, guiding stars, and Scripture fulfilled. A world ruled by evil kings, a world of murder and exile. Yet God is in control, and when the time is right, out of Egypt he calls his Son (Matt 2:15).

We inhabit that same world. God is in control, working out his purposes. We have a part to play, and it’s dangerous.