| DAY 5 |
This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken
through the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt.”
NO GLITZ, JUST GLORY
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Ididn’t anticipate that singing a carol at church would jolt me with surprise and pain, but that’s what happened my first Christmas in England. I’d lived in this new country for nearly a year after marrying an Englishman, and I found the adjustment challenging. I hadn’t reckoned on church being so hard, with the different customs unsettling me. Thus, when from the piano wafted a strange (to me) tune for “Away in a Manger,” I blinked back my tears. I was happy to be married but sad to be away from the familiar.
Yet singing this particular carol was fitting during that time of unease. After all, the first line describes Jesus’ birth: “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.” Not only was He born in humble circumstances but as a toddler He also fled from Herod. God’s angel warned Joseph in a dream to leave: “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother” (MATTHEW 2:13). Jesus was kept safe, but He knew what it felt to be displaced. It was a feeling He experienced throughout His earthly life—away from His Father in heaven.
We don’t need to change locations to feel out of place; pangs of longing can come at any moment and at any place. When they do, we can turn to the Man who suffered and grieved. His birth and His presence bring us hope and strength.
AMY BOUCHER PYE
When have you been surprised by an ache or a yearning?
In those moments, how can you turn to Jesus?
God who became Man, You felt the ultimate dislocation when You came to earth as a baby. When I feel lost,
I look to You for comfort.
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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | MATTHEW 2:1–13
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.
4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.
8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
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