Matthew calls Jesus Immanuel, God with us. Yet having God-with-us meant fear and worry for Mary and Joseph as they rushed away to Egypt with a tiny baby. Perhaps they did not feel or know the power of God, as refugees from Herod’s sword, going back to the place of their ancestor’s slavery.
Maybe Mary wondered, Just who is the most powerful here–God who could create a quiet divine conception, or a King who could uproot a family and destroy a growing child?
Goodness Saves Jesus
And I have asked, who has the most power, a cruel special education teacher and disturbed student, or a mother and father working and waiting for their child’s healing? Probably the hardest part of parenting or mothering is a feeling of powerlessness in the face of our children’s pain or danger.
Goodness never seems enough. And, yet it is.
The goodness of El Shaddai is enough.
And the goodness of the wise men was enough, who had trained themselves to listen to their own dreams.
And Joseph’s goodness was enough, to respond to the angel’s message once again, when he may have had his doubts about listening the first time.
The story gets worse, but for now, goodness saves Jesus.
The Good People Disobey
The Swallow’s Nest reading for today parallels the story about the wise men foiling King Herod’s murder plot. In Exodus 1:13-23, Pharoah tells the midwives to kill all the Hebrew baby boys born in their care. They refuse. And when confronted, they lie, saying the Hebrew women give birth too quickly to discreetly kill the infants.
The strength of the midwives is in their moral refusal to listen to authority, even at the risk of their own lives. The Scripture names these blessed women: Shiprah, and Puah, and says God gave them families due to their powerful acts of goodness.
Sometimes I still think goodness pales in the face of evil. But when goodness chooses to stay good, no matter who is telling it to bow, and no matter the personal cost, Jesus wins.
“God is a stronghold for the oppressed, their protection in troubled times. All those who know Her goodness trust in Her, for She has never forsaken anyone who put confidence in Her.” Ps. 116, p. 6, Swallow’s Nest
Part 2 next week. Jesus and other babies being saved by good people is not the end of the story.
Stay updated with the latest discoveries and musings on learning to call God Mother (or Mama, or the Woman Upstairs...).
