Immigrant
I must be sensitive to church signs this week. Yesterday, I was driving to our church when I passed another church with a marquee sign that read, “Jesus was a brown-skinned immigrant.” I remember thinking, “So, what’s your point?” I have tried to live my life under the axiom that the quality of a person's character is important, but the color of their skin isn’t. However, I don’t believe that is what this sign was alluding to.
Currently, many people in our country are concerned about illegal immigrants, but are against the kind of tactics ICE is using to apprehend them and send them back to where they come from. While factual, many people disagree with one or both of these statements.
Among the people who disagree with the first statement (concern about illegal immigrants), their position (as best I can understand it) is that immigrants often are fleeing physical or economic danger and we, as a country, should openly embrace and help them. In fact, many detest using the word “illegal” and prefer the word “undocumented.”
I suspect the church is trying to argue that Jesus, as a child, was whisked away to Egypt before Herod could have him killed. They are suggesting that Jesus was an illegal or undocumented immigrant in Egypt.
“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” - Matthew 2:13-15 ESV
This would be a valid argument to Christians, except that both Israel and Egypt were provinces of the Roman Empire. So, it was more like fleeing Kansas to Colorado. More so, it was temporary because after Herod died, Joseph brought them back to Israel.
“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.” - Matthew 2:19-23 ESV
The Bible clearly states we are to abide by the law of the land unless it goes against God’s commandments.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” - Romans 13:1-7 ESV
As Christians, we need to be very careful not to let people distort the Bible to convince us of their stance. Remember, the devil knows the Bible far better than we ever could.
