Travel

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." That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, His mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called My Son out of Egypt." (Matthew 2:13-15 NLT)

Travelling is a part of my everyday life.  It probably is for you as well.  We may not go on "long trips," but we certainly do travel to school, work, the grocery store, and, of course, the church building. :)  Today, part of my family is going to be travelling a little further than these "short trips" in order to get my daughter back to college.  They will be travelling close to 300 miles once all is said and done.  They hope to get it all done today.

When Joseph and Mary decided to leave with Jesus for Egypt, they were taking on a 300-350 mile trip as well.  However, travelling by caravan only got them about 25 miles a day.  That made their trip take a couple weeks rather than half a day.  Jesus was safely out of the reach of Herod.

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and His mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead." So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and His mother. (Matthew 2:19-21 NLT)

We don't know for certain, but Jesus may have still been a baby or a toddler when Herod died.  It was safe again for the family to come home.  So...the mulit-week trek, with a young child, began again.  They headed back toward Bethlehem.

But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene." (Matthew 2:22-23 NLT)

What's another 80 miles among friends?  It's only another few days of travel for this young family - a week at most.  So, they took it.  They actually went back home where this all began - Nazareth.  Jesus is probably old enough to walk now, and he's already a bit of a world traveler.  Most importantly, God led his family so he is still alive. Never forget, he's still alive. ;)