https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/ece-devotions/20251229ECME.mp3

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.

Matthew 2:14-15

“Nooooooo!” screamed my three-year-old on an early December day. “You can’t put King Herod there!”

Our Little People Nativity Scene has an extra piece. I purchased a king with a scepter that probably once belonged with a princess set. This king represents King Herod and helps us retell the Christmas and Epiphany stories, but my one-year-old had placed him right next to the manger instead of farther away in Jerusalem, and it got a strong reaction from her older sibling.

That’s because my three-year-old knew that King Herod attempted to do an awful thing. Jesus, the Savior of the world, had been born! But not only did King Herod want to kill the Savior; he was willing to murder many other babies in order to make sure that Jesus was killed.

But King Herod could not win against God. God instructed the wise men not to return to Herod so that he could not discover Jesus’ location. God sent an angel who instructed Joseph to flee down to Egypt. In the middle of the night, Joseph ushered his family out of the area. King Herod could not carry out his plan to kill the Son of God.

This reminds us that the evil of this world cannot win against God. We are aware that evil does happen, including to vulnerable and defenseless children. We do not minimize the tragedy and heartache it brings. But Jesus’ escape to Egypt reminds us how God is in control. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead proves that nothing can separate us from God. So, we can trust that the same God that kept Jesus safe from King Herod will one day take us—his children—to be with him in eternity.

Dear God,