Strangers

Matthew 25

…. for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, (Matthew 25)

A young family has moved into our village. I don’t know them, but others say that, some years ago, they lived here. As the story goes, this young married couple left to go to Bethlehem for the census. But after the census, they didn’t return until now, years later, with a young child in tow.

I suppose we can’t call them immigrants, since they originally came from here, and since their parents still live here. But I can say with confidence that there are some peculiar things about them. Actually, there are whispers that this young couple was not married when they left here. Hopefully, by now, they are. All I can say is that they did not get married here in Nazareth.

Other whispers are circulating that Joseph, the father, is not really the father of the young child, Jesus is his name. If he is not, then we’d like to know who is. And, there are also whispers about visits from angels, though that has not been confirmed. All in all, there is much about this couple that anyone would call peculiar.

You must understand that, in our culture, anything that seems unusual becomes fodder for gossip. That’s just the way it is. And anyone who seems “different” in any way, can and probably will be treated as an outsider, even as a stranger.

My family, for example, has lived here for many generations. There’s nothing special about us, good or bad, and so we blend into the community. But the whispers about these new arrivals make them stand out, mostly in ways they would not desire.

Do I want to get to know them? No, not right away. Do I want my children to play with their son? I’m not sure I want my children to play with a boy when I don’t even know for sure who is his father. Let’s let some time pass before that happens. I need to see how he is accepted first.

If Nazareth seems to you like a tightly closed community, then you are correct. It is. You see, it’s just that nothing much changes here, from one generation to the next. We have become so comfortable with what and who we know. And feathers get easily ruffled when someone or something new arrives on the scene.

I mean, I would never say that we are prejudiced against strangers, but …..

As the story goes, this young family moved here from Egypt. What on earth were they doing there? You can imagine the questions raised by that. I mean, I’ve never met anyone who came from Egypt. It’s a foreign country, as you know, one where they worship other gods, not our YHWH God. And they speak other languages, not the language of our country. Their customs are markedly different from ours.

Holy Family

Romanian Icon

And what’s more, it seems that the couple moved to Egypt just before King Herod had the babies in Bethlehem murdered, a huge tragedy. Was there a connection between that event and this young couple? Were they running from something? What was it?

Surely, you can see how we, the long-time residents, might wonder about and even object to this couple and their son. I mean, their arrival has stirred the calm waters of our village.

I know what you are thinking. It has occurred to me, too. Yes, our YHWH God has commanded us to welcome strangers. From our scriptures, we know how much He cares for them.

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10)

The Lord watches over the strangers;
    he upholds the orphan and the widow,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. (Psalm 146)

But many in our village have their own interpretation of these passages. For example, they say, we must welcome a stranger who is passing through. Yes, someone on a journey, passing through Nazareth, is generally given a healthy welcome, lodging, food and whatever supplies they might need. And then, they move on and we never see them again.

But this young couple are not just passing through, are they? No, they have moved into the neighborhood! They plan to stay! Surely, you can see how different that is, can’t you? I mean, are they bringing some strange customs with them from their time in Egypt? A new language? Will the trouble that chased them to Egypt follow them here? I hope not.

Can they answer the whispers about their marriage? About why they didn’t return right after the census? About Joseph, who seems to act as the father to the child? I go back to my question: is he the father? And when they went to Egypt, what were they running from? Why didn’t they just return to Nazareth?

There is just too much that’s irregular and even strange about this family. And I don’t want to be ugly, but I wish they had gone somewhere else. Perhaps some of us should confront them and ask them to leave, peacefully, to go to another town, anywhere, really. Then, we could return Nazareth to the quiet village it has always been.

Yes, maybe the best thing would be to ask them to leave.

I hope I am not sounding harsh or inhospitable to you. Am I? And please don’t think that I am a gossip; all that I’m concerned about is the peace and harmony of our town.

You might wonder if I have done any checking on this young family, and yes, I have. Asking around has revealed that Mary is a very pious young mother, someone who follows Torah and who loves our YHWH God. Joseph, the supposed father, is a woodworker who keeps to himself. Most people I have asked about him report that he is quiet and unassuming. But they also add that, even though he grew up in Nazareth, they hardly know him.

And the young boy? Jesus? I just don’t know; he seems obedient to his parents, and that’s about all that I can say. I have to wonder, though, about his time in Egypt. In a way, growing up there makes him a foreigner here in Israel. I mean, what does Jesus know about our customs, and even our religion? Can he become a good Jew? I think he would need a lot of tutoring to be able to fit into both our religion and our Jewish culture. So far, I’d think of him as more Egyptian than Jewish. That’s why I would wait before allowing him to play with my children.

Suppose Jesus grows up here, becomes a man, marries, and has his own family. Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine another family who’d allow their daughter to marry Jesus. Why? Because there are just too many questions about him. I certainly wouldn’t want him to marry my daughter!

Am I sounding harsh to you? I know I already asked you that, but I hope that I don’t sound too unfriendly. I just want to protect what we have here in Nazareth. Yes, protect it from outsiders and strangers. That’s not too harsh, is it? I still want to follow Torah, to welcome strangers, just as long as they don’t stay too long!

I hope that, in your time, you can be as welcoming to strangers as we are. I guess there must be a balance, somewhere. I mean, you can’t welcome everyone, can you? You have to protect what you know, don’t you? And not contaminate the culture of your people with strangers and immigrants?

I’d love to know how you are doing with these issues in your time. Perhaps you are more welcoming than we are? I’d love to know.