Jesus was a refugee

I see on television and social media the atrocious images of terrified people seeking refuge after having risked their lives crossing the sea aboard small paper boats. Behind them is death that awaits them with its jaws open once again. Ahead, they find fences erected by governments that exude fear of the different, ordering their lackeys to repel the avalanche of nobodies. And I can only remember Jesus of Nazareth…

A boy and his family who were persecuted because of a rumor. An old and decrepit king who feels his status is in danger. An entire town that pays the consequences in blood. As it always has been, is and will be. The innocent as currency of the system. Simple guinea pigs from a murderous experiment. Infamy converted into legality. Fleeing as the only option for survival against the harassment of Evil.

That Jewish child two thousand years ago was luckier than those of today. Welcomed to Egypt, he was able to save himself from the ferocity of Herod, and rebuild his life. Now it would have been difficult, almost impossible. In some ways, history has made us worse.

That childhood memory must have left a dent in the heart of the Nazarene. Years later, now an adult and in his own land again, he could not endure for a moment the mistreatment of the excluded, the persecuted, the outcasts, the nobodies. Outraged by the injustice, he did not remain silent. He knew firsthand the pain caused by the indifference of those who should defend him. He had felt the fear of always having to look back, suspecting even a shadow. And he was not intimidated.

As one of his own, he protected with his life those who were threatened with death. He welcomed with his arms those who were thrown into the torment of social exclusion. He breathed courage into those who had been condemned to the fear of living. He faced the all-embracing powers that harassed the weakest; and, as it could not be otherwise, he paid dearly for his audacity. A good man, some will say; God with us, I say. His example is still valid today, and should make us blush with shame.

By: Juan Ramón Junqueras
Adapted: David Gaitan

Warmly,

Ps. David Gaitan