- [Narrator] Jesus in Africa.
The time of Jesus in Africa
was an Old Testament fulfillment.
The Bible doesn't tell us about Jesus visiting Africa
during his adult ministry.
The only time the Bible mentions Jesus in Africa
is during his infancy.
Jesus in Egypt.
The story of Jesus in Egypt is a brief,
but significant part of his early life
as described in the Bible.
Mary and Joseph, who live in Nazareth,
had to travel to Bethlehem
because the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus,
ordered everyone to go to their ancestral towns
to be registered in a census.
Joseph belonged to the house of David,
and Bethlehem was known as the city of David.
So Joseph and Mary, who was pregnant,
made the long journey to Bethlehem.
When they arrived in Bethlehem, the town was very crowded.
They couldn't find a regular place to stay,
like an inn or a guest house,
because it was so busy.
They ended up finding shelter in a stable,
a place where animals were kept.
It was here in that humble stable that Jesus was born.
Mary wrapped him in clothes
and placed him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals,
because there was no crib available.
This was a very humble beginning for someone
who would be called the king of kings.
Meanwhile, shepherds were watching their flocks at nights
in a field nearby.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
The shepherds were very scared,
but the angel said, "Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy
for all the people.
Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you.
He is the Messiah, the Lord."
After hearing this, the shepherds journeyed to Bethlehem.
On their way,
the Wise Men from the East saw a special star in the sky.
They understood that this star signaled the birth
of a great king, the king of the Jews.
They followed the star to find and worship this new king.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked King Herod...
Matthew 2:2-3, Amplified Bible.
"'Where is he, who has been born king of the Jews?
For we have seen his star in the east
and have come to worship him.'
When Herod the king heard this,
he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him."
Herod was troubled by this,
and he asked the Wise Men to find the child
and report back to him,
pretending that he too wanted to worship Jesus.
But Herod actually felt threatened by the birth
of this new king.
Herod was always on the lookout
for potential dangers to his power,
most of which came from inside his own family.
He took the lives of several members
whom he suspected of disloyalty.
His being troubled is completely in character.
Herod was an Edomite,
and Rome recognized him as a vassal king over Judea.
The people's extreme hostility against him
was eased by their enthusiasm
for the construction projects he oversaw,
such as the stunning renovations he made
to the Second Temple.
"We read, "He was troubled and all Jerusalem with him."
The fact that all Jerusalem was troubled
with Herod is significant.
This would change everything.
The difficulties faced
are a testament to the remarkable power of Jesus,
even as a young child.
Jesus of Nazareth is such an influential figure
in the realm of consciousness that,
as soon as he arrives in his weakest state
as a newborn king, his reign begins.
Before he takes the throne,
his friends offer gifts and his enemies plot his death.
The Wise Men continued to follow the star
until it stopped over the place where Jesus was.
They were amazed and told everyone
what the angel had said about this child:
that he was the Messiah, the Savior promised by God.
They bowed down and worshiped him,
offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
After being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,
the Wise Men returned to their country by another route.
After the angel visits Joseph
in a dream to warn him about King Herod's intentions
to harm the baby Jesus,
the story continues with urgency and a journey to safety.
This part of the story is about protecting Jesus
and is found in the Bible,
mainly in the Gospel of Matthew.
"The angel told Joseph, 'Get up.
Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.
Stay there until I tell you,
for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.'"
Matthew 2:13.
Joseph immediately understood the danger.
He didn't wait.
That very night, he woke up Mary
and they quickly prepared to leave.
With the baby Jesus,
Mary and Joseph left their home in Bethlehem at nighttime.
They set out on a long and difficult journey to Egypt,
a land far away from King Herod's rule.
This journey wasn't easy.
They had to travel many miles, probably on foot
or maybe with the help of a donkey,
across deserts and unfamiliar lands.
"Now, when they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up.
Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you,
for Herod intends to search for the child
in order to destroy him.'
So Joseph got up and took the child
and his mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
He remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken
by the prophet Hosea:
'Out of Egypt, I called my son.'"
Matthew 2:13-15, Amplified Bible.
The command arrived at the very moment
that the Wise Men were leaving and it was an urgent one.
Joseph probably would not have thought it was all
that strange if you told him
that they were going to seek sanctuary in Egypt.
In ancient times, Egypt was home
to a sizable population of his people.
Egypt was a safe haven
for those fleeing Herod's jurisdiction.
It was a well-ordered Roman province located nearby.
We read, "Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."
This response reflects the nature of Herod and humanity.
It's disappointing that,
when God became human and came to earth,
the almost instantaneous response
of one section of humankind
was to try as hard as they could to slay him.
We then read, "When he arose, he took the young child
and his mother by night."
It was remarkable
that Joseph obeyed completely and promptly.
He left the exact same night after he had the dream.
When Joseph was first engaged to Mary from Nazareth,
it is quite doubtful that he ever thought
that such things would happen.
Nobody tells us where in Egypt Joseph went
or how long he spent there.
Some people believe he was there for six or seven years,
while others say he was only there
for three or four months.
We read, "Out of Egypt, I called my son."
Another prophecy was realized through the course of events.
At first look, it may be difficult to see
how the prophecy found in Hosea 11:1
is realized in the person of Jesus,
but the Book of Matthew makes it abundantly plain
that the son of God would also emerge from Egypt,
just as Israel did as a nation.
They did this in order
to protect Jesus from King Herod's threats.
Herod did not comprehend the nature of Jesus's kingdom,
which was spiritual,
rather than a challenge to his political authority.
Because of this, Herod,
who was filled with terror and rage,
set out to locate and execute the infant Jesus.
Matthew 2:16-18, Amplified Bible.
"Then Herod, when he realized that he had been tricked
by the Magi, was extremely angry,
and he sent soldiers
and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem
and all that area who were two years old and under,
according to the date which he had learned from the Magi.
Then what had been spoken
through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled.
'A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning.
Rachel weeping for her children.
She refused to be comforted because they were no more.'"
It is entirely in character
with Herod's well-known ruthlessness.
Incredible!
Anything is credible
of the man who murdered his own wife and sons.
This deed shocks Christians,
but it was a small affair in Herod's career
and in contemporary history,
especially in the last years of his life.
Herod was a nasty and distrustful man.
Herod ordered the fraudulent arrest of a large number
of influential figures in Jerusalem when he realized
that his time of death was drawing near.
Matthew 2:19-21, Amplified Bible.
"But when Herod died,
an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
and said, 'Get up.
Take the child and his mother,
and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child's life are dead.'
Then Joseph got up and took the child and his mother,
and came into the land of Israel."
We read, "Arise, take the young child and his mother."
Joseph received another dream from God,
this time through an angel of the Lord.
Joseph obeyed promptly.
The young child, the young child, the young child.
Frequently, the young child is given foremost place
in the account.
The Messiah, fleeing from the murderous Herod,
sought refuge in Egypt for a few years.
It has been falsely claimed by some
that Jesus was influenced
by Egyptian magicians or sorcerers,
and that his miracles were nothing more
than Egyptian tricks.
However, it is important to note that there is no evidence
to support such claims.
In fact, there is significant evidence
that contradicts them.
The teachings and style of ministry of Jesus
are heavily influenced by Old Testament
and not by Egyptian mysticism.
There was a signal that it was safe to return home,
but when Joseph heard
that Herod's son was ruling in Judea,
he was afraid to go back there.
Matthew 2:22-23, Amplified Bible.
"But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father, Herod the Great,
he was afraid to go there.
Then being warned by God in a dream,
he left for the region of Galilee
and went and settled in a city called Nazareth.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets:
'He shall be called a Nazarene.'"
When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea,
Joseph had valid reasons to be cautious about Archelaus.
This particular son of Herod turned out
to be an inapt and violent ruler.
In fact, his misrule was so severe that,
upon the plea of the people, the Romans had him deposed
and replaced him with a governor appointed
by Rome in AD 6.
It is said that his brother, Herod Antipas,
had a far more calm demeanor
and a temper that was less prone to outbursts.
Therefore, Joseph, not without the direction of God,
traveled to his own province, which at the time was Galilee.
It is amazing
that Joseph traveled all the way back to Nazareth,
which was most likely Mary and Joseph's homeland.
It was extraordinary due to the fact
that Nazareth was an unremarkable town
and due to the fact that it was the place
where everyone knew Mary and Joseph,
as well as the peculiar circumstances
that surrounded the birth of their son.
Nathanael, who was from Nazareth,
was curious about whether or not anything good
could originate from such a place.
John 1:46.
Jesus grew up in Nazareth
and matured into young adulthood.
He would carry out the obligations that were expected
of the eldest son,
and at some point in time,
Joseph would vanish from the picture,
at which point Jesus would become the man of the family.
Before he officially began his designated ministry,
he worked at his trade,
provided for his family, loved his God,
and demonstrated himself to be completely faithful
in 1,000 other ways.
In spite of this, no one would be frightened
to encounter a man from Nazareth.
Rather, the tendency would be to instantly consider oneself
to be on a higher level than a person from Nazareth.
This story of Jesus's birth is a reminder
of the humble beginnings of Jesus
and the joy and hope he brings to the world.
Jesus's apostles in Africa.
In Acts 8:27- 39, Philip, one of Jesus's followers,
encountered an Ethiopian eunuch,
a high official in charge of the treasury of the Kandake,
which means queen of the Ethiopians.
This Ethiopian official had gone to Jerusalem to worship
and was returning home.
Sitting in his chariot,
he was reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
The Holy Spirit told Philip to go
to his chariot and stay near it.
"Philip ran up to the chariot
and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
Philip asked him, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'
The official replied, 'How can I
unless someone explains it to me?'
So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."
Acts 8:30-33.
The passage of scripture the eunuch was reading was this.
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
Isaiah 53:7-8.
The official asked Philip, "Tell me, please,
who is the prophet talking about?
Himself or someone else?"
Philip then explained
that the scripture was talking about Jesus,
and he'd told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road,
they came to some water
and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water.
What can stand in the way of my being baptized?"
He gave orders to stop the chariot,
and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,
and Philip baptized him.
After they came out of the water,
the spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,
and the eunuch did not see him again,
but went on his way rejoicing.
This story is significant
because it shows that the message
of Jesus reached an influential African individual
who likely played a role in spreading Christianity
in his homeland, Ethiopia.
This account is one of the earliest recorded interactions
of the gospel reaching Africa,
illustrating the spread of the Christian message
beyond the Jewish and Roman world.
While the Bible doesn't detail further expansion in Africa,
historical evidence suggests that Christianity continued
to grow in regions like North Africa and Ethiopia
in the centuries that followed.
Christian communities in places like Egypt
became important centers
for Christian thought and scholarship
in the early centuries of the church.
The message spreads.
As Jesus himself said in Mark 16:15,
"Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to all creation."
This call to spread his teachings knows no boundaries.
Lessons from the birth of Jesus: humility.
Jesus's birth in a stable to a humble family
reminds us that greatness can come from humble beginnings.
It's not about wealth or power,
but about the heart and purpose.
Faith and obedience.
Mary and Joseph showed great faith and obedience.
Despite the unusual circumstances, they trusted God's plan.
This teaches us the importance of faith
and following God's guidance, even when it's challenging
or doesn't make sense to us.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, in your boundless love,
you sent your son, Jesus, to walk among us,
teaching us the path of truth, love, and righteousness.
Today, we lift up our brothers
and sisters in Africa who seek
to follow his footsteps in their daily lives.
Lord, bless them with your strength and wisdom
in a land rich with diversity and heritage.
May they be the example of your love,
spreading peace and unity.
Protect them from hardships and trials
and provide for their needs, both physical and spiritual.
Guide their leaders to make decisions that honor you
and bring prosperity to their communities.
Let the young grow in knowledge and faith
and the old impart wisdom and guidance.
In times of trouble,
may they find solace in your word
and comfort in your presence.
Strengthen their faith, O Lord,
as they navigate the challenges of life.
May their actions reflect the compassion and grace of Jesus,
touching lives and transforming hearts.
Let their communities thrive under your watchful eye,
becoming examples of your kingdom on earth.