J oseph was not a man given to anxiety. As the family neared Bethlehem however, a feeling of foreboding fell over him. His purpose had been to settle there with his friend, Hermas ben David. He had been born in Bethlehem, he had registered there, his hopes had been to build his business there instead of Nazareth. There would not be much business in Nazareth. It was much too economically deprived. His lips crinkled into a caustic smile when he remembered the popular slur, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Yet, how could he return to Bethlehem now? After what Herod had done? It seemed impossible.

The son of the Herod, Archelaus, now rules in Judea. He was no less a tyrant than his father. It was well known that of all of the sons of Herod the Great, the character and temperament of Archelaus was most like that of his bestial father. Like his father, the Romans hated him yet unlike his father, he held far less power. Later, the Romans would depose him, banish him and place their own procurators in power. Joseph feared that Archelaus would attempt to continue the slaughter of children that his father had initiated. Bethlehem was no longer an option. He must lay his hopes and dreams aside for now. The safety and protection of his family preempted all else. That night as he dreamed, his decision was confirmed by the whispers of an angel.

When he reached the borders of Bethlehem, he did not stop. Nor did he stop in the great city of Jerusalem, nor Jericho. Up the eastern banks of the Jordan, they traveled all the way to Galilee and ultimately back to Nazareth. Joseph, Mary and the child were home.

In Nazareth, with the funds provided by the Magi and that of his profession, Joseph could afford a home larger than that he would have had in Bethlehem. Jesus toddled about the rooms with abandon. As the weeks, months and years passed, his little body changed into that of a small boy. He became stronger and seemed wiser and brighter than others his age. It was thought by his neighbors and family that he basked in the radiance of God’s favor. There was little doubt that he was a special child.

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the wonder of the LORD.

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