Apr. 9: Jesus the Immigrant

The tragic event has shocked local communities, ignited national debate and incited angry protests in some cities. Two beautiful young ladies killed by a drunk driver—innocent, stuck down senselessly and unnecessarily. The driver is an illegal immigrant with a recent history of offenses while under the influence of alcohol.

The Norfolk, VA metropolitan area’s newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot reports: “David Kunhardt and Colette Tranchant asked the community for calm a few days after the deaths of their daughters became the center of a heated national debate about illegal immigration. The whole thing has gotten out of hand, Tranchant said. Their daughters, Alison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16, were killed in an automobile accident. Alfredo Ramos, the man charged in their deaths, had been drinking and was in the country illegally.”

While some wrestle with the question of why God allows such terrible things to happen, talk-show hosts scream at each other about tougher legislation against drunk drivers and still others fume about the need for toughening and strictly enforcing the immigration laws.

One of the effects of all this is that it can cause us to look at people of different races with suspicion. When you encounter someone whom you believe to be from another country, what is your default assumption? Do you initially assume they are here illegally, or do you give them the benefit of the doubt? If our initial reaction is to see people who are different as undesirable and undeserving—as those who do not belong—then what chance is there for real community?

In the Bible there are many instructions for how to treat the alien, stranger, foreigner, immigrant, etc. One passage from the Torah, the Law of Moses, reads: “The immigrant living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:34) God reminds his people that they were once the foreigner, the alien, and this passage ties into the idea that Jesus later taught and has come to be known as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

When Jesus was born and received a visit from some “wise men”, astrologers…the Magi. And then we read that “When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream "Get up," he said, "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." 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 2:13-15) Jesus’ family had to flee to Egypt for safety as King Herod was having all the males less than two years of age put to death. Jesus was an immigrant—whether legally or illegally we are not told.

My point is this: while we grieve other the death of these two young women and sympathize with the parents; while we want to see justice done; we need to also be careful that the events of the times in which we live do not cause us to become prejudice against those who are not like us. It helps me to remember that Jesus, too, was once the immigrant; the foreigner of a different race. I try to remember that each time I encounter someone whose skin and accent are different than mine.

~ Father, help me to be more concerned with Your kingdom agenda than with my national agenda. Help me to be more concerned about someone’s place in Your family than about their place in my country. Change my heart to love my foreign-born neighbor as I love myself. Amen.