When they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Matthew 2:13–15 NKJV
Right after Jesus’ birth, Luke 2 shows us events going well, one after another in orderly fashion and in fulfillment of the Law’s requirements: the announcement to the shepherds, their visit and making these things known, His circumcision, His presentation in the temple, and the contacts there with aged Simeon and Anna.
The event recorded by Matthew takes place at a later time. The Baby is now a young Child, the family is in a house, wise men have come from the East to worship and present gifts to this One born King of the Jews. He is not in Jerusalem, the capital, but in Bethlehem, the place foretold by Micah the prophet. Herod the king and all Jerusalem are troubled. God guides the wise men and warns them to leave by another way after presenting their gifts.
God now directs Joseph in a dream to flee with his family to Egypt and to stay there until given further directions. Joseph immediately obeyed. Satan would have had Jesus put to death in any way except what God had ordained: on the cross for our sins! But God protected His Son and the family He had placed Him in.
Our Lord Jesus thus became a refugee, tasting the bitterness of persecution because of who He was, God’s appointed King of the Jews! Many of His followers today are refugees too. Do we feel with them, help them? He does! He knows their suffering and can even feel what children suffer when their parents are refugees.