The Road Through Darkness

Date: Sunday, December 28, 2025 – First Sunday after Christmas Day

Readings: Isaiah 63:7–9 | Psalm 148 | Hebrews 2:10–18 | Matthew 2:13–23

Matthew 2:13–23 is a story of displacement, violence, and divine protection. The holy family flees to Egypt as refugees, escaping the murderous rage of Herod. Isaiah 63 remembers God’s compassion throughout Israel’s history, and Hebrews 2 reveals a Savior who enters fully into human suffering so that He might redeem it. Psalm 148 again pulls the lens wide, inviting all creation to praise the God who rules over chaos with mercy.

In today’s world marked by news of families displaced by conflict or politics, this passage hits close to home. Christmas hope is not naïve optimism; it’s the conviction that God is present with the vulnerable, the displaced, and the oppressed. Jesus is not distant from human suffering, because He has lived it.

This devotion calls us to see the marginalized not as headlines but as people bearing the image of God. As a parallel to the holy family’s journey, we are reminded that God’s redemption often unfolds in hidden places, through quiet faithfulness, along roads we never expected to travel.

Devotional Prompts:

• Where do you see modern parallels to the holy family’s flight?
• How does Jesus’ experience of suffering shape your understanding of God?
• How might God be inviting you to show compassion to the displaced or vulnerable?
• What forces in our world resemble Herod’s destructive power?

Prayer:
God who journeys with the vulnerable, shelter all who flee danger and restore all who suffer. Make us agents of your compassion and courage. Through Christ, who enters our sorrow to bring redemption.