Yes, Jesus was a refugee.
Every year Christmas is used to push a political agenda. Good.
Christianity is an intrinsically political faith. The declaration that Jesus has come to earth to be crowned as King of Kings was a direct challenge to the autocratic and pagan rule of Ceasar. Not only that, our Christ coming is a threat to the kings of this world and the power religion practiced by the petty and mighty tyrants alike. This baby grew to be a man who an occupying empire, with the traitorous cooperation of his own people, unjustly arrested, tortured, and executed him. This baby did not stay a baby, and this slain man did not remain buried. Rather, he was raised from the dead and declared King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
It is not whether or not Christmas is political; it is how it is political. When leftists and socialists use Christmas to push for statist theft-based solutions to housing and poverty, the problem is not that they are politizing Christmas, the problem is their political "solutions."
One typical political play we see around this time of year is the idea that Jesus was a refugee. One image I recently saw on social media went so far as to separate Jesus and his family in cages, clearly alluding to pictures of young Latino immigrants behind chainlink fences. It is not a surprise that many Republican conservatives have taken issue with this imagery and with declaring Christ as a refugee. These sorts see this kind of rhetoric as Biblically inaccurate and unfair for at least a few reasons. But are the protesting Republican Christians justified in their rage and angst?
Was Jesus a refugee?
The short answer is yes; he was.
What makes someone a refugee? Some have played word games to obfuscate this straightforward question. A refugee is anyone who has been forced to leave their home to escape persecution, natural disaster, or war. Does Jesus match this definition?
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” - Matthew 2:13-15
Again, the answer is yes. Jesus does match this definition. Some, however, will dispute that label with vehemence.
First, as demonstrated by the included meme, they will claim that Jesus cannot be a refugee because he and his family fled from one Roman province to another. On the surface, this seems like a cute little "gotcha." That is, till you realize that the Roman Empire made up the vast majority of the known world to the average Israelite and that the forces they were fleeing from were the local government and not the Roman Empire. The meme and this line of logic isn’t even historically accurate. Judea wasn't a province until 6 AD, and until then it was a tributary kingdom; essentially a puppet government that still paid taxes to Rome but not under the direct provincial jurisdiction of Rome. Even if Judea were a Roman province, there is nothing in the conventional definition of "refugee" to suggest that it is necessary to flee an empire if the persecuting power is a local government. In fact, many Conservative talking-heads have taken to calling US citizen transplants from California to other less socialistic states "tax refugees" or "socialism refugees."
Further, I wonder if modern conservatives would object to escaped slaves from the American South being called refugees in the American North? After all, it’s the same nation. Are we willing to show some consistency on this point and show some “critical thinking”? I doubt it.
To be a refugee, one must flee and escape the jurisdiction of whoever is threatening them. Herod has no authority over Egypt. Let's not obfuscate the obvious. This obfuscation is the primary argument used to confuse the issue.
Other points are also sometimes employed.
A Jewish population in Eqypt means other Jews can't be refugees. This does not follow. Can Christians from war-torn foreign nations be considered refugees if they attempt to flee to a Christian country? No more time should be spent on this, frankly, silly argument.
They went to Egypt to fulfill prophesy. Just because there are legitimate prophecy applications to Jesus and his family fleeing to Egypt (Hosea 11:1) , it does not follow that they can not also be considered refugees. Mary and Joseph did not unroll a scroll of Hosea and deliberately choose to take a vacation to Egypt merely to fulfill prophecy. They fled to Egypt to escape the threat of violence.
Mary and Joseph returned to Israel, so that must mean they can be refugees. Again, this does not follow. The definition of "refugee" does not speak to the eventual possibility of refugees returning. Whether they return or stay does not matter.
Whether or not Jesus and his family were refugees is not a hard question. They fled persecution and escaped the jurisdiction of those who would do them harm. So, yes, they were refugees.
We would do well to consider the Imago Dei in refugees of all sorts. If we do not love the least of these, we do not love our Lord. John Calvin, himself a refugee, said this about how we should view refugees and those who are not just like us.
“Not only those with whom we have some connection are called our neighbors, but all without exception; for the whole human race forms one body, of which all are members, and consequently should be bound together by mutual ties; for we must bear in mind that even those who are most alienated from us, should be cherished and aided even as our own flesh; since we have seen elsewhere that sojourners and strangers are placed in the same category (with our relations;) and Christ sufficiently confirms this in the case of the Samaritan.”
Christmas is political and we should not shy away from that. But that is not the same thing as believing that Christmas (or Christianity) should have anything to do with political parties. We should be driven by the Spirit of God in us and theologically driven, not driven by the arbitrary party lines of this age. Beware of those who attempt to make this season or our faith about being opposed to either the Democrats or the Republicans. This season should drive us to show compassion and love towards those who are fleeing war, persecution, or poverty. Instead of playing rhetorical gymnastics in order to avoid Christ empathizing with modern refugees, consider how to serve them. Instead of making vain attempts to associate loving refugees with Democrats, step away from the Republican/Democrat false paradigm and soberly consider the truth of God's Word. Stop playing the political game and stop playing word games.
It is not a scandal to say that Christmas should remind us that the baby Jesus was once a vulnerable refugee. However, lest we neglect justice and mercy, Christmas should also remind us that Jesus is now a mighty King who judges righteously those who trample upon the poor, the weak, the helpless, and the refugee.