Day 40 of 4: The Dark Story of Christmas (12/16/12)

Day 40 of four more years (originally posted on Facebook on December 16, 2012)

The Christmas Story. How well do you know it? I like to think that we all are familiar to the point that we can almost recite the passage from Luke by memory. Even the other parts, from the prophesy in the Old Testament, to the angel's visit to Mary, the Wise Men, Shepherds, the Star in the east. There is another part of the story, however, the dark part…the evil part. I have been struggling with this topic for two days, asking God to put something else on my heart. But I can't let go of it, especially in the face of the evil which descended on the elementary school on Friday. I want to run from it, pretend it didn't happen, comfort myself with the idea that it couldn't happen again, not here, anyway. If we think of it as an isolated incident, we can relax a little. Or we can believe that if we just pass more laws, put in more security, pray really hard, then our children will be safe. Can they be "safe" in this world? Were the children safe in Israel during the time of Jesus' birth? After all, it was a simpler time, there was no "social media," no horrible, violent video games, no mental illness…it was a pastoral scene, right? No, it was not at all safe. Here is what happened. I know most of you remember this story from Sunday School class, but my memory of the event was sort of blurred. It does not fit with the nativity scene of Jesus' birthday at all.

 The Dark Story of Christmas: The king of Israel at the time of Jesus birth was King Herod. He was evil from the top down, and he wanted no part of a new king prophesied in the history of Israel. Why, he was king and nothing was going to stop him, no way a baby was going to usurp his throne. All was going pretty well for Herod until the Magi showed up at the palace in Jerusalem wanting to know where the one who was born king of the Jews was. These Gentile Kings were laden with treasures to take to the new king and wanted to worship him. You see, these wise, wealthy kings were searching, following the star in the east, looking for what Herod feared: the loss of his kingdom to a baby. It actually says in Matthew 2:3 that "he was disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him." I can see his motive, but there is no way of knowing how Herod must have painted the picture to those around him of his feelings about the Messiah. So he concocted a story, a lie, to instruct the Wise Men to find the baby and come tell him so he could worship the baby, too. Right. When the Wise Men did find the baby Jesus, worshipped him and offered him gifts, they were warned in a dream by God that Herod had evil plans to kill baby Jesus. They heeded the warning and returned home another way.

Herod's fury… it could scarcely be contained. He had been tricked, and his anger spilled over into rage. He no longer hid his evil plans or pretended to want to worship Jesus. Herod issued an edict that all babies two years and younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity be murdered. You see, Herod did believe the prophesy, but his heart was full of evil and the hideous murder of babies occurred. There are simply no words for the horror, none. Let me just say that it rivaled the atrocity that happened to our children last Friday. I am not trying to explain it, but just point out the fact. We cannot control evil, only God can. He protected the Holy Family by warning Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt, where they lived until Herod died. Until it was safe to return, but even then, the danger was still in the land of Judea, so they settled in safety in Nazareth.

Why should we rehash the dark, unbelievable evil part of the Christmas story? This is the season of love come down, the love of God to mankind in sending His Son Jesus. The incarnation of Jesus is the beautiful part of the story of salvation. The reason we need to remember the evil in our world is that evil and sin are the reasons He came to us. To save us from evil. Only when Jesus comes back as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will peace be allowed to reign on this earth. Believe this: Jesus will come back. I have no answer for evil, except that. Evil will then be destroyed forever. I believe we must not give up the fight against the dark powers of Satan while we wait for our Savior's return. What are the weapons that work? The Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and God's protection for us today. Claim it. Even though it is Christmas, we must not lay down our weapons. Peace will come.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Pray:

Mighty God, please give us peace as we address the evil in our world. We know you sent your Son to earth as a baby, but Jesus died for us as a man, and rose again as the Eternal Intercessor for us as He sits at Your right hand. Comfort us in the season of Christmas and give us hope for all year. Amen