Christmas Consequences

I am truly grieved at the mounting loss of life that we hear of nightly on the news.  Especially the death of children - in particular in Pakistan where the Taliban have killed so many children.  It is truly an offensive story.

I am reminded of the story in the Gospel of Matthew in which we find that the good news for all people which was to be Christ was not good news to Herod.  However one might feel about the nature of the story - historical or legendary - it does present a larger truth.

What it tells us rather clearly is that when we begin to believe that our power places us above one another or above the power of God, when God does act or offer a new revelation, it may very well frighten us.  By that I mean that if we find ourselves comfortable, when God acts differently, we might seek to curtail the revelation.

Herod did not want to lose his power.  And the arrival of the sages let him know that things were happening in his province that were not of his doing, not of his planning, and out of his control.

Before I continue, let me give you some background.

Herod had been placed in charge of the Jewish province of the Roman Empire by the Romans.  After assisting them in wiping out any who would oppose either Herod or Rome, the Romans gave Herod the title, “King of the Jews.”  To keep his title, he would work tirelessly to thwart his own people’s quest for freedom.

As New Testament scholar Richard Horsley wrote, “Herod, in fact, instituted what today would be called a police state, complete with loyalty oaths, surveillance, informers, secret police, imprisonment, torture, and brutal retaliation against any serious dissent.”[1]

It is into this setting that Jesus is born.  As such, the one sent by God is nothing less than a threat to the way of life that the people are used to and the one that Herod and the Romans are striving to maintain. 

Herod was no fool, and he was not one who would have any use for the will of the people, the words of the prophets, or a God who wanted peace and justice.  When the sages come asking Herod, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”  Herod knows they don’t mean him.

It is telling that Matthew describes this as a moment in which fear spread.  “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”  Why?  Scared people can be dangerous people.  Scared people with power and weapons can be lethal. 

Therefore, for the people, the good news would be difficult news at best.  A new king meant that Herod would respond.  And how Herod might respond was a source of great fear.  People knew how he acted.  They knew he would not take the word of a new king easily.  And that meant that, as good a news as it might be, Herod would take it out on them until things were safely and securely back the way he wanted them.

It is here that we see the sad irony. 

The Hebrew prophets do not describe the messiah as a warrior, though they do imply that he will stand up for the people.  The prophets do not describe the messiah as a killer, but as one who will set the captives free. 

Herod assumes that if the one the sages speak of is the messiah sent by God, he has come to overthrow his kingdom.  Herod assumes that the messiah would act like he would.  Herod would kill his opposition.  He would likely assume that his opposition – sent by another king or sent by God – would seek to kill him as well.

Herod’s response is to kill the 2 to 3 year old males of Bethlehem.  Some put that number at about 20 to 30 children, given the demographics and size of the town.  Doesn't sound like much, but as we are all to aware from our news, 10 children killed is an unbearable tragedy.  20-30?  100?  

It is a sad commentary on the mind of humanity to recognize that in response to the good news of the birth of Christ, children would be murdered.  It is a sad commentary on the continued state of humanity that anyone dies in the name of or for the sake of Christ.  And it is a sad commentary on the state of the church that we do not recognize the subversive, dangerous, and liberating message of Christmas for the world. 

What we proclaim continues to threaten the powers that be because Christ did not come that our economy might perk up.  Christ did not come that our power might be solidified, our stock portfolio increase, or that we continue to live in a nation of abundance that wastes food, water, and allows 1% of the nation to hold 80% of the national wealth. 

Christ’s arrival makes Herod and those like him quite uncomfortable.  Because Christ threatens to bring with him a change of heart.   

Finding Christ might just make us reconsider our politics. 

Finding Christ might just make us reconsider our words, our actions, and how we treat people. 

Finding Christ might mean that we give money to the church that it might take that money and give it to the impoverished, the homeless, the people that might take that money and go by beer and lottery tickets. 

We might work to make sure children have a safe place to sleep, a roof over their heads. 

We might work to be advocates for children, work with the illiterate, be in ministry to the Mexicans, battered women, the least and the lost and the powerless– the very people whose children Herod would kill in an effort to stay in power. 

Finding Christ means a change. 

It means repentance, it means justice, it means hope. 

Christ means new life.  Herod cannot desire nor fathom such an idea.

Often, we cannot either. The church will do all in its power to keep things the way they were, even if that means stopping our journey of faith, wounding the innocent, or, like Herod, doing all in our power to assure that no one will act against our wishes.

Before Christ can become good news to the world, he must be recognized as good news to the church and to those who claim his name when they profess themselves to be Christian.

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In Bethlehem, there is the Church of the Nativity - supposedly built over the place Christ was born.

As wonderful as that church was, there was a small chapel below the church that has both moved and haunted me.  Called the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, it was built as a place to remember the children martyred by Herod. 

More than that, it is there to remind us all that Christ, the Prince of Peace, brings with him consequences both good and bad.  And that those consequences which we find so heinous, so evil as the slaughter of children – those consequences can only come to an end when the church begins to live as the One who came to offer life. 

Those consequences can only cease when we, beginning in our church and in our churches worldwide, can stop fighting for control, study war no more, and take to heart that Christ our Lord came out of love.

May God have mercy on our souls, and may we find the Christ child a place to live in our hearts.

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[1]  Horsley, as cited in Obery Hendricks book The Politics of Jesus p.42.