Herod the Horrid - (Part 2)

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi (Matthew 2:16).

If Joseph is the model of goodness and mercy in the Christmas story, Herod is certainly the model of evil and cruelty.

It was a brutal world into which the little baby Jesus was born.

Some challenging thoughts from Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey:

"Those who lived in the Middle East across the second half of the twentieth century (including this author) experienced frequent warfare.

"In Lebanon, particularly, there were seven wars in a thirty-five year period. One lasted for seventeen years. Others were quick, yet brutal. People saw friends and family killed by bullets and explosives and all the other horrors of modern war.

"How do people retain their faith under such conditions? One answer is that they remember both the Christmas story and the cross.

"A mindless, bloody atrocity took place at the birth of Jesus. After reading that story, the reader is not caught unawares by the human potential for terror that shows its ugly face again, on the cross.

"At the beginning of the Gospel and at its conclusion, Matthew presents pictures of the depth of evil that Jesus came to redeem.

"This story heightened the reader's awareness of the willingness on the part of God to expose Himself to the total vulnerability which is at the heart of the Incarnation.

"If the Gospel can flourish in a world that produces the slaughter of the innocents and the cross, the Gospel can flourish anywhere.

"From this awareness the readers of the Gospel in any age can take heart."

Herod the Horrid - (Part 1)

One of the stories recorded in the Christmas narrative involves Herod's rage when he realizes he has been tricked by the wise men and so orders the murder of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity, two years and under.


When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and gave orders to kill all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi  (Matthew 2:16).


The story is only recorded in Matthew, and it is sometimes purposely overlooked in all the peace and good will messages of the season. It is not a story that fits into pageants and nativity scenes very well.
Its brutal tones disturb us when we ponder "Joy to the World."

In church history the event is known as the "Slaughter of the Innocents."

Why was the story even included in Matthew's account?

Maybe to tie the remarkable historical connection between the birth of Moses and the birth of Jesus.  Two leaders were arriving on the world stage to lead their people from slavery into freedom.

Not a welcome thought for Pharaoh or Herod.

Or maybe to remind us that Jesus was born and lived in a cold, cruel, harsh world, and yet, in spite of that, a world that could and did receive and spread the gospel message of peace and joy.

A world not unlike our own world today.

So what kind of a man who make such an order to murder infants and small children?

More About Herod....

Our information on Herod is brief, but the picture that emerges through the centuries is of a cruel, self-serving, arrogant leader.

His background was complex. He was an Arab, whose father was from a tribe in the southern part of the Holy Land called Idumea (Edom - where descendants of Esau settled and whose people refused to allow the Israelites to pass through their land after the Exodus many centuries before).

His mother was from Petra, which was the capital of an Arab kingdom in northern Arabia.

But Herod's religion was Jewish. A century earlier a Jewish ruler had conquered the Edomites and on threat of death forced them to become Jews. His grandfather, Antipater the Elder, was a provincial governor.

Culturally Herod was a Greek and Greek was his first language. His name was Greek and he was known for various attempts to turn Jerusalem into a Greek city.

Politically, Herod was a Roman. He always sided with Rome in any conflict.



He was a well-known military figure. He personally led his armies in ten major wars. One of the most famous was the war between Cleopatra and Antony against Octavian.

Herod chose to side with Antony against Octavian for control of the Roman Empire.

When Octavian won decisively, Herod showed his clever ingenuity by traveling to meet Octavian and gaining his attention.

It was a brilliant move. Octavian (who called himself Caesar Augustus) granted Herod an audience.

Herod boldly appeared without a crown and freely admitted he had helped Caesar's enemies. He even admitted his high regard for Antony and his loyalty to him.

Then he climaxed his audience  by saying, "What I ask you to consider is not whose friend, but what a good friend, I was."

Caesar did consider the words and told Herod to put his crown back on and to return to Palestine to rule!

It was down hill for Herod from there. He had ten marriages. He considered his sons to be political rivals and had two of his 'favorites' strangled in Samaria. He began to suspect his favorite wife, Mariamne, of disloyalty, and had her killed. Later he wandered helplessly through the palace halls calling her name and sending servants to find her. When they failed, he had them beaten.

He attempted suicide and the crown prince, who Herod had imprisoned, was released to assume leadership. Herod survived and killed that son also, and then died a few days later.

His last order was to command his troops to arrest thousands of notables from across the country and place them in a stadium in Jericho. Upon Herod's death, the notables were to be executed so that there  would be mourning in the land when the king died.

Herod knew only too well that no one would weep for him.

That order was not carried out.

But it does show us that as an old man Herod certainly had the capability of ordering the killing of the babies in Bethlehem, the act we have called "The Slaughter of the Innocents" in the Christmas story.


It was truly a brutal world into which Jesus was born, and Herod was a man of his times.

A fact we should not ignore. Because it looks more and more like our world today.

Let's Celebrate Both!

                                                   

                                                                Let's Celebrate Both!

One of those Christmas carols that celebrate both the first and the second comings of Jesus and still popular today is titled, "There is Room in My Heart for Thee."

The first verse summarizes beautifully the scene where Mary and Joseph were shown to a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn, or guest house. No room for Jesus (or His family!)

But we can all today make room in our hearts to receive Him as Savior and Lord.

That's one of the great lessons of the Christmas story.

Here's the last verse: "When the heavens shall ring and her angels sing at Thy coming to victory, let Thy voice call me home saying, 'Yes, there is room! There is room at My side for thee!'" That's His Second Coming we are all so anxious to see!

There was always room at His side for us - for each of us, just as there was always room at the cross for us!

Our spot was reserved before creation and someday we will arrive to take that special place at His side! When He comes back to reign in glory we will be with Him!

What a wonderful hymn to sing at Christmas: to celebrate His birthday in that stable in Bethlehem and also His coronation and reign as King of Kings when He comes next time -- not to a stable but to a great Throne!

(By the way, that hymn/carol was written about 1850 by Emily Elliott, whose aunt, Charlotte Elliott, wrote "Just as I Am," a few years earlier.)

 Christmas is the best time to remember that the Baby Messiah who had no room to receive Him, made certain that we have a place with Him secured forever! "I go to prepare a place for you," He tells us. What a great God we have!

When will we sing 'Joy to the World'?

                                       

                                              When Will We Sing 'Joy to the World'?

Enjoying thinking about other generations' thoughts about Christmas.

I am finding out how their celebration of God's Incarnation at Bethlehem was joined with celebration and anticipation of His Second Coming. And how many carols reflect that -- the first verse or two is about Bethlehem and the last verses celebrate His victorious future return.

Think about "It Came upon A Midnight Clear."  The first verse describes the angles' visit proclaiming the birth of the baby Jesus. The the last verse moves us forward to the future: "For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophets bards foretold, when with the ever circling years comes round the age of gold. When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing."

From Bethlehem to the Millennium! Other carols paint the same picture.

And then there is "Joy to the World" which is completely about His Second coming! I remember hearing someone say once that that carol shouldn't be sung at Christmas  because it isn't about Bethlehem and Mary and Joseph at all - it's all about the future.

But that's the point -- our ancestors in their Christmas services intentionally celebrated both comings. What better way to celebrate Christmas than by joyously singing about His victorious return!

The first time He came in disguise, secretly, with no fanfare. But the next time He will come with His angelic army, publicly, seen by all, and all will bow down before Him in worship, either joyfully and eagerly, or with terror and fear.

I love the idea that our ancestors  celebrated both events at Christmas, and I want to experience Christmas that way also! So let's sing "Silent Night" and then "Joy to the World" -- so we can see the whole picture!

Christmas Day - What Jesus Did For Us - C S Lewis

 

                          What Jesus Did For Us

Taken from Mere Christianity by C S Lewis

What God did about us was this. The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself:  was born into the world as as an  actual man -- a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular color, speaking a particular language. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became  not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a Woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.

 A poem by George Herbert, written about 1600:

 The God of power, as He did ride

In His majestic glory

Resolved to light, and so one day,

He did descend, undressing all the way.