1st Sunday After Christmas
The Flight to Egypt
Matthew 2: 1-23
The story of countless innocent babies being murdered is how the Christmas story ends. We often don't include that as part of the Christmas reading or Christmas plays because it just wouldn't fit. We'd rather not think about it because it's messy and it's messy to explain.
Pastor Sherry Hanson of Galesburg, Illinois, tells about a time where this was included one year in the Christmas play. It was by an outspoken second-grader named Lily. Lily was very observant and intelligent, and nothing escaped her notice. Pastor Sherry was about to offer the closing prayer after the children's Christmas play. When all of a sudden she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked down and here was Lily, who had played the part of King Herod and she was motioning for the microphone. Now pastor Sherry thought that this is going to be one of those spontaneous, memorable moments that children are so famous for. So she gave the microphone to Lily, still in costume, who took it and glared at the audience and said, “I'm King Herod. I've been watching you, and I'm going to kill your babies.”
Now, that's a rather jarring end to a Christmas program. But according to the Bible, that's how it does end. Two years after Jesus is born, the Magi have come and left, and they didn't go back to King Herod. When Herod realized he had been tricked he became enraged. His authority is threatened by this so-called newborn King of the Jews. So he gives orders that all the male children two years old and younger in the area are to be murdered. Joseph had been warned in a dream and he left under cover of night.
We don't like to think of the Christmas story ending that way. We like to think about Mary being tender and mild and Joseph being strong and obedient, and Jesus being holy and innocent. But then there's Herod, who brings it all to a jarring end. Scholars debate about how many children were actually slaughtered in this action but we're just not sure because there's no historical record of this event. The reason why it didn't make it into the historical record, is because there were too many other atrocities that Herod had committed that outweighed this atrocity.
On this Sunday, we're asked to call to mind that this is how the Christmas story ends. Over the centuries, historians have noted that Christmas has been marked by a great many tragedies and suffering.
One historian by the name of Robert Blankenship refers to this as Herod's rage. I'd like to read you an excerpt from one of his books.
I think of other Christmases in how the spirit of Herod has lived on in more recent times in our own nation's history.
On Christmas Eve of 1776, George Washington and his men were Crossing the Delaware River on a frigid night to launch a sneak attack. Soon they would be retreating to Valley Forge. Many men would die, and those who lived would leave the blood from their frozen feet in the snow. King George was determined not to let the American colonies be free and independent. So Washington's men had to suffer and fight and die like this. Call it Herod's rage.
On Christmas Day, 1861 Abraham Lincoln was sitting upstairs in the White House watching his 10-year-old son die. Downstairs a committee of Congress was debating whether or not to arrest Mrs. Lincoln as a southern sympathizer and a national security risk since her brothers were fighting for the south and her sister was married to a Confederate General. Some of the bloodiest battles in history had already been fought in the Civil War, and even bloodier battles were yet to come. Call it Herod's rage.
On Christmas Day in 1944. The German Luftwaffe was mercilessly bombing the beleaguered 101st Airborne. The frozen bodies of 8,600 GI’s were laying in the snow. Brigadier General McAuliffe was asked by the Germans to surrender and he issued a one-word reply. “Nuts.” The Battle of the Bulge would continue. Call it Herod's rage.
During the Christmas season, in 1972, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger unleashed the most brutal bombings of the Southeast Asian war, the so-called Christmas bombings of what was then North Vietnam. In just a matter of weeks, they would leave Vietnam accepting virtually the same peace terms that were on the negotiating table before the bombings began.
But in one final fury, there was more devastation, more civilians killed, and more pilots lost. And it all happened at Christmas time. Call it Herod’s rage. December 26th, of 2004. A tsunami strikes in the Indian Ocean, killing 10’s of thousands of people in a dozen countries. Call it Herod’s rage.
The unmistakable message here is that God does permit evil and injustice and suffering in the world. After all, he has given us a free will and as broken human beings, we oftentimes misuse that free will to do evil. But ultimately, God dominates over evil.
But in the meantime, God, the Father also limits Satan. He has Satan on a leash and says, you can go this far and no further. If you look closely at the story, you can see the limitations that God imposes on Satan. An example of God limiting the influence of Satan happened when the Magi arrived with valuable gifts necessary to pay for their extended journey through Egypt.
The Magi are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. Joseph is warned in another dream to get out of town. After Herod dies, Joseph is given another dream to say it's okay to go back to the land of Israel. But then Joseph discovers that Herod’s son Archelaus, has taken his father's place, and he wasn't much better. Once again, God, the Father intervenes and warns Joseph now in a fourth dream, to stay out of Judea, and settle in Galilee. Throughout the story, we see where the prophecies are fulfilled, confirming that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, you get the very clear impression that God is in control, that he is pulling the strings. Clearly, he has Satan on a leash and when Satan gets too far out, he yanks him back.
At the end of Christmas, we always wish each other a happy new year, hoping for good times ahead.
But God's word says, regardless of the times ahead, God stands as Lord over all of it. Heading into the new year can be very scary to think about for some, especially in the midst of a pandemic. But remember, worry is a matter of imagining the future as if God is not going to be there. This is something I refer to as emotional atheism.
I want you to hear for yourself, what the Word of God says about the future.
Isaiah 40: 10, So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Proverbs 3: 5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.
Psalm 34: 17-18. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them, he delivers them from all of their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
And that is what I want to offer you, an opportunity to receive the hope that regardless of what the future holds, that God will indeed be there. In fact, He is already in the future waiting for us to join Him. He will stand as Lord over all time. He will limit Satan's influence and in time, he will destroy evil.
Amen.
