The Lion, The Lamb And Herod's Rage
Sermon
Together In Christ
Sermons and Prayers For the Christian Year
The text I read to you from Matthew's gospel is surely the least known part of the Christmas story. It's the part most people forget about or would rather overlook. In fact, in all my years of growing up in the church, I never heard anyone preach an Advent sermon on this "Slaughter of the Innocents" in Bethlehem, even though it is as much a part of the Christmas story as shepherds and wise men and stars shining brighly on a silent, holy night.
We wish it were otherwise. We wish that the whole Christmas story and everything about it were all sweetness and light. We wish for nothing but "good news and great joy for all people," and that peace and goodwill would finally prevail over all the earth, or at least for a little while during the Christmas season.
But there is a darker side to the world, even at Christmas time. The world carries on with its evil and bloodshed - it's been that way for thousands of years. Indeed, our text in Matthew tells us that this is how it was even at the very first Christmas.
The massacre which took place in Bethlehem shortly after Jesus' birth was ordered by King Herod, known as Herod the Great. He was a killer from a family of killers - an evil, bloodthirsty man who achieved great power yet was always in fear for his life.
Herod was not a Jew, but the Romans put him in power to rule over the Jews. As soon as he gained the throne, he had all of the (Sanhedrin) priests killed and installed his own priests in their place. He then rounded up the leading citizens and killed them, or put them in prison. It didn't take Herod long to earn the hatred of the whole nation of Israel.
Meanwhile, the members of Herod's family didn't fare any better than the people of Israel. His father was poisoned; a brother was killed by his own wife. Herod assassinated his wife and had his own sons executed for treason. It's not surprising to learn that Herod rebuilt a fortress on the top of a steep mountain at Masada, to protect himself against his subjects and the members of his own family. He had good reason to fear, because his brutal, repressive rule had made him many enemies. This was truly one of the most evil men ever to stride across history's bloody stage.
Herod knew about Jesus even before our Lord was born, and he knew that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. More exactly, Herod knew the prophecy that "out of [Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6, quoting Micah 5:2). So, Herod had more than a passing interest in finding this Child ... this Child who was supposed to grow up and take Herod's place as king of Israel.
Like all paranoid rulers, Herod had an extensive intelligence network of spies and informers, so he probably knew the wise men were in Israel as soon as they crossed the border. In any case, he surmised why they had come this far towards Bethlehem and our text says he "summoned them secretly" to him, to ask them more questions about the child to be born under the shining star.
"Find this child and tell me where He is," Herod said to the wise men. "If He really is born to be king of Israel, let me come to worship Him, too."
Of course, the wise men knew better. They knew that a king who had murdered his own sons because they were too popular wouldn't hesitate to kill a stranger's baby who appeared to be a rival to his throne. So, after they visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph, the wise men left secretly and went home by another route.
The text then says that Herod was "in a furious rage" when he found out the wise men were gone. So, he did what logic would tell a ruthless, power-mad mind to do: he decided not to take any chances. He ordered the death of every male child under the age of two in the Bethlehem region. Better to kill thousands of innocent babies, he figured, than to let the Christ Child get away.
Herod's men came rushing into town and before the startled parents knew what was happening, they began butchering the children. For a moment, maybe the parents simply stared in stunned disbelief at the attack. Maybe the enormity of the evil took them by surprise, until they bravely but futilely tried to resist. Who would think that soldiers would suddenly swoop down out of nowhere to slaughter innocent children, for no apparent reason at all? From Herod to Hitler, this is the tragic question Jews have been forced to ask.
You can imagine the scene in Bethlehem and the surrounding countryside. You can imagine the screams, the shock, the panic and the pain. Our text captures the feeling well, by quoting the prophet Jeremiah:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more. (31:15)
"Rachel," of course, refers to all the mothers of Bethlehem. All the mothers were weeping and wailing, refusing to be consoled because there were no more children. The sound of their sobbing flooded the earth and filled the heavens as their beloved children died in the horrible holocaust of Herod's rage.
This took place at the first Christmas and in a figurative sense, of course, Herod has been raging ever since. There is evil in this world which cannot stand the sight of good. There is darkness which cannot stand the light. It may be represented in specific people, like Herod or Stalin, or it may simply be the larger condition of war and suffering, the general brutality of exploitation and empire which holds the world in its grip. However you want to think of it, it was part of the first Christmas and it remains with us even now. Call it Herod's rage.
I think of other Christmases and how the spirit of Herod has lived on in more recent times, in our own nation's history.1
On Christmas Eve in 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 in 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sitting upstairs in the White House watching his ten-year-old son die. Downstairs, a committee of Congress was debating whether 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 this 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 beleagured 101st Airborne. The frozen bodies of 8,600 GIs lay in the snow. Brigadier General McAuliffe was asked to surrender and he issued a one-word reply: "Nuts!" The Battle of the Bulge would continue. Call it Herod's rage.
On Christmas Day in Korea in 1950, in a brutally cold winter, the Marines and the 7th Fleet were desperately attempting the largest rescue operation in history, moving 200,000 United Nations troops from the path of the advancing Chinese army. The war would continue and thousands more would die. Call it Herod's rage.
During the Christmas season of 1972, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger unleashed the most brutal bombing of the Southeast Asian war, the so-called "Christmas bombing" of what was then North Viet Nam. In just a matter of weeks, they would leave Viet Nam, accepting virtually the same peace terms as were on the negotiating table before the bombing 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.
Now we are in another Christmas season and does not the spirit of Herod's rage live on? Is not Herod still as much a part of the Christmas story as he was so long ago in Bethlehem?
The spirit of Herod lives on around the world wherever nations treat might as right. The spirit of Herod lives on around the world wherever ruling elites make laws or use force and repression to preserve their privilege and wealth. Herod's spirit is deeply entrenched in this world and its history. No nation is immune.
Today, mothers and fathers are weeping from Beirut to Bogota, from Jerusalem to Johannesburg. They refuse to be consoled because Herod's spirit lives on in those tortured cities, where injustice rules and violence and terrorism are the order of the day.
Mothers and fathers are weeping in Beijing, refusing to be consoled, because the spirit of Herod lives on in a state which countenances even the murder of its most idealistic youth in order to crush liberty and preserve the status quo.
Mothers and fathers are weeping in Central America, refusing to be consoled, because the spirit of Herod lives on in Washington, D.C., which is willing to sacrifice the lives of faithful priests and landless peasants upon the altar of its empire and is willing to offer up even its own ideals of "liberty and justice for all" to the insatiable god of National Security.
From Pennsylvania Avenue to Pushkin Square ... from Damascus to New Delhi ... from Cairo to Calcutta: could not the Scriptures speak anywhere in the world this Christmas season, saying:
A voice was heard in Belfast
wailing and loud lamentation,
Ireland weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.
All of this would be enough to take the joy out of Christmas, except our text tells us that we are not helpless in the face of Herod's rage. Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus and went to Egypt - two simple people took action and frustrated Herod's will. The three wise men went home by a different route - three leaders and influential people with knowledge and authority took action and frustrated Herod's will. So, too, may faithful people today take action for the sake of Jesus Christ and keep Herod's spirit at bay.
We are not helpless, nor are we hopeless. The prophet Isaiah knew this long ago, centuries before the birth of Jesus, when he promised (in our other text this morning) that a Savior would come forth from the descendants of King David. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." He shall worship and "take his delight" in the Lord, not in the pride and prejudice of this world.
He "shall not judge by what His eyes see." In other words, He won't be like other rulers, who judge by popular appearances and public opinion polls, or by what is best for their ruling coalition. He won't turn a deaf ear to the cries of the poor, calling them "lazy" or "welfare cheats" or "communists." He won't look past First World ghettos and Third World villages filled with raging inequities and smoldering resentments and boast that he is presiding over an era of prosperity and peace.
Instead, this Child to be born - this new leader and Savior sure to come - shall "judge with righteousness [for] the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." More than that: hope shall be restored. The whole world and even nature itself will change and peace will come. Not the world's peace, which is the temporary absence of war, but real peace, peace which conquers hate with love, peace which turns ageold enemies into friends.
The lion will lie down with the lamb, and the leopard with the fatling calf. Americans and Russians, Arabs and Jews, Peruvians, Pakistanis, South Africans and Salvadorans all will not merely stop fighting - they will lie down together in peace and harmony. The whole world will know shalom, and a littie Child shall lead them.
When will all this come, we want to know? The Bible says a thousand years are as a day with the Lord" (2 Peter 3:8). The important thing is to know that it will come. We are not helpless, as we do what we can for the cause of Christ; and we are not hopeless, as we trust God's future. Herod's rage must someday cease.
When the Turks conquered Constantinople many centuries ago, they plastered over the mosaics of Christ in the great cathedrals. But as the centuries wore on, their plaster cracked and the image of Christ showed through again and it is visible there even today.
In the same way, Herod tried his best to destroy the Christ Child, but he didn't succeed. No Herod on this earth can ever succeed, because Christmas is more than the gifts we get and the family reunions we enjoy - Christmas is also the promise of peace.
Christmas is seeing beyond the power of Herod's sway to the coming of a brand new day. From Ramah to Romania, the wailing and weeping will cease, and all the world shall rejoice. This is God's Word to us on the larger meaning of Christmas, and part of why we celebrate every year is to remember that promise. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Gracious God, we pray that the spirit of Christmas may truly find expression in our homes and families this year. Take from our ears the noise of the commercial Christmas, that we might hear the angels sing and the Baby's cry. Take away from our spirits the pressures of the holiday season, that we might gratefully receive You as You come into our midst. Take us away from the loneliness and despair which can afflict Your children at this time of year, that we may fully know the good news of great joy which is soon to be our gift from You.
Almighty God, who brought to the world our only Prince of Peace, let the nations and the world receive the promises He has made. Feed the lion with the food of peace, that he might no longer prey upon the lamb. Let the leopard and the calf share the bounty of a world which can sustain them both; let the eagle lie down with the bear. If there need be struggle in this world, O God, let nations struggle for wisdom and progress, not power and dominion. Let all the rulers of the earth bow before the manger, not to show off their piety to others, but to show You how they resolve to serve in Your kingdom's ways. With patient hope and certain faith, we wait for the day to come, O Lord, when there is peace on earth and goodwill among all people, the day when You are finally and completely well pleased with us, the children of Your creation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
1. Up to the example of Viet Nam, this litany of Christmas history first appeared in a newspaper column by Michael McMannus.
We wish it were otherwise. We wish that the whole Christmas story and everything about it were all sweetness and light. We wish for nothing but "good news and great joy for all people," and that peace and goodwill would finally prevail over all the earth, or at least for a little while during the Christmas season.
But there is a darker side to the world, even at Christmas time. The world carries on with its evil and bloodshed - it's been that way for thousands of years. Indeed, our text in Matthew tells us that this is how it was even at the very first Christmas.
The massacre which took place in Bethlehem shortly after Jesus' birth was ordered by King Herod, known as Herod the Great. He was a killer from a family of killers - an evil, bloodthirsty man who achieved great power yet was always in fear for his life.
Herod was not a Jew, but the Romans put him in power to rule over the Jews. As soon as he gained the throne, he had all of the (Sanhedrin) priests killed and installed his own priests in their place. He then rounded up the leading citizens and killed them, or put them in prison. It didn't take Herod long to earn the hatred of the whole nation of Israel.
Meanwhile, the members of Herod's family didn't fare any better than the people of Israel. His father was poisoned; a brother was killed by his own wife. Herod assassinated his wife and had his own sons executed for treason. It's not surprising to learn that Herod rebuilt a fortress on the top of a steep mountain at Masada, to protect himself against his subjects and the members of his own family. He had good reason to fear, because his brutal, repressive rule had made him many enemies. This was truly one of the most evil men ever to stride across history's bloody stage.
Herod knew about Jesus even before our Lord was born, and he knew that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. More exactly, Herod knew the prophecy that "out of [Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6, quoting Micah 5:2). So, Herod had more than a passing interest in finding this Child ... this Child who was supposed to grow up and take Herod's place as king of Israel.
Like all paranoid rulers, Herod had an extensive intelligence network of spies and informers, so he probably knew the wise men were in Israel as soon as they crossed the border. In any case, he surmised why they had come this far towards Bethlehem and our text says he "summoned them secretly" to him, to ask them more questions about the child to be born under the shining star.
"Find this child and tell me where He is," Herod said to the wise men. "If He really is born to be king of Israel, let me come to worship Him, too."
Of course, the wise men knew better. They knew that a king who had murdered his own sons because they were too popular wouldn't hesitate to kill a stranger's baby who appeared to be a rival to his throne. So, after they visited Jesus and Mary and Joseph, the wise men left secretly and went home by another route.
The text then says that Herod was "in a furious rage" when he found out the wise men were gone. So, he did what logic would tell a ruthless, power-mad mind to do: he decided not to take any chances. He ordered the death of every male child under the age of two in the Bethlehem region. Better to kill thousands of innocent babies, he figured, than to let the Christ Child get away.
Herod's men came rushing into town and before the startled parents knew what was happening, they began butchering the children. For a moment, maybe the parents simply stared in stunned disbelief at the attack. Maybe the enormity of the evil took them by surprise, until they bravely but futilely tried to resist. Who would think that soldiers would suddenly swoop down out of nowhere to slaughter innocent children, for no apparent reason at all? From Herod to Hitler, this is the tragic question Jews have been forced to ask.
You can imagine the scene in Bethlehem and the surrounding countryside. You can imagine the screams, the shock, the panic and the pain. Our text captures the feeling well, by quoting the prophet Jeremiah:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more. (31:15)
"Rachel," of course, refers to all the mothers of Bethlehem. All the mothers were weeping and wailing, refusing to be consoled because there were no more children. The sound of their sobbing flooded the earth and filled the heavens as their beloved children died in the horrible holocaust of Herod's rage.
This took place at the first Christmas and in a figurative sense, of course, Herod has been raging ever since. There is evil in this world which cannot stand the sight of good. There is darkness which cannot stand the light. It may be represented in specific people, like Herod or Stalin, or it may simply be the larger condition of war and suffering, the general brutality of exploitation and empire which holds the world in its grip. However you want to think of it, it was part of the first Christmas and it remains with us even now. Call it Herod's rage.
I think of other Christmases and how the spirit of Herod has lived on in more recent times, in our own nation's history.1
On Christmas Eve in 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 in 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sitting upstairs in the White House watching his ten-year-old son die. Downstairs, a committee of Congress was debating whether 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 this 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 beleagured 101st Airborne. The frozen bodies of 8,600 GIs lay in the snow. Brigadier General McAuliffe was asked to surrender and he issued a one-word reply: "Nuts!" The Battle of the Bulge would continue. Call it Herod's rage.
On Christmas Day in Korea in 1950, in a brutally cold winter, the Marines and the 7th Fleet were desperately attempting the largest rescue operation in history, moving 200,000 United Nations troops from the path of the advancing Chinese army. The war would continue and thousands more would die. Call it Herod's rage.
During the Christmas season of 1972, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger unleashed the most brutal bombing of the Southeast Asian war, the so-called "Christmas bombing" of what was then North Viet Nam. In just a matter of weeks, they would leave Viet Nam, accepting virtually the same peace terms as were on the negotiating table before the bombing 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.
Now we are in another Christmas season and does not the spirit of Herod's rage live on? Is not Herod still as much a part of the Christmas story as he was so long ago in Bethlehem?
The spirit of Herod lives on around the world wherever nations treat might as right. The spirit of Herod lives on around the world wherever ruling elites make laws or use force and repression to preserve their privilege and wealth. Herod's spirit is deeply entrenched in this world and its history. No nation is immune.
Today, mothers and fathers are weeping from Beirut to Bogota, from Jerusalem to Johannesburg. They refuse to be consoled because Herod's spirit lives on in those tortured cities, where injustice rules and violence and terrorism are the order of the day.
Mothers and fathers are weeping in Beijing, refusing to be consoled, because the spirit of Herod lives on in a state which countenances even the murder of its most idealistic youth in order to crush liberty and preserve the status quo.
Mothers and fathers are weeping in Central America, refusing to be consoled, because the spirit of Herod lives on in Washington, D.C., which is willing to sacrifice the lives of faithful priests and landless peasants upon the altar of its empire and is willing to offer up even its own ideals of "liberty and justice for all" to the insatiable god of National Security.
From Pennsylvania Avenue to Pushkin Square ... from Damascus to New Delhi ... from Cairo to Calcutta: could not the Scriptures speak anywhere in the world this Christmas season, saying:
A voice was heard in Belfast
wailing and loud lamentation,
Ireland weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.
All of this would be enough to take the joy out of Christmas, except our text tells us that we are not helpless in the face of Herod's rage. Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus and went to Egypt - two simple people took action and frustrated Herod's will. The three wise men went home by a different route - three leaders and influential people with knowledge and authority took action and frustrated Herod's will. So, too, may faithful people today take action for the sake of Jesus Christ and keep Herod's spirit at bay.
We are not helpless, nor are we hopeless. The prophet Isaiah knew this long ago, centuries before the birth of Jesus, when he promised (in our other text this morning) that a Savior would come forth from the descendants of King David. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." He shall worship and "take his delight" in the Lord, not in the pride and prejudice of this world.
He "shall not judge by what His eyes see." In other words, He won't be like other rulers, who judge by popular appearances and public opinion polls, or by what is best for their ruling coalition. He won't turn a deaf ear to the cries of the poor, calling them "lazy" or "welfare cheats" or "communists." He won't look past First World ghettos and Third World villages filled with raging inequities and smoldering resentments and boast that he is presiding over an era of prosperity and peace.
Instead, this Child to be born - this new leader and Savior sure to come - shall "judge with righteousness [for] the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." More than that: hope shall be restored. The whole world and even nature itself will change and peace will come. Not the world's peace, which is the temporary absence of war, but real peace, peace which conquers hate with love, peace which turns ageold enemies into friends.
The lion will lie down with the lamb, and the leopard with the fatling calf. Americans and Russians, Arabs and Jews, Peruvians, Pakistanis, South Africans and Salvadorans all will not merely stop fighting - they will lie down together in peace and harmony. The whole world will know shalom, and a littie Child shall lead them.
When will all this come, we want to know? The Bible says a thousand years are as a day with the Lord" (2 Peter 3:8). The important thing is to know that it will come. We are not helpless, as we do what we can for the cause of Christ; and we are not hopeless, as we trust God's future. Herod's rage must someday cease.
When the Turks conquered Constantinople many centuries ago, they plastered over the mosaics of Christ in the great cathedrals. But as the centuries wore on, their plaster cracked and the image of Christ showed through again and it is visible there even today.
In the same way, Herod tried his best to destroy the Christ Child, but he didn't succeed. No Herod on this earth can ever succeed, because Christmas is more than the gifts we get and the family reunions we enjoy - Christmas is also the promise of peace.
Christmas is seeing beyond the power of Herod's sway to the coming of a brand new day. From Ramah to Romania, the wailing and weeping will cease, and all the world shall rejoice. This is God's Word to us on the larger meaning of Christmas, and part of why we celebrate every year is to remember that promise. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Gracious God, we pray that the spirit of Christmas may truly find expression in our homes and families this year. Take from our ears the noise of the commercial Christmas, that we might hear the angels sing and the Baby's cry. Take away from our spirits the pressures of the holiday season, that we might gratefully receive You as You come into our midst. Take us away from the loneliness and despair which can afflict Your children at this time of year, that we may fully know the good news of great joy which is soon to be our gift from You.
Almighty God, who brought to the world our only Prince of Peace, let the nations and the world receive the promises He has made. Feed the lion with the food of peace, that he might no longer prey upon the lamb. Let the leopard and the calf share the bounty of a world which can sustain them both; let the eagle lie down with the bear. If there need be struggle in this world, O God, let nations struggle for wisdom and progress, not power and dominion. Let all the rulers of the earth bow before the manger, not to show off their piety to others, but to show You how they resolve to serve in Your kingdom's ways. With patient hope and certain faith, we wait for the day to come, O Lord, when there is peace on earth and goodwill among all people, the day when You are finally and completely well pleased with us, the children of Your creation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
1. Up to the example of Viet Nam, this litany of Christmas history first appeared in a newspaper column by Michael McMannus.
