Christmas: The Divine Interruption Shembull

Herod As we think about the people related to Jesus’ birth, we would be wise to consider that not everyone is always thrilled about Him. Have you noticed that various individuals are definitely not delighted with Jesus? I’ve come across folks who span the whole spectrum of reactions to Jesus: from those who passionately love Him, to those who have no opinion about Him, and those who adamantly revile Him. And when we look at Herod’s actions toward Jesus, it’s clear that he was threatened by Him, feared His existence, and did everything possible to snuff out Jesus’ life. So what did Herod do when he heard about the King of the Jews from the Magi who were looking for this King? “[Herod] became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi” (Matthew 2:16). Can you imagine what it was like to live in Bethlehem at this time, with soldiers marching through the streets, searching from house to house for babies and toddlers to kill them? The slaughter of such innocent lives is deplorable, and I can’t even begin to fathom what this was like for the fathers and mothers of those children, a hellacious experience to be sure! But Jesus was saved from this atrocity. “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt” (Matthew 2:13-14). Herod’s reaction, based on insecurity, fear, jealousy, pride, and selfishness, isn’t all that different from folks who reject Jesus in our modern world. And no matter how people around us react to Jesus, we can continually choose to love and worship Him. Reflection: Have you experienced a time when someone responded negatively to you when you spoke about Jesus? What did you do or say?