One of my favourite nativity characters is Herod. I know the bloke is a Type A Jerk and a devious psychopath. But I appreciate his appearance around the beginning of Jesus’ life. In contrast to heretics who suggest trusting God guarantees peaceful pleasures and solved problems, Herod’s presence in Jesus’ life reminds me Jesus is an ordinary person, surrounded by misunderstanding, frustrating circumstances and downright evil maliciousness. I appreciate the anti-consumerist phrase “Keep Christ in Christmas”. But I also value the anti-super-spiritual reminder to “Keep Herod in Christmas”. Herod shows me that when God was coming close to the world in Christ, it was not without pain and abuse in the background.
Herod’s killing of Bethlehem’s boys is not in the history books but is consistent with what we know of his ruthless, callous leadership. Like Hitler, Pol Pot and other despots, he stopped at nothing to protect his position. Herod murdered his own wife and family. In his will he decreed that leading local men be executed when he died to ensure mourning. He killed a batch of local lads to rid the world of Jesus without a second thought. Like many genocides today it got lost in the news of what else was happening in the world. But it was still a tragic loss for Bethlehem.
I identified with grieving parents a little this week when watching a movie that opened my eyes to an ongoing human rights tragedy. Blood Diamond shows the tragedy of civil war and 400,000 child soldiers in Africa. The plot reveals associated scenes of ripped apart families, power abuse, terrible injustice and the complicity of Western multinational companies. It shows the indifference of Western media which was more interested in one famous politician being “sorry” for what he had done in his office than what most politicians in office should be saying sorry for ignoring. It brought me to tears. My wife tells me I do not cry enough, and she’s right, but these scenes touched me deeply.
When Herod forced Joseph and Mary to take their child to Egypt, they must have asked “What is happening and where is God?” These are questions I ask. Millions are killing each other on religious grounds. 200 million Christians face jail, torture and death for professing faith. 200,000 African children are used as child soldiers. 27 million people are in some form of slavery, including more than a million children trafficked each year for sex or labour. 30,000 children die of starvation daily (a silent Tsunami every week). Over 80% of modern war casualties are civilians. What is going on in this world that Jesus came to rescue?
The post-nativity account of Herod’s murderous jealousy reminds me of the pain and injustice that was part of Jesus’ early life, and part of our world that Jesus came to redeem. Part of our mandate in churches, I am learning, is to give a lead in grappling with the human rights abuses that bring tears to our eyes, and that break the heart of God.
THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS
When the song of angels is stilled.
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring the peace among sisters and brothers,
To make music in the heart.
– Howard Thurman
Source: BUV News