Christmas 2

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Matthew 2:13-23 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--The Struggle

   For years, I have been a fan of George Lucas’ epic series of “Star Wars” films.  I have looked forward to each sequel over the years.  The films are beautifully crafted, with extraordinary attention to detail and “special effects” that are still remarkable.  There are also the beautiful heroines, the handsome heroes, and the engaging mechanical characters R2-D2 and 3-CPO.

But there have been many films with similar features that have not captured the public as these films did.  What lends them such power is that they reach down inside and capture things we know at primitive unconscious levels.  A cosmic struggle between good and evil is as real as the air we breathe.  It is, beneath our day-to-day existence, the most important thing that goes on in the universe.

Evil never gives up without a fight, and the more powerful the good the more it is threatened and the more powerful its opposition.  It should hardly come as a surprise, then, that God breaking into our world immediately stirred up opposition¾a struggle that will eventually lead to both the cross and Easter morning.

King Herod had become the tool of evil in his quest for more and more power.  The story of the heinous crime described in Matthew is quite in keeping with his character.  He has been described as autocratic, paranoid, and ferociously murderous.  He slaughtered family members and friends, as well as enemies both real and imagined.  Josephus, an historian of the time, described him as “brutish and a stranger to all humanity” despite his many accomplishments, including restoration of the Temple.

So today’s passage brings us jarringly back from the pure joy of the child born in a manger and angels’ songs to the reason for that birth.  There is work to be done.

The battle continues.  Evil is still real, as a glance at your morning newspaper will remind you.  It exists in our world and it impacts our lives.  But this passage does not leave us without hope.  While evil does its worst, God is watching over the small, vulnerable family and shows them the way out.  Eventually come the terse words “Herod died.”  His murderous evil could not ultimately triumph.

Against all odds, God’s plan will be fulfilled.  Evil brings pain and suffering, but it is temporary.  The words of the psalmist express this Christmas hope:  “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

revclay

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Matthew 2:13-23

   Now after [the “wise men”] had left, 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 about to search for the child, to destroy him."  Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,  and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son." 

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through 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 are no more."

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,  "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."  Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.  There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean." [NRSV]