A Main Player in the Christmas Story

​Can I ask you a question, “What is your perspective of Christmas?” This week we are asking that question to a person who is a main player in the Christmas story. 

The story of Herod is in contrast with Matthew 2 with the arrival and adoration of the Magi. They provide two pictures of how people respond to the birth of Christ the King. Which picture resembles your heart and life? 

We are so prone to quick, witty quips and statements such as “Keep Christ in Christmas.” 

Sometimes that is a reminder that in all the hustle and bustle, Jesus is the reason for the season. Sometimes it is a pushback to those who would want to replace the term Christmas with other terms - such as winter holidays, or Xmas, or some other term - or even attempt to stamp it out completely. Yesterday I heard a little boy in the mall telling people around him “Merry Christmas!”  I remember when we could not say that.
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Sometimes it is just a saying we say because it sounds nice. But today I would like to shock us a little and tell you that as important as it is to keep Christ in Christmas - it is just as important to keep Herod in our Christmas.

Can you imagine experiencing the Christmas story as Herod? You have no desire to be in Herod's shoes since he was so selfish and evil. I believe, however, that Herod provides for us a glimpse into the darkness of a sin-filled heart and how Jesus either redeems that heart for eternal life or condemns that heart to eternal punishment. 

Herod’s life and actions demonstrate that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah. 17:9). Herod is not the only one with a wicked heart: “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans. 3:12). In our sin, every single human is a throne usurper, the throne of our hearts and lives. In our sin, we reject the rule of God and seek to be our own rulers. Jesus is perceived as a threat to the rule of our lives. In our sin, we fight against King Jesus.

Thanks be to God, though! Jesus did not come only to be king in our lives; he came to conquer our hearts. In the covenant work of Christ, God promised to give his people a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians. 5:17). Our love for the selfish and sinful rule of our lives is quieted by God’s love for us by pursuing our good in Christ.

Make Every Day Count!

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