The Battle of Bethlehem Continues

One of my favorite stories is Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
Last December, I read a biography about Dickens. Did you know that, in many ways, he is known for redeeming the Christmas season and bringing joy back to the holiday?
I’ve seen almost every TV and film version of “A Christmas Carol.” I loved Felix and Oscar’s take on it, in a classic episode of “The Odd Couple.”
When it comes to the big screen’s presentation, Alistair Sim gets my vote as the best Ebenezer Scrooge. After the last Christmas Eve service concludes, I always come home to this.
Over the years, I’ve even attended numerous live productions of “A Christmas Carol” in New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Omaha and Philadelphia. As a kid, I played Scrooge in a junior high version, and I can still quote most of the lines.
“A Christmas Carol” is like most memorable stories that we know and love, in that it features a wicked villain, whose chief goal is to make Christmas as miserable or nonexistent for everyone. If you look closely, almost every holiday film features an antagonist.
In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” it’s Mr. Potter, who battles George Bailey.  The 1947 version of “Miracle on 34th Street,” my favorite film of all time, has cynical Mr. Sawyer, who is convinced that Kris Kringle is crazy.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has the Abominable Snow Monster. “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” has the Grinch, of course.
 “Home Alone” has the bumbling Wet/Sticky Bandits, Harry and Marv. Don’t forget the Burgermeister, Mesiterburger, who outlawed toys in “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Being an avid watcher of everything Hallmark Channel, there is always somebody in every script who is a heartless, money-loving, narcissistic developer, who attempts to bulldoze, evict and spoil whatever yuletide joy there may be.
Thank God for Candace Cameron-Bure, Lacey Chabert, Erin Krakow, Danica McKellar, Alison Sweeney, Alicia Witt and other Hallmark heroines, who jump in to save the day.
The reason I bring this up is because the original Christmas story had a monster, too. He, and his cruelties, were far from cute and from what we know. He never turned the nasty pages of his heart to rewrite his tale of greatness.
Herod was a legitimate villain, which is why we try to avoid him in our December memories. I don’t know a nativity set that includes him, yet, Herod is a prominent figure in Jesus’ birth. Ignoring him would not only be ignoring the world Jesus was born into, but in doing so, we’d miss an important thread in God’s grand plan of redemption.
Underneath the silver and gold glow of our nostalgic scenes of Bethlehem is a dark thread of violence. There were signs of a spiritually driven cosmic clash between the old serpent, the dragon and the coming of the Christ.
In history class, we learned about several famous battles. There was the Battle of Bunker Hill, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of the Bulge, and Christmas, which hosted the high noon showdown known as the Battle of Bethlehem. Like it or not, Jesus was born into a warzone.         
In the months after that holy night, when the shepherds witnessed Jesus in the manger, Joseph and Mary stayed in Bethlehem, making their temporary dwelling in David’s city. The magi were still on their way, following the star to take them to the newborn King. These pagan experts knew more about the sacred texts than the religious priests of Jerusalem.
When they reached Jerusalem, they knew they were close, and there was no stopping them, as they made this journey to honor the newborn King and pay tribute to his majesty. They began asking people, “Where was He born the King of the Jews?”
Herod the Great was a power-hungry madman and a paranoid sociopath. He gave himself a nickname about being “great.” He built his legacy to give him the appearance that he was omnipresent.
In addition to his fortresses at Herodium, Sebaste, Machaerus, and Masada, he also built palaces in Caesarea, Jericho, and Jerusalem. At any moment, he could have been in any one of them, so at every moment, he might as well have been in all of them. As far as it was on his watch, there could only be one ruler in Judea.
When Herod learned about these men and their quest, his blood began to boil when he heard the words “king” and “Jews” in the same sentence, with no mention of himself.
The Bible calls our enemy, the devil, and defines him as the one who wants to steal, kill and destroy anything great and godly in our lives. He knew that this Baby Jesus was under two years of age, so he went on a murdering rampage, eliminating every male child two years of age and under.
He tried to con the magi into giving him the exact location of God’s Son, but an angel prevented that from happening. It was another heavenly messenger that got Mary and Joseph out of town, taking Jesus with them to Egypt.
The Gospel of Matthew says, “All of Jerusalem ‘was disturbed'” (Matthew 2:3). The population was disturbed because the king was ticked, and like in a home where mom isn’t happy, nobody is happy. Therefore, Herod began to raise hell on earth.
There is a personal lesson we should learn from the life of Herod this Christmas. Jesus calls Christians to a lifetime of following Him and receiving His will and His way into our worlds. Too many times, when God’s kingdom threatens our meager control on our agendas, we too begin to whine to the One we should be worshipping.
The Lord doesn’t share the throne with us. If you want to be king, and someone else comes along saying He is the king, somebody has to get out of the way. Jesus is the leader, and we come to know who we are when we recognize Him as who He is.
Only one person can be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and it isn’t us.
It’s easy for us to point to the tyrantsm, who ruled in Jesus’ day, and the egotistical politicians, who try to intimidate us today, and think that we are innocent of ever doing right the wrong way. As long as we call earth home, there will always be a tug of war happening in our hearts. There is part of us that wants to come and adore only Jesus, our Lord.
There is another side, in the ways Herod, which will always root for our self-centered pursuit. He serves as a powerful reminder that we cannot be neutral about Jesus.
We are either for Him, or against Him. He is either Lord of all, or not at all. If God is for us, then who can be against us?
This Christmas, recognize the villain for who he or she is. There will always be opposition, but as long as we play offense for heaven, hell is on defense. The Battle of Bethlehem must be won, and when we lift Jesus up, we are victorious.
ED. NOTE: The author is the senior pastor at The Lighthouse Church, 1248 Route 9 South, Court House.