Responding to the Christ of Christmas
Soon it will be Christmas Day – and not everyone responds to that the same way. For many people, particularly young children, it's the most anticipated and joyous day of the year. For others, Christmas can evoke feelings of loneliness or grief. Or it brings to the surface financial stresses and family tensions. Some lament the commercialization of the sacred while others actually view Christmas with outright disdain: think of fictional characters like Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge or Doctor Seuss' Grinch, both of which have worked their way into popular culture as labels for those who don't like Christmas. Some may be surprised to learn that those resistant to the celebration of Christmas included many of the Puritans [1].
What about you? How do you respond to Christmas? But far more important than how you respond to the Christmas holiday is how you are responding to the Christ of Christmas. How do you respond to Jesus? People respond to Jesus in different ways too. We see this in Matthew 2:1-11.
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
We find three distinct responses to the news of Jesus’ birth in this passage.
HEROD: A RESPONSE OF ANTAGONISM
There are three Herods mentioned in the New Testament. The Herod in Matthew 2 is Herod the Great, father and grandfather of the other two [2]. Herod the Great was a man of political clout who was intoxicated with power, and ever since an enemy poisoned his father – also a king – he’d had a morbid distrust of anyone who threatened his throne. This distrust led him to kill a brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, two of his sons, and one of his wives [3]. It’s entirely believable then that when he heard the report from the Magi about the birth of the king of the Jews, his antagonism was so extreme that he ordered all the baby boys under two years of age in Bethlehem and the surrounding regions to be slaughtered in an attempt to stamp out Jesus [4].
This response of antagonism is still present today. And it’s deeper than simply replacing greetings of “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays.” The bigger issue is antagonism toward Jesus himself and his kingdom. Efforts to privatize, marginalize, and dismiss the truth claims of Christianity from places of social influence are often strenuous. Militant atheists, influenced by people like the late Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins, seem to believe that convincing people God doesn't exist and that Christianity is a lie is the most important task in our contemporary society.
Mary Eberstadt, author of a book titled It's Dangerous to Believe, chronicled some examples of antagonism in a 2017 article: “Some of the faithful have paid unexpected prices for their beliefs lately: the teacher in New Jersey suspended for giving a student a Bible; the football coach in Washington placed on leave for saying a prayer on the field at the end of a game; the fire chief in Atlanta fired for self-publishing a book defending Christian moral teaching; the Marine court-martialed for pasting a Bible verse above her desk; and other examples of the new intolerance. Anti-Christian activists hurl smears like ‘bigot’ and ‘hater’ at Americans who hold traditional beliefs about marriage and accuse anti-abortion Christians of waging a supposed ‘war on women.’ Some Christian institutions face pressure to conform to secularist ideology – or else. Flagship evangelical schools like Gordon College in Massachusetts and Kings College in New York have had their accreditation questioned … Student groups like InterVarsity have been kicked off campuses. Christian charities, including adoption agencies, Catholic hospitals, and crisis pregnancy centers have become objects of attack” [5].
“We all have something of Herod's antagonism in us. Isn't every sin you and I commit a refusal to give up our throne and submit to God's rule and direction for our lives?”
Yes, Herod’s antagonistic response to Jesus is alive today. The birth of king Jesus is still rightly perceived as a threat to autonomous self-rule and licentious indulgence. This antagonism is but a reflection of Adam and Eve’s, who rejected God's authority in an attempt to be their own gods. And in our own way, we all have something of Herod's antagonism in us. Isn’t every sin you and I commit an expression of the antagonism in our hearts toward the rights of King Jesus to rule us? Isn't every sin a refusal to give up our throne and submit to God's rule and direction for our lives? Isn't every sin an exercise of autonomous self-rule and licentious indulgence? Thankfully, Jesus was born to atone for these very sins.
THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE SCRIBES: A RESPONSE TO APATHY
The second response to the Christ of Christmas is from the chief priests and scribes. In v. 4 we’re told that Herod gathered them together to find out where the Christ was to be born. As the leaders and teachers among the covenant people, the chiefs priests and scribes knew the Scriptures and its promises and prophecies about the coming Christ. We can also infer they knew why Herod was asking his question because according to v. 3 “all of Jerusalem was troubled” by the report of the Magi.
But even though they were informed that the king had been born and they knew where to find him, they didn't go! The knowledge they had didn't translate into personal action fueled by faith, hope, or love. Instead, their response is one of apathetic indifference.
“Like with the chief priests and scribes, knowledge of right information may not lead to transformation and changed lives. Access to divinely revealed truth doesn't always translate into godly action.”
This apathy can infect all of us. Given all the distractions of the holiday season, celebrating Christmas could read more like this for some: And there were in the same country children keeping watch over their stockings by the fireplace. And lo! It was said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that is for all people who can afford them. For there will be given great feasts of turkey, dressing, and cake; and many presents; and this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the
presents, wrapped in bright paper, lying beneath a tree adorned with tinsel, colored balls, and lights.” And suddenly, there will be with you a multitude of relatives and friends, praising you and saying, “Thank you so much, it’s just what I wanted.” And it shall come to pass as the friends and relatives have gone away to their homes, parents shall say to one another, “What a mess to clean up! I'm tired, let's go to bed and pick up tomorrow. Thank goodness, Christmas only comes once a year! [6]. With all the festivities to organize and all the shopping and cooking to be done, some will hardly give a second thought to the wonder and glory of the incarnation of God the Son.
But it's more than just Christmas apathy. We can display apathy in our relationship with the Lord: neglecting daily time in the word and prayer, forsaking opportunities to study the word in Bible studies, sleeping in instead of being faithful in worship, and not engaging in Christian community or Christian service in the local church. Like with the chief priests and scribes, knowledge of right information may not lead to transformation and changed lives. Access to divinely revealed truth doesn't always translate into godly action. Are there ways apathy characterizes your response to the Christ of Christmas? If we’re honest, we’ll admit that there are. And we’ll admit that we need God’s grace to shake our apathy off.
THE MAGI: A RESPONSE OF ADORATION
We read of a third response – the only fitting and wise response to the Christ of Christmas. The Magi from the east explain in v. 2 that they have “come to worship” the one born King of the Jews. And in v. 11 it says that when they saw the child with his mother, they did what they said they came to do: “they fell down and worshiped him.”
Only one response will do for the one born King of the Jews; the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and promise; the good and faithful Shepherd who lays down his life to save his people; the Conqueror of darkness and death, sin and Satan, chaos and curse, sickness and suffering, pain and grief; the One who ushers in life, light, peace, blessing, and everlasting joy and glory: the only right response is adoration and worship.
May God give us his grace to respond not just by singing the words but by acting on the invitation: O come let us adore him / Christ the Lord.
But we need grace to respond this way. We need God's grace to draw us out of the sinful, Herod-like antagonism of our hearts. We need God’s grace to save us from our religious apathy that – at worst – is indifferent – and at best – is content to render to him the leftovers of our time, energy, and devotion. We need God’s grace to draw us like the Magi to worship and adore him.
King Jesus demands a heart-revealing response from all people by his birth. How will you respond? May God give us his grace to respond not just by singing the words but by acting on the invitation, not just during the Christmas season but always: O come let us adore him / Christ the Lord.
[1] Puritans in colonial Massachusetts went so far as to ban the celebration of Christmas in 1659. Such opposition to celebrating Christmas doesn’t seem to have been present among Protestants a hundred years earlier. In the Second Helvetic Confession (1566), its primary author, Heinrich Bullinger, admitted “if the churches do religiously celebrate the memory of the Lord's nativity, circumcision, passion, resurrection … we do very well approve of it” (Chapter XXIV. 3). To understand some of the reasons the Puritans in the colonies took issue with Christmas, see https://www.history.com/articles/when-massachusetts-banned-christmas. For the English background to Puritan concerns over the observance of Christmas, see https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/christmas-under-puritans.
[2] Herod the Great served as governor of Galilee and King of Judea in the Roman Empire from around 41BC until his death shortly after Jesus’ birth. His son, Herod Antipas, was tetrarch of Galilee during the life of Jesus. This Herod had John the Baptist beheaded and was present at the trial of Jesus. There is also Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great and nephew of Herod Antipas, who put James to death and had Peter arrested in Acts 12.
[3] For more on the Herods, see F. F. Bruce, New Testament History (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1969), 20-31.
[4] See Matthew 2:16.
[5] https://time.com/4385755/faith-in-america/
[6] This parody was used by Steve Smith as an opening sermon illustration posted at https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/he-s-coming-to-town-steve-smith-sermon-on-christmas-advent-99097