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Contact Page Maintainer | January 2, 2011 -- Second Sunday after Christmas --
Service Guide  Text: Matthew 2: 13-18 The Devil is in the Details Then Herod when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under . . . (vs. 16) Our Lessons this Sunday continue to explore the dark side of the Son of God’s entry into our fallen world. Last Sunday we explored the connection between birth of Christ and the intensification of spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness. We observed in the stoning of Stephen that when one embraces the peace of Christ, the Devil and all his allies ramp up their afflictions among the people of God. And as we put it another way, when God’s peace reigns supreme, someone is going to die and sometimes that someone includes many. Such was the case as we hear of what happened to the babies and small boys in Bethlehem. Perhaps some words of explanation about Herod’s terrible actions are in order, as we related at Bible class last Sunday. For roughly 100 years prior to the time of the birth of Christ, those who acquired the throne in Jerusalem and Judea did so by intrigue, betrayals, bribes, and murder. Herod was no exception. Suffering from great bouts of paranoia, he had his wife, his two brothers and his sons put to death at different times out of mad suspicion that each was conspiring to steal his throne. It was in his last years when he was almost stark raving mad that the wise men from the east arrived indicating that a reading of the stars had indicated that a rightful heir to the Jewish throne, a son of David, had recently been born in Bethlehem.As the baby Jesus arrives, we are reminded that this is a fallen world and it is full of dangers, even for Him. We notice how God the Father protected the Baby from the threat of Herod and His soldiers. As we see Jesus weak and helpless according to his human nature, the Heavenly Father treats his infant Incarnate Son in a way that makes sense to us as we would reflect on how love would care for little ones. He sees that the baby Jesus is protected and taken out of harm’s way. He warns Joseph about the impending danger and instructs the family to be moved to the safe confines of Egypt. The family is cared for with the tribute of the wise men which serves as the means of support in exile until the coast is clear for a return to Nazareth. Yes, Hosea’s prophecy that His Son would be called forth from Egypt is fulfilled, but we must struggle with the slaughter of the innocent babes who are left behind in Bethlehem. We are without answers to our anguished questions of why - not when we see the deliverance from harms way by the Lord - but rather when we don’t; when it appears that the innocent are suffering and God is just letting it all happen without doing anything to prevent it. Yes, the baby Jesus was kept out of harms way, but we know that the Father did not treat the Son that way when He matured and became an adult. It was right after his baptism that the Son was taken by the Spirit into the wilderness, given no food for 40 days and then had to face the temptations of the Devil. In Gethsemane, the Son prayed for a different cup than the passion and cross that was the plan of the Father, and it was not provided. As an adult, the Father did not step in, take it all away, make it better, or deliver His Son from the suffering and tribulation of the encounters with darkness. There are parallels here between how the Father treated his only begotten incarnate Son, and how He treats his adopted sons and daughters in Christ. In both instances, He treats the very young and helpless as babes. Sometimes as with the babes in Bethlehem, he calls them to Himself through the violence that takes their lives. We see the same today in so many different fallen events that swirl around us not least of which is the unending slaughter of the unborn by the practice around the world of abortion on demand. In other instances, many of the fresh babes in Christ are kept safe from major confrontations with the forces of evil. In all of them, however, He works to nurture a simple childlike trust as in the words to the children’s song: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. But, as Jesus, according to his human nature, grew in wisdom and stature - so also in what we call sanctification, God matures and develops our new life in Christ. From growth in faith, we grow in wisdom and stature. And as we mature in the image of Christ, the Father may move us into closer and harsher encounters with the forces of evil. Maturity in Christ often brings with it a greater confrontation with the spiritual battle that God is waging with the forces of evil even in the face of our cries for deliverance. It is a great mystery how some of God’s children seem to be delivered from all sorts of evil conditions, situations, and circumstances - while others are treated like Jesus, Job, and Jeremiah. The apostle Paul’s request is thrice turned down to have the thorn in his flesh removed. Moreover, he had to bear the wrath of Rome and be martyred for his faith and service of the Gospel. Can you relate to the experiences of these men in your life? Perhaps you may have your own stories where the Lord has allowed you to be in his crucible of trial and afflictions. How can we make sense out of this? While God rarely answers our prayerful questions of why in the face of our trials and suffering, we can see in our life parallels with Jesus and many of his mature children. As we mature, we are sometimes given greater crosses to bear and a greater sharing in the sufferings of Christ at the hands of the fallenness of this world. Yes! As with Jesus, so perhaps with you in your trials . . . both as babes and then again as maturing sons and daughters. But you must understand that you have the same loving Heavenly Father that Jesus has. Remember back in Genesis 2 shortly after God had finished creating Adam an Eve in His image and placing them into the Garden of Eden. As He rested from His creative labors, it was but a very short time before the Devil got busy to trash God creative work. We struggle to understand why Satan was allowed access to the Garden and opportunity to tempt and bring about the spoiling of God’s creative plan. Why did this happen? Was God napping - was He caught off guard? Hardly! God doesn’t nap. Satan was allowed to do what he did because it played into God’s plan. Our Heavenly Father seems to have a penchant to stack the odds against His desired outcome as a test. From creation it has been His desire to have those made in His image order their lives and loves around a fear, love, and trust in Him above all others and all things. So God enlisted the Devil to test the faith and devotion of our first parents. They failed the test and hence His plan of redemption is set in motion to set thing right with the sending of His Son. And here we see in the encounters of Christmas and Epiphany - and perhaps in your life or the lives of your loved ones - the Devil shows up and gets busy again to spoil God’s plan of redemption, just as he did back in the Garden with the first Adam. And as with the first Adam, so with the second - the Devil will be used to test the One who would be our champion and Redeemer. But here in our post-Epiphany text before Epiphany, it is as Jesus would later tell his disciples: His time had not yet come. Now is not the time and therefore the baby Jesus is shielded from Satan’s campaign of destruction. And with us, sometimes our time of trial and testing has not yet come . . . and sometimes it has. In either case, neither Jesus nor we are contending with mere flesh and blood, but rather, as Paul reminds in Ephesians 6, with the powers and principalities of Hell itself. What we have in our text this morning, however, is the beginning of the Last Battle. Our Champion is born and the Father is positioning for final contest to begin. Again He will be using the Devil, but this time He will achieve His final victory through the life and death of His Incarnate Son. Not in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem the innocent blood of Jesus will be shed for you and for me. But that is another story up the way. Stay tuned.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. A-men.
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Shepherd
of the Springs
