The Spirit of Herod Lives On  

After watching one of the classic film versions of The Christmas Carol, I was reminded of the fact that many of our Christmas stories not only have their heroes but also their villains. Bedford Falls has its mean Mr. Potter. A Miracle on 34^th Street has the unstable company psychologist who is determined to get Kris Kringle committed to a mental institution. Whoville has its Grinch. And in the movie I had just watched, there was the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. Some of those characters were transformed by the end of the story. However, others so hardened their hearts that they remained villainous even at the story’s conclusion.  

Even the biblical account of Jesus’ birth has it’s “bad guy.” King Herod connived to destroy this newborn king whom he viewed as a threat to his own power and throne. He deceived the wise men, telling them that he also wanted to find this king in order to worship Him. However, when the wise men were warned not to return to Herod, he acted on his true intention, ruthlessly murdering all the male infants in Bethlehem who might have fallen within the age-range of this special child.

We still have to beware of the spirit of Herod that lives on today. Not only are there those who blatantly oppose Christ and all that He represents, but there are others who claim to worship Him who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, are seeking to destroy Him and replace Him with their own re-created version of Jesus. They are deceiving others and, in some cases, maybe deceiving themselves.

They want to do away with the Jesus who proclaimed that He is the way, the truth, and the life – and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). They want to replace Him with their revised version of Jesus who thinks people of all religions are acceptable to God and are on equal footing, even if their teachings contradict the Bible and even if they reject the truth about Jesus being the Son of God.

They want to destroy the Jesus who plainly stated that He had come to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28), and create a Jesus who was simply a good man, great teacher, and role model rather than the sacrifice for our sins.

They want to kill the Jesus who declared that He had not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, and that not one little part of it would pass away (Matthew 5:17-18). They want to replace Him with a Jesus who allows people to pick which parts of God’s Word to believe and which parts they can reinterpret to fit their own beliefs.

They want to make people forget about the Jesus who spoke frequently about judgment and a place of eternal torment (Mark 9:42-48). They want to substitute a Jesus who only focused on love and forgiveness, one who will make sure everyone makes it to heaven.

They want to destroy the Jesus who from the beginning preached a message of repentance of sin (Matthew 4:17). They want to re-create Him into someone who accepts people and forgives them whether or not they are willing to accept what God labels sin and whether or not they are willing to forsake their sin.

God protected His Son from Herod’s schemes, and I believe He can still protect the truth and those who truly seek Jesus today. However, many innocent souls suffered the consequences of Herod’s actions, and there are those today who are victims of these deceivers. Watch out for the villains of our present-day Christmas. Let’s pray that they and their misguided victims will see the light and experience their own Scrooge-like transformation before the end of their story.