"When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born."
The dark kingdom rises up.
The lie - "Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.""
This is a pretense of worship, religious ingenuousness. Fake worship is always undermining. It is a dangerous thing to sing "Here I Am to Worship" when one is not there to worship. Such is the nature of the Resistance.
The Revolution - ""Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt..."
Danger = when the Revolution meets the Resistance. Spiritual sparks are going to fly when the Overcomer of our souls greets our souls' Underminer.
The weapon of the Revolution is love. "It is time for a love revolution. It is time for a new constitution." (Lenny Kravitz)
"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)
- "When Jesus landed (on the shore) and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." (Matthew 14:14)
- "Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."" (Matthew 15:32)
- "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)
The baby born this day is "tender." Compassionate. Love incarnate. Where such love is born is where the Resistance rises. But this baby is also "wild," not mild and meek. Is he submissive? Of course. But only to his Father.
1. This babe submits to no one else.
2. Therefore, this babe is dangerous.
In C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the fawn named Mr Tumnus is explaining that Aslan cannot be understood. Tumnus says, "He is not a tame lion." "No," replies Lucy, "but he's good." This is get-behind-me-Satan and go-before-me-God stuff. That, precisely, is what the Christmas Revolution is about, and why there is Resistance.
Love is born.
Love is loved and hated.
Love gets crucified.
Love chooses to get crucified.
Love sets free.
Love dies.
Love rises.
There is nothing "meek" about this story. Christmas is worship given to this holy infant, both tender and wild.
