The Dark Side of Christmas

The Gospel of Matthew The Dark Side of Christmas - Matthew 2:13-18 December 15, 2024 It's not a new reality that the culture is trying to erase Christ from Christmas. It isn't new either, with characters like Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch. But even in language - written and spoken, we see it with people sending "Season's Greetings" or wishing you "Happy Holidays" instead of saying "Merry Christmas." For example, several years back, Starbucks was under heavy attack when they removed Christmas themed cups and replaced them with holiday themed cups. Or what about those who say or write "X-Mas" instead of Christmas? Believe it or not, there is a Christian explanation for this. I heard this first from the late pastor, teacher and theologian R.C. Sproul, although I think it's out there from other sources too, but here's what he said about it: "it is not the letter X that is put into Christmas. We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testmanet Greek for Christ. The first letter of the Greek Word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as an X. That X has come through church history to be a shorthand symbol for the name of Christ." To counter the appearance of taking Christ out of Christmas, many Christians of course over emphasize the CHRIST in Christmas, or wear "Jesus is the reason for the season" pins and t-shirts. Which I think is perfectly fine and encouraged, as we should want to protect the Christ in Christmas. Earlier this week, I re-read this passage and it made me think about that some more. What I realized was, what I described moments ago is not the actual war against Christmas, as one preacher called it, because the real war against Christmas was from Herod himself, shortly after Jesus' birth. Unfortunately, we are introduced to, what I'm calling, the Dark Side of Christmas from the words of Matthew this morning as we continue in chapter 2, verses 13-18. Let's see what he says: 13 NOW WHEN THEY HAD DEPARTED, BEHOLD, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM AND SAID, "RISE, TAKE THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER, AND FLEE TO EGYPT, AND REMAIN THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU, FOR HEROD IS ABOUT TO SEARCH FOR THE CHILD, TO DESTROY HIM." 14 AND HE ROSE AND TOOK THE CHILD AND HIS MOTHER BY NIGHT AND DEPARTED TO EGYPT 15 AND REMAINED THERE UNTIL THE DEATH OF HEROD. THIS WAS TO FULFILL WHAT THE LORD HAD SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET, "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON." 16 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, ACCORDING TO THE TIME THAT HE HAD ASCERTAINED FROM THE WISE MEN. 17 THEN WAS FULFILLED WHAT WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JEREMIAH: 18 "A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND LOUD LAMENTATION, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY ARE NO MORE." Maybe it's just me, but I cannot recall too many sermons on Herod's massacre of the children. Maybe we quickly gloss over this section because we don't like it. Rightfully so. Obviously, we want to focus on the joy and good tiding part of the Christmas story. But, just like the Gospel Message itself, this story should remind us that the dark side of the Christmas story acts as a reminder of why Christ needed to come. The world needs a Savior. The world needs His Light. So, while Christmas may have a dark side to her story, we know that there is a counter to that darkness. That's revealed this morning in our main idea that says ... The darkness of the world is countered only by the light of Jesus. Before we continue, let's take a closer look at the passage. First, I want to talk about ... JOSEPH Once again, timing is important here. Matthew records that immediately when they - the Magi - departed their visit to the Messiah, an angel appeared - again - to Joseph. This is now the second time that an angel came to Joseph in a dream to direct him. Next week, we'll see two more occasions. What is the common theme here? There are two primary points about Joseph here. First: * Joseph is warned. How? The Lord chose an angel and a dream to communicate to Joseph. Why? I don't know. But this is the beauty of our Lord. For some reason or another, Joseph needed this method of communication from the Lord. Apparently, this method of communication caused the proper response from Joseph. Does this mean that the Lord will communicate with everyone in this same manner as He does with Joseph? Of course not. Today, the Lord communicates to us primarily in the Word - the Bible. However, pre-Jesus, He used many other ways to communicate. At times He spoke directly to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Other times, He used visions and dreams to speak with His prophets. Other times, he sent angels to speak with people. Today, for the believer, we have the Holy Spirit guiding us and directing us through the Word of God and living within us. But the second observation here is more important, and that would be related to how Joseph responds to God's Word. How did he respond? * Obediently. Joseph was obedient in His response. We see this in verse 14. Immediately following the dream, it seems, he rose and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Okay. Why Egypt? Two reasons. First, because the prophecy says so. Matthew, in verse 15, quotes Hosea 11:1 and directly applies it here to their departure to Egypt. Anytime we read the Bible and there is an Old Testament reference in the New Testament, we should go back and take a look at it. The prophecy of Hosea is largely about the nation Israel's unfaithfulness to the Lord. By the time we get to chapter 11, we're reminded of God's love for His people that He called. So, when Matthew applies this verse to Jesus coming out of Egypt, he is stating that God's love for His people is fulfilled in Jesus' incarnation. The second likely reason is that, geographically, Egypt was a safe place for Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Egypt was about 90 miles from Bethlehem, so Joseph and his family would be safe from Herod, as it was outside his jurisdiction. Furthermore, there was a large Jewish community in Egypt at that time. In Joseph's obedience, he was used by the Lord to protect the baby Jesus - the Savior of the world - from the darkness that comes next. In verse 16, Matthew records the darkness of the Christmas story. One that is not usually sung about at the Christmas pageants. Herod is livid that the Magi "tricked" him. At least that's the word used in the ESV. The word there in the Greek means to "be mocked" or "ridiculed." As we know from the account last week, they seemed to have every intention to return to Herod, but they were warned - how - in a dream not to return to Herod. But this is quite telling about Herod, isn't it? Herod was so concerned about his power, that he was willing to go to any length to protect it. Matthew records in verse 16 that Herod sent his soldiers out to kill all of the boys under two years old in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. Interestingly, there is no historical record of this mass infanticide occurring. How could that be? Depending on where you search, you may get some estimations of over 100,000 children being killed - referred to as "the slaughter of the innocents" or similar - while other accounts remind us that Bethlehem was actually very small. Even today, Bethlehem's population is only about 30,000, so you can imagine that it was much smaller during Jesus' time. Wiersbe and others don't estimate more than 20 children being slain - which of course is still one too many. So, it is not shocking that it was not recorded by early historians, especially considering that infant death was common during that time. But Matthew continues in verse 17 and tells us that this was - yet another - fulfillment of prophecy. Quoting Jeremiah 31:15 in verse 18, Matthew reveals that the joy - even in the midst of absolute horror - comes in the arrival of Christ, the Savior. Or as stated earlier: The darkness of the world is countered only by the light of Jesus. So, let's further discuss we take part in ... ILLUMINATING THE LIGHT OF JESUS to others Later in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says these words: 14 "YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A CITY SET ON A HILL CANNOT BE HIDDEN. 15 NOR DO PEOPLE LIGHT A LAMP AND PUT IT UNDER A BASKET, BUT ON A STAND, AND IT GIVES LIGHT TO ALL IN THE HOUSE. 16 IN THE SAME WAY, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS, SO THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GIVE GLORY TO YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. One definition of this idea of salt and light states that the Christian is called to be the one to bring forth Jesus to others. We do that through our witness, and through our voices. Jesus gives us two primary functions of being or illuminating His light. First, we are called to ... * Do good works. o When we look at the Christmas story from both Luke and Matthew's account, it is full of action - or works. o In Luke 2, we're told that once the Shepherds were told about Jesus, they "went with haste" to the Child o We saw - just last week - that the Magi left their home country to worship and bring gifts to the Child. o And we just saw the example of Joseph, that he was continually obedient to the Father's guidance. o Later, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we were created for good works. o The Christmas story is full of response and action. o So, when Jesus says we are the salt and the light, He is telling us that because we are saved, by grace through faith, we are to illuminate Him through action and through Word, while preserving and sharing the Message of Christ o In short, the arrival of the Christ, it should spark in us the desire to please Him through how we live. o And, as a result, we: * Give glory to God. o I like this definition of glory from John Piper: "'Glorifying' means feeling and thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness, that make much of God, that give evidence of the supreme greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his manifold perfections. o In other words, putting God first, and acting like He's first. o In all areas of our lives, we can glorify God. * When we're suffering * When we're struggling * When we're giving * When we're serving * When we're with our families * When we're in the workplace * When we're at the supermarket * In our thoughts * I can go on and on ... o It's about having the right mindset - which includes trusting the Lord through faith. o Last week, when Gerald and I were teaching the kids, I told them a story that happened back in 2013. o If memory serves me right, this all happened in the span of 1-2 weeks. * My department was being investigated for some missing money * I was in the process of interviewing for a life changing job and career shift * The results of the investigation could have led to me not getting this job * All while Natalie was pregnant with Gabrielle and there were some complications with Gabrielle's development. Ultimately, this led to weekly visits to the women's center for testing and monitoring * In the midst of this, one Saturday morning or afternoon when Natalie and Elizabeth were napping, I get a call from Natalie that the house was flooded ... admittedly, I thought she was exaggerating, but ... * I rush home, nonetheless, only to arrive and see water flowing like a river from the garage. Rushing inside to see nearly 85% of the floors affected by the flooded water * Due to the water damage and the dog, we were forced to stay at the La Quinta Inn for a couple of weeks. * Later in the week, I recall walking in the back offices one day at work, and one of the salespeople asked how I was doing ... so, I told her, and she couldn't believe all the stuff we were going through, since I was just going about the business. * Now, of course, there were many times that worry, and doubt came rushing over me, but I didn't allow it to affect anything at work. Why? Because I trusted the Lord. * I trusted that He was going to get us through these trials. * And guess what? He did. * He was faithful. o That - in part - is one way we can glorify God in even the most difficult of times. Through trusting Him. By staying close to Him. As I've stated already several times in this series. It is easy to forget about Christ during this season. * Amazon packages show up on the doorstep every day. * Christmas lists from the extended family are being fulfilled. * Wrapping gifts. * Work "holiday parties" to attend. * Food to prepare. * Houses to clean. * Decorating the house. * Again ... the list can go on and on. Instead of worrying about the dark side or the busyness of Christmas, Jesus instead reminds us to let our light shine bright and to be salt and light. And as salt and light, we are called to do good works, and we are called to glorify God. We are also called to be obedient, like Joseph. How can you let the light of Jesus shine this Christmas season? Let's pray. 2