The War on Christmas

There are times in our culture we hear the phrase “The War on Christmas”. Normally it refers to the idea that certain people in our nation are doing what they can to remove Christmas as a special day in our country. They point to things such as:

People saying Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas

The inclusion of other holidays such as Kwanza

The canceling of certain shows such as A Charlie Brown Christmas

The removal of nativity scenes from public property

Many believe this is part of a larger plot that will lead to further attacks on Christianity itself. I’m not here to debate that. I will tell you that I’m not worried about Christmas disappearing from the American culture. I doubt very seriously that will happen anytime soon.

This morning I want to share with you an actual war on Christmas. I shared with you a few weeks ago that when Christ came, He declared war on Satan. Christ came to bring a sword and with that sword He is going to smash in pieces everything Satan has done. Satan knows that. He has done everything he can to stop the divine plan of God and he continues to do that today.

As I studied this text this week my mind went to Revelation 12:3- 4 which says

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

The dragon described is Satan and the child born is Christ. As soon as Christ was born Satan was there to try and destroy Him. Afterall, that would seem to be the easiest time to kill Him. He’s a baby. What can a baby do?

The attempt to destroy Christ continued throughout His life.

Satan tempted Him to throw Himself off the top of the Temple (Luke 4:9-12)

They attempted to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30)

They attempted to stone Him at least twice (J 8:57-59, 10:31)

They crucified Him.

But its very surprising to us when we see how the life of Christ begins. This is a baby. How vicious do you have to be to want to kill a baby? The truth is the birth of this child has awakened all the forces of darkness. Those forces will find people to use to attempt to accomplish their will.

We know the end of the story. We know redemption is purchased. We know Christ has risen. We know the kingdom of God wins. We see what Christ does to Satan. So, it shouldn’t surprise us that he is busy trying to destroy Jesus as soon as He is born. As you read the gospels remember this: Christ has come, expect the darkness.

The point of our text today is God will accomplish His redemptive plan. He will do it in the most unbelievable of ways. The high and mighty will be defeated by the meek and lowly. In our story it appears we have:

A peasant girl against royalty

A poor carpenter against a powerful king

A newborn baby against a grown man

But that is not what we have at all. What we have is God against Satan.

Satan has chosen his player! The vicious King Herod, feared for his cruelty!

God has chosen His players: A peasant girl, a poor carpenter, and a newborn baby.

God will glorify Himself by using the weakest of vessels to defeat the strongest of men. God will not only accomplish His will. He will accomplish it with ease and with the most unlikely of people.

Let’s look this morning at how God wins this battle of the war on Christmas.

1. He sends Jesus to Egypt (13-15).

A. The provision.

Jesus is probably around six moths old at this point. An angel appears to him in a dream. In fact, God speaks to Joseph through a dream on four separate occasions:

Telling him it’s ok to Mary Mary because the child in her is conceived of the Holy Spirit (1:20-21)

Telling him here to flee to Egypt

Telling him to return to Israel (2:20)

Telling him to go to Galilee (2:23)

We often think about Mary at Christmas. But the truth is God was using Joseph in a great way. He was the head of the household. He was a godly man. God was giving him divine direction concerning his wife and her child.

Not only was God speaking to Joseph, but He was also providing for Him in other ways as well. The visit of the magi precedes this section. These men must have a been a great encouragement to Mary and Joseph. They traveled 800 miles to lavish gifts upon the child and to worship Him. They recognized Him as a King of both Jew and Gentile.

Joseph had no idea he was about to be on the run for his life. The truth is Herod would probably have had to kill Joseph to kill Jesus. The entire family was in danger.

Joseph would not have been prepared financially to live in exile. God provides financially for the family through the gifts of the magi. The gold, frankincense and myrrh were all valuable. Because of the goodness of God through these men Joseph would now have the funds to flee with his wife and child.

God provides everything Joseph needs to live on the run with his family. I want to interject something here. If God blesses you financially in an unexpected way, wait. Don’t run out and spend the money. The Lord knows what lies ahead. Many times we have been blessed financially just before the car breaks down, or the air goes out. It’s a joke at our house. When we get unexpected money, we ask “OK, what’s about to break?”

B. The passage to Egypt.

Alexander the Great had created a sanctuary for Jews in the city of Alexandria. It is estimated that anywhere from 400,000 to one million Jewish people had found asylum in that city. It was a safe place, far enough away from Herod’s jurisdiction.

It was about 75 miles to the border. Joseph and Mary were probably traveling with a newborn baby. That would have made the trip more difficult than it already was. Joseph decided to leave at night and use the cover of darkness to get a head start.

There was nothing miraculous about the trip. Jesus didn’t magically zap them over. They traveled in the same way everyone else would have traveled. There was nothing easy about this trip. But they made the trip successfully. God made sure they did.

C. The prophecy of Hosea.

Matthew wants us to know that the trip to Egypt was in fulfillment of prophecy. It’s amazing how many times the New Testament points us to the Old Testament. Don’t let anyone ever tell you the Old Testament isn’t important. Matthew uses the Old Testament in this section to confirm that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world.

He points us to Hosea 11:1. It says

“When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.”

Often Scripture will have an immediate application but also a future application as well. That’s the case here. The immediate application was meant to remind the Jewish people that God had called them out of the slavery of Egypt. By His grace He delivered them from Pharaoh and gave them their freedom.

Hosea’s words were both historical and prophetical. The historical event of God calling His son, Israel, out of Egypt was a shadow of what would happen in the future. God would bring His beloved Son, Jesus Christ out of Egypt.

Let’s remember something important about the exodus. The Jews celebrated Passover every year as a reminder of their time in Egypt. God broke the back of Pharaoh with ten plagues. The tenth plague was the worst of all. The firstborn son of every Egyptian died but the Jewish children lived because the blood was put above their door. Israel left Egypt with their firstborn. Mary and Jesus will be leaving Egypt with their firstborn son as well.

2. God removes a deadly king (16-19).

A. The madman, Herod.

There are a few Herod’s mentioned in Scripture. This is the father of the others. He is known as Herod the Great. History paints him as an evil man. He was a corrupt politician who did whatever he could to keep power.

His rule can be traced back to the days of Marc Antony and Octavian. If you’re familiar with Roman history or Shakespeare those names are familiar to you. The civil war of Rome was led by these two men. Herod fell on the side of Marc Antony believing he would eventually defeat Octavian and rule Rome. Antony partnered with Cleopatra of Egypt. Despite their union they were defeated by Octavian. After Marc Antony’s death Herod thought he might be in trouble because he had supported Antony’s side. Herod as the ruler of Judea removed his crown and went to see Octavian. He essentially begged for mercy and promised his allegiance to Octavian. Octavian left Herod in place and Herod continued his evil rule.

Herod was feared because he was a loose cannon. He had no problem killing anyone who was a threat to his throne. In fact, he killed three of his own sons. He had his wife and mother-in-law killed as well.

Herod knew he was hated by the Jewish people for his cruelty. When he knew he was approaching death he had some leading Jewish men arrested and imprisoned. Knowing there would be celebration at the news of his death he ordered that those Jewish men who were arrested be publicly killed as soon as he died. Thankfully, his orders were not obeyed but if it were up to him, they would have been.

Verse 16 says Herod was very angry when he realized he had been duped by the wise men. The truth is they were not trying to dupe him. They were obeying God who told them to depart another way so they wouldn’t come into contact with Herod.

Herod lived for power. The Christ child was being called by his title, the King of the Jews. Herod had no intention of sharing that tile with anyone. His answer to any supposed threat was to kill the threat.

B. The massacre of the children.

Herod gives orders that all the male children in the area of Bethlehem two years old and younger be killed. The population of that area was very small. In those days it was probably only around 1,000 people. An estimate of 12-20 children would probably be accurate.

Don’t miss the contrast between Joseph and Herod. Joseph is doing everything he can to protect Jesus. Herod is doing everything he can to kill Jesus. These two men could not be any more different.

How evil do you have to be to order the murder of babies? Not to mention the fact that the wise men had declared this baby to the king. And the religious leaders told Herod the Christ child would be born in Bethlehem (2:6). Herod isn’t just attempting to kill any baby. He’s attempting to kill the Promised Messiah.

C. The mourning of Rachel.

Matthew shows us that the murder of the babies is also a fulfillment of prophecy. He quotes Jeremiah 31:15

“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.”

Just as the previous prophecy this verse has a historical and prophetical meaning. Jeremiah was speaking historically of the coming Babylonian invasion. The Jews were gathered in Ramah to await deportation to Babylon (Jer. 40:1). Families were separated. Children were being killed.

Rachel is here pictured as the mother of the Jewish nation. She was wife to Jacob whose sons made up the twelve tribes of Israel. She was barren until she cried out to God “Give me children or I die!” (Gen. 30:1). She also died giving birth to Benjamin (Gen 35:18).

Jeremiah sees the Jewish women who loved their children like Rachel did weeping because they are being taken as slaves and slaughtered like cattle. This horrible event was a shadow of the slaughter of the Jewish children in Jesus day.

The end of verse 18 is very telling. It says Rachel cannot be comforted. How do you comfort a woman who has just watched her baby get murdered? The most difficult funerals I have done are the ones for babies. I’ve learned there is very little you can say when a woman loses her child. There is no human comfort that can take away that pain. This is Herod’s handiwork.

God removes this madman. Look at verse 19. It tells us Herod died. Joseph and his family were in Egypt Herod died. It’s interesting to note that secular history records how Herod died. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded Herod :

“died of this, ulcerated entrails, putrified and maggot-filled organs, constant convulsions , foul breath and neither physicians nor warm baths led to recovery.”

It’s clear he died a painful and humiliating death. God removed this deadly king. Notice something else. Notice it says “they” are dead in verse 20. Who are they? We know Herod is dead. I think this probably refers to some of the people who were killing the babies. Within a few months of this awful event Herod and others were dead.

This should be a lesson for all of Jesus’ enemies.

No matter how great you are, you will die.

No matter how powerful you are, you will die.

Anyone who stands in the way of the will of God concerning Christ Jesus will be removed.

3. God places Jesus in an obscure village (20-23).

A. God commands Joseph to return to Israel.

It would have been easy for Joseph to stay in Egypt. It was safe there. They had already been there for months. We couldn’t blame Joseph if he wanted to start a new life there. But the Lord speaks to Joseph once again and tells him to return to Israel. In order to convince Joseph to leave the Lord tells Joseph that the people who were trying to kill Jesus were dead.

This probably surprised Joseph. It had likely only been a few months. Now he was being told Herod and his henchmen were dead. There was no one else seeking to kill the baby.

Joseph would have probably been overwhelmed with this news. He sees how serious God is about the child Jesus. God is removing Kings so this child will live. With this knowledge Joseph once again moves his family. Think of all the times this family has moved by the way.

They had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, an eighty-five-mile journey.

After Jesus birth they travel from Bethlehem to Jerusalem a couple of times.

Then they travel to Egypt.

Now we have them returning from Egypt.

But Joseph is humble enough to go when God says go. We don’t see him complaining. We don’t see him disobeying. God tells him to return to Israel and he does.

B. God speaks to him about the danger in Judea.

Herod’s son, Archaelus was a cruel man like his father. When Herod died, he divided his to his sons. Joseph didn’t expect Archaelus to be ruling over Judea. When he found out he was, the Lord told Joseph to go to Galilee. Herod’s son, Antipas, ruled over this region.

C. God guides Joseph back to Nazareth.

Nazareth was the hometown of Joseph (Luke 2:4). It was in this city that Jesus would spend most of His earthly life. He would live here for about thirty years. Matthew says this was in fulfillment of prophecy. The problem with that is there isn’t a prophecy that literally says Jesus would live in Nazareth.

It says He would be born in Bethlehem.

It says He would come out of Egypt.

But it doesn’t say where He would live.

What do we know about Nazareth? We know it was a by-word of sorts. When Nathanael was invited to follow Jesus, he said “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

It was an obscure place. There was nothing that would draw you to this area. Jesus wasn’t treated well here. As an adult He was kicked out of the city twice (Luke 4:16-29, Matt. 13:53-58).

Scripture does hint that Christ would live in a place like this. Nothing good was said to come from the city. The prophets said the Messiah would not be recognized for His greatness.

Psalm 22:6 says He would be a worm and not a man.

Isa. 53:2-3 says:

“He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not”

The prophets describe the type of man people would think would come from a city of Nazareth. Why wouldn’t the prophets name the exact city Jesus would grow up in?

Well, look what is happening now. He was just born, and people are already trying to kill Him. Jesus is hidden in Nazareth. He will have a normal life with His family for thirty years. The grace of God has ensured that.

At age thirty Jesus will be baptized by John the Baptist.

He will spend the next three years preaching the gospel.

He will heal the sick.

He will perform miraculous signs.

During this time He will battle Satan

He will battle demons

He will battle the religious leaders

He will battle political leaders

That three-year period will be nothing but battle after battle.

Then will come the final battle. He will be nailed to a cross. He will be placed in a tomb.

Then He will rise again. The war on Christmas is won by Jesus Himself. Through His death, burial and resurrection He defeats Satan, death, hell and the grave.

The war on Christmas has already been won folks. If you could stand at the book of Revelation and look back to the book of Matthew you’d say:

Here comes Christ, there goes Herod!

Here comes Christ, there go the Pharisees!

Here comes Christ, there go the Sadducees!

Here comes Christ, there goes Pilate!

Here comes Christ, there goes the High Priest!

Here comes Christ, there goes the grave!

Here comes Christ, there goes Satan!

The war on Christmas is won through Jesus Himself!