Merry Christmas!

This little Babe, so few days old,

Is come to rifle Satan’s fold;

All hell doth at his presence quake,

Though he himself for cold do shake;

For in this weak unarme’d wise

The gates of hell he will surprise.

–Robert Southwell

This little poem by Robert Southwell reminds us why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And it reminds us why heaven and earth will celebrate his birth forever. When King Herod learned of Jesus’ birth, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Mat 2.3). And for good reason. This baby was destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that would be spoken against (Luke 2.34). As Isaiah had foretold, this child – called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – would be a sanctuary to those who hoped in him, but a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to those who would not (Isa 9.6; 8.14-15). And so it was with violence that Herod received the Prince of Peace, and he slaughtered Bethlehem’s baby boys. And it was with violence that the leaders of Israel received him, framing him to hang on a Roman cross (Mat 26.63-66; 27.1-2, 11-26).

In this strangest of ways the Son of God destroyed the works of the devil and sat down on David’s throne (1John 3.8; Isa 9.7).  He sat down with all authority in heaven and earth, claiming all kingdoms and peoples as his own, and he commanded that we, redeemed sinners, make all nations as we are, Jesus’ disciples (Mat 28.18-20).

The birth of Jesus, the incarnation of God the Son, is public truth — it is true for all the world, for all people in all places at all times. But opposition to the Prince of Peace did not die in the first century.  Herod could not prevent Jesus’ birth, but he did what he could to make it  if of no effect. And he failed. Two thousand years later, pragmatic politicians and cultural leaders still do what they can to make Jesus’ birth of no effect. They tell us the birth of Jesus as Savior and Lord of mankind is a private belief which has no place in the public square. These modern Herods will fail also.  For the Son of God did not appear to bring a new religious experience; he appeared that the government of the world might rest on his shoulders, and that the increase of his government and of peace should never end (Isa 9.7).

And so, when those in high places tell us to keep our celebration of the birth of world’s Christ locked up in our hearts and out of the public square, let us bid them in the name of King Jesus, “Merry Christmas!”