St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church

A CHRISTMAS REFLECTION:  WHO NOT TO BE THIS CHRISTMAS

By Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis

When we think about the Christmas story we typically focus on the heroes and “good guys” of the story – the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Christ child, perhaps also the shepherds and the wise men.  All of these characters are important to the story and give us much to think about.  But it can also be helpful to look at the villains and “bad guys” of the Christmas story to see what they can teach.  That’s what I’d like to do right now.

Bad guy #1 – Herod

We read the following about Herod:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him….

And after the wise men left, “by another way” (not returning to Herod because of the warning they received in a dream) we are told:

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

Why did Herod do all of this?  Or, put differently, why is Herod bad guy #1?  Herod’s fault is in his exceeding desire to be in power and to hoard that power.  Accordingly, anyone who might be a threat to Herod’s reign must be taken out.

What can we learn from Herod?  We can learn that if we seek to have power in ourselves (apart from God) then we too will seek to remove anyone who competes with us for that power.  But, if we are humble enough to recognize that everything belongs to God, and, as the prophet Job once said,

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21).

Then we can live in fear of nothing and no one – since God is in charge.

Bad guy #2 – the innkeeper

We don’t hear directly about the innkeeper, but we read the following about the impact he had on where Jesus was to be born:

And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

                                                                                               

Perhaps the innkeeper represents those who, as Jesus says in the gospel, have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear (Mark 8:18).  The savior of the world was right in front of him (albeit in the womb of Mary) and he missed it. 

The application to us is two-fold.  First, in Matthew 25 Jesus tells us that he is every hungry, thirsty, naked, lonely, sick and imprisoned person (vs. 35-36).  Do we have the eyes to see that in our lives and in our interactions with our children and family and co-workers and the homeless people we pass on the streets?  If not, we too are the innkeeper.

Secondly, Jesus Christ knocks at our door every time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, and he asks if he can come in and dwell within us (in the form of Holy Communion).  Again, do we open the door and let him in, or, as the Christmas gospel tells us, is there no room… [at] the inn?

Bad guys #3 – the Jewish leaders

The most interest group to reflect on may be the Jewish leaders of that time.  The scripture don’t say much about their motives in the Christmas story, but there is something the scriptures omit that is, I believe, important.  The scriptures tell us that two groups were told about the birth of Jesus, the pagan Magi (wise men), and the (Jewish) shepherds.  But why weren’t the “establishment” Jews (the scribes, the Pharisees) informed about it?

While it’s hard to tell, the answer that seems most likely is that they didn’t really want the Messiah to come – at least not if his coming was going to change their comfortable life.  The scriptures say the following about the leaders of that time:

Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

It seems that the Jewish leaders had a fairly cushy life, and they weren’t eager for that to change.

What’s the application for us?  If Jesus is going to come into our lives and be our Lord (which means he is in charge), it’s likely that much of life is going to need to change.  If his commandments become the law by which we live, then we’ll need to forgive (Matt. 6:12) and turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:39), and give to everyone who asks (Luke 6:30) and rejoice in our difficulties (Rom. 5:3).

Are we willing to do this?  Or, does Jesus ask too much?  The Pharisees seemed to think that Jesus indeed was asking for too much, and they were happier without him.  How about you?

So, this Nativity, may our Lord teach us what we need to learn about the “villains” of the Christmas story.  And may we invert their weaknesses – hunger for power (Herod), eyes but can’t see (innkeeper), too much comfort with the status quo (Jewish leaders) - into spiritual strengths – humility, eyes to see, and a willingness to change for Christ – in the year ahead.