Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Eight-The Worst Kind of Bondage

READ:  Matthew 2:1-8, 16-18; Luke 4:16-21 (click on verses to read)

My father died two weeks before Christmas and though I'd always loved the holiday season, for years afterwards I felt depressed from the moment the first decorations went up in stores.  Even today I can hear a carol at the mall or see children practice for Christmas pageants, and the dormant ache of grief erupts.  I am not alone.  We need only look around to see stories of childhood trauma, or family fractures, or deaths like that of my father written on weary faces for whom the holidays can feel less like a time of celebration and more like an opening of painful wounds.  Christmas seems to bring out our brokenness, and many feel walled in by it, with memories of losses they would just as soon forget.
 
Perhaps this was the case for Herod the great, who was so threatened when magi from the East showed up looking for a would-be king, that he determined to have all baby boys in the region killed.  What might have produced such brokenness in one of the most powerful men in the country?  It may well have begun in childhood wounds that were never healed.  With a Jewish father and Arab mother, Herod fit in nowhere, and was likely bullied by peers on either side as he grew up.  Then he watched as his older brother became the favored one in the family, and was given the coveted Jerusalem to rule, while Herod was left with that of Galilee. 

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​We don't know much more about his early years, but by the time Herod was 30, he had fought back, paying his way into the highest levels of Roman government, and as a reward had been made king of Judea. When the Jewish religious leaders called him out for his pagan practices, he abolished their rule and replaced the centuries old inheritance system with one of buying and selling so that he could ensure every priest’s loyalty to Rome. In the process, he had many of them killed, including one who had become like a spiritual father to him. 
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Though Herod had several wives, his greatest love was a beautiful Hasmonean princess named Miriamne. For no apparent reason, he began to suspect her of having an affair, and being riddled with jealousy, brought charges against her. Miriamne was executed after he bribed his own sister to testify against her. Many suspected the real problem was that Miriamne had greater favor with the Jews than he did, something he could not bear. History suggests that shortly after this event, Herod lost his mind and never fully recovered. 

Throughout the 37 years of Herod's monarchy, his cruelty cast a long dark shadow over his accomplishments, one that remains to this day. When he realized that he was facing his final hours, he demanded that all Jews be rounded up and executed, so that the nation would have reason to mourn upon his death. In the end, his sister Salome released the thousands of Jews from the Hippodrome, preventing a massacre of immeasurable proportion.

As Christmas carols fill the air and warm fires burn in our decorated living rooms, let us not forget this dark page in the story of Christ’s birth. May Herod remind us of the pain that often lies beneath our own brokenness and that of others.  As we celebrate this year, may our hearts soar with wonder that Emmanuel came to bring God’s favor – a favor that can save and heal, that can set captives free and lead the oppressed to liberty. And in remembering, let us receive afresh the babe who grew up to crush the bars and rescue you and me, and now stands ready to bind our broken hearts, heal our hidden hurts and restore our souls to wholeness once again. 

REFLECT

Read the following words of Jesus slowly and meditatively (to meditate means to turn something over and over in your mind again and again, like looking at all the facets and prisms in a beautiful diamond):

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
because he has anointed me 
to preach good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners 
and recovery of sight for the blind, 
to release the oppressed, 
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
​Luke 4:17-21

RESPOND

Spend a few minutes pondering what your life would have been like had Jesus not set you free. Don’t rush past this – what kind of mental prison might you be living in now if He hadn’t?  

Are there any areas you need His healing for this Christmas? Offer it honestly to the Lord, and ask Him to meet you right where you are at.  Receive His favor.  Read the above passage one more time and affirm that it is true for you personally as you wait in His presence. Then worship the King of grace.

A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY

Though we are all broken in many ways, some of those who suffer most can be found in mental wards and on the streets – people who’ve lost touch with reality and know no way out. Pray for God’s direction and do an act of practical kindness. Bring a stocking to someone in a hospital mental ward or offer a cup of coffee or some Christmas goodies to a homeless person who seems lonely or confused.