'Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who was born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 
            When King Herod heard this he was disturbed.'
                                                                                              Matt 2:1-3

It’s interesting how different people react to Christmas.  For some, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.  For others, it’s filled with pain and sadness.  Many see it as an opportunity to give to others while still others find ways to capitalize on this season of giving with sale after sale.  Christmas is touted as an occasion to proclaim the message of Christ, to market the message of Christ, or even to deny the message of Christ in some politically correct holiday greeting.

Yet, perhaps one of the most honest and insightful reactions to the Christmas story that I have ever heard is that of King Herod’s.  Matthew reports that he was disturbed.  Disturbed?  It’s just a baby, born to a peasant family, in a small insignificant rural town.  But apparently Herod was up on his bible prophesy, for immediately Matthew reports that the king gathered all of the chief priests and teachers of the law to find out where the Christ was to be born. 

You see, Herod seemed to understand something that we often tend to forget during all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas; and that was that this event, this child born in a manger, was about something much more significant than just a silent night, holy night.  This was the King that had been foretold for centuries, the King that was to change everything.  Nothing would be safe any longer. No longer would tyranny continue unopposed.  All of those old excuses of not being born to the right family or belonging to the wrong people group wouldn’t hold water now.  The invasion had begun … and so Herod was disturbed; so disturbed in fact that he had every male child under two murdered in a desperate attempt to end the siege.  While his response was clearly wrong, his assessment was exactly right.

And so, here’s wishing you a very disturbed Christmas. Whether you love the season or hate it, may the child -- that grew in favor with God and with man, that died at the hands of men not unlike us, and that rose from that grave to become the King he was prophesied to become -- may he disturb your holidays and invite you into something much grander and glorious and terrifying than you have ever imagined.

To the King,

David