Gracepoint Church, Peabody
What would cause a powerful dictator to fear the existence of one infant? What would cause that man to engage in an unthinkable act of evil?
Darkness.
No, not the blackness of night. The darkness that I speak of is the darkness of sin — the absence of anything good, decent, moral, or right. It is the opposite of all that pleases God.
The entire world was in spiritual darkness. And many people despise a light being shone into their darkness. And anyone or anything that threatens their selfish lifestyle must be snuffed out.
King Herod was such a man. He was so unstable, his own troops despised him. He was so paranoid, even his own family feared him. He protected his throne by murder and intimidation.
His was a rule of darkness.
And into that darkness came a bright, penetrating light. A baby, bom in Bethlehem, and called a king. So Herod did what dark hearts and minds do when threatened. He sent his troops to Bethlehem to kill all male children under the age of two. Evil. Darkness.
Why did Jesus come into such a dark world? Because that’s where we live.
Merry Christmas.