On that first Christmas, the king of Judea was Herod, a cruel, blood-thirsty killer. He eliminated anyone who got in his way. Human life meant nothing to him.
A smooth talker, he was also insatiable, wanting to have everything—palaces, huge theaters, you name it.
When he was near death, some important men from the east arrived.
Herod was distraught and might have thought, I am the King of the Jews!
He called all religious leaders to find out what the Bible said about a coming King. He wanted to know where this King was born:
“In Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet has written: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5-6)
Herod had to act. From the Magi he found out the exact time the star they were following had appeared. He also sweet-talked them into coming back to tell him where they found the Child, so that Herod may also go and worship Him.
Off the magi went. The star led them to Jesus. They bowed down, worshiped Him, and offered Him expensive gifts because they knew that the little Boy would someday rule the world.
They were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod; they went home through another route.
Having been fooled, Herod was furious. He ordered the murder of all males less than two years of age!
But nothing could stop God’s plan.
Despite his wealth and power, Herod came to ruin, dying from a painful disease.
Little Jesus grew up to be the opposite of Herod. He used His power not to kill, but to help others and show love. After a life of poverty and no throne, He died on a lowly cross. But unlike Herod, who caused massive bloodshed among hordes of people, Jesus shed His own blood for all people of the world—and resurrected three days later.
Nobody could kill Christmas. Not even a Herod.
Come, let us the worship the King: JESUS.
4 comments:
Oh the blood of Jesus. It washes white as snow. Hmm, no wonder we so love the vision of snow even when we don't have snow. Now that gives me a blog topic. Writing it after this, haha.
Blog away, Yay! Over the years, people have re-invented Christmas and have given it layers of coating. We need to go back to why it is.
Blog away, Yay! Over the years, people have re-invented Christmas and have given it layers of coating. We need to go back to why it is.
Blog away, Yay! Over the years, people have re-invented Christmas and have given it layers of coating. We need to go back to why it is.
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