"When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to
kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under..." Matthew 2:16
There is no avoiding the realities of the times in which we live, and there wasn't for those living in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod. Tucked within the more sublime and miraculous events of the first Advent is an act of evil that almost seems out of place. Herod, feeling threatened by the message of the Magi, and filled with rage when he realized the Magi had outsmarted him, ordered the massacre of boys two years old and under. There is nothing so jarring as evil being unleashed on the innocent and helpless. Something within us cries out against it; we rage against the injustice, and at the same time are terrified that it will find us as well. Within our own Advent celebrations, this is not a passage we linger over, beyond noting the significance of it being a fulfillment of prophecy. It just doesn't fit into the way we have formed and shaped our view of the nativity and each of the stories that surround it. It is an outlier, an aberration best left on the periphery of our Advent reflections - too unsettling for our already anxious hearts. The truth is though, Herod's slaughter of the innocent is central to the entire story. If not for heinous evil, if not for wicked hearts, if not for the stain of sin and the suffering it has brought, there would be no Advent. There would be no Christmas story. There would be no need for a Savior. But there is a need, a desperate need, and it was into this desperation that our Savior came.
It is easy to absolve ourselves in some way when confronted with extreme evil. We put ourselves in a different category and tell ourselves we aren't "that" bad. But Jesus did not just come for the "Herods" of the world. He came for all of us, because we are all sinners in need of redemption. What Jesus came and accomplished is not just a feel good story to warm our hearts at Christmas. He came and defeated the very evil we fear and the evil that all of us are born into. None of us are free of blame or guilt, and amazingly, none of us are outside the reach of his grace. The baby born in Bethlehem who was threatened by death grew up and ultimately surrendered to that death. He chose. He chose to be impaled to a cross for the very one who sought to murder him all those years ago, and ruthlessly tore infant boys from the arms of their mothers. He chose. He chose to take every sin of every person on himself. He chose. He chose to be forsaken of the Father for our reconciliation. He chose. He chose to become a victim in order to be Victor. He chose. He chose his life for our life. We all killed Christ; it was all our sin that put him on the cross - not just the most evil of mankind, all of us. And we can all live because of him.
Our world is seemingly spiraling out of control, and it was no less true for those in Bethlehem who suffered the evil of Herod. But the One born there now reigns. He is seated on the throne. He is the Prince of Peace who has all things under his control, whose purposes cannot be thwarted. In him we find peace with God and peace within the chaos of a broken world. No one is beyond his reach. No situation is beyond his grace. Peace is available to all because He died for all. This is the hope and joy of Advent.