I wrote recently about the parts of the Gospel story so familiar to us that we gloss over them without feeling their full impact. One of the stories which I do my best to pass over without reflection is the slaughter of the children by Herod.
The wise men come to Herod, when they see the star. They assume the child king would have been born in one of Herod's palaces. Herod is troubled by this and asks them to make sure to tell him where the child is found. Being warned by God not to go back to Herod, they depart by another way. Joseph is also warned, and he takes the Baby Jesus to Egypt. When Herod realizes the wise men have not returned, he slaughters all the male children in Bethlehem who are two years and younger.
It is a horrible story. One that is difficult to associate with the feel-good stories of Christmas.
We sometimes forget that the presence of Jesus causes problems. The entrance of God into our world means that everything else must shift a bit, to the sides. There can be only one God and anything that would prefer to be god must rejected.
This is not a repudiation of the promises of scripture that Jesus has come to bring us life, and life abundantly. Rather it is the acknowledgement that this life we receive has core commitments which cannot be relegated to second-class status.
Having Jesus in our lives means that somethings will be disrupted.
The disruptions are (most likely) to occur in the areas where disruptions are called for. The call from God leaves little room for those addictions which diminish life (either our own or the lives of others.) But disruptions are coming.
It is good that the Bible does not gloss over these reminders. We need to be attracted to Christ, but realize that when Christ comes things are likely to change. The change means wonderful things for us; so long as we are prepared to say good-bye to those things which seem dear and precious to us, but in reality are distractions from whom God calls us to be.
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