28 December 2013 - all the way in the light

28 December 2013 - all the way in the light


When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.

Herod is obviously a twisted and evil person to order "the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under" but it is important to understand his motivation.  He is trying to protect his throne.  He knows that a challenger has appeared.  If this challenger has his way Herod's rule will no longer be absolute.  With Jesus on the throne Herod will no longer be the at the center of his kingdom or even his own life.  He feels threatened.  We shouldn't miss this because  we all have this motivation within us to some degree.  Hopefully we aren't killing children to keep ourselves at the center of our lives but many do. And we should understand that their motivation is no different from ours which is no different from Herod's. 

We are all called by Jesus to "walk in the light as he is in the light".  Yet if we say we are sinless "we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."  It is true that our sins may not be as grave as those of others.  Or perhaps they might be.  But either way, they come from the same place of rebellion in ours hearts.  We have the same need of "an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one."  The specifics don't matter because we are called to fellowship with God and with one another, a fellowship we can only know when Jesus "cleanses us from all sin."

The more extreme the sin the more it precludes this fellowship.  Herod is called to fellowship with God and even with the Holy Innocents whom he kills but this is prevented by his attempts at self-preservation.  And all sin precludes fellowship to some degree since in God there is no darkness at all (cf. 1 Joh. 1:5).  To walk fully in fellowship with him and his people we must let him "cleanse us from every wrongdoing" and from the rebellion in our hearts.  We must let him bring us fully into the light.

It is essential to be humble and acknowledge our utter dependence on God.  When we do reject sin and walk in the light we only do so because of his grace.

Had not the LORD been with us—
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.

Saints like the Little Flower have this humility.  They explain that without God's mercy they too would be great sinners.  The lesson is that no matter what we have done, where we are, and what we think our strengths to be, the grace of God is more than enough to keep us in the light and to use us to build his kingdom.  Even the Holy Innocents are able to offer themselves in testimony to the true King against Herod.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.