IN THE QUIET : The King

The enraged king made the decree.  Murder all the baby boys 2 and under.
A piece of the Christmas story no one talks about.

My mind is unable to move past it.  Such immense evil seems out of place among the greatest story ever told.  I'm hard pressed to recall a sermon ever given on this piece of the story.  The story of Christmas is about joy and Good News and Peace among men.

Not murderous evil.
But here it is.

Woven in this story is evil and pain and mourning; why God?

"Evil is unreasonable; therefore needs no reason."  The words spoken from my instructor in a training class not long ago.

I mull on that while thinking of the weeping cries from broken mothers rising above the Christmas story.
The weeping cries of that first Christmas...and today.

This year Christmas brings sadness, anxiety and tears for many; dare I say most.
Christmas will look different than any other before. 
Changed or cancelled traditions.
Empty tables.
Empty chairs.
Empty cupboards. 
Even loved ones nearby may experience Christmas alone.  
My heart is heavy for those; the ones I know the darkness of night holds cries in silence.

Friend, it is in the Silent Night the glory of God shown all around them.
Your sadness is as much a part of the Christmas story as the joy it heralds.
The King in the manger holds the Peace that passes over any thing a king decrees.

He is your Joy in the tears.
He is your swaddled Hope.
He is your Peace in the night.

So let your tears fall.
For The King will once again come down.
The King of kings.
The Lord of lords.
He, Beloved, He is the One who will once again come down.

And wipe each tear away.

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Matthew 2: 16 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, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.