THE account of Jesus Christ’s birth in Matthew’s Gospel highlights the fact that the Jewish Messiah was born into an evil world where power-worshipping liars rule:
‘Then King Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also’ (Matthew 2v7-8 – King James Version).
Herod the (so-called) Great, the Roman puppet king of Judea from 37 to 4 BC, was a liar. He had no intention of worshipping the Christ-child. He wanted to murder the rightful King of the Jews.
After the sages from the East followed the Messiah’s star, found his Davidic birth-place at Bethlehem and paid him homage, they gave Herod the slip; ‘and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way’ (Matthew 2v12).
The holy family also escaped Herod’s clutches by moving to Egypt after Joseph was warned in a dream of the king’s murderous intent.
Matthew’s Gospel relates Herod’s attempt to eliminate the divine threat to his power in his infamous slaughter of the innocents: ‘Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men’ (Matthew 2v16).
Herod toiled assiduously for the lie that he and the earthly kingdom he ruled had no need of divine salvation. He was so desperate to suppress the truth that he committed mass infanticide in an attempt to murder the Saviour of the world.
Two events in the UK in late November showed that Herod’s spiritual and moral disease is active and spreading in the 21st Century.
On November 28 the Oxford Union passed the motion: ‘This House believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide.’ On November 29 the House of Commons voted to legalise assisted suicide. Lies were a prominent feature in both debates.
The Jewish writer and broadcaster, Jonathan Sacerdoti, spoke against the Oxford Union motion. He described his experience in an article for The Spectator on December 2
‘This wasn’t an evening for intellectual rigour or balanced argument. From the very beginning, it was clear the organisation of this event was deeply and worryingly dishonest, aggressive and one-sided. Speakers infamous for their unhinged views were invited to confront us; we were left in the dark about who had been invited on our side. Deception and dishonesty characterised the entire run-up to the debate.’
In an article on her Substack on November 30, Times and Jewish Chronicle columnist Melanie Phillips exposed the lies in the assisted suicide legislation:
‘We are being told that the bill’s legislative processes will now allow for further safeguards to be introduced. This is further baloney. The experience of the Abortion Act in Britain and assisted suicide measures in Canada, the Netherlands and elsewhere shows that “safeguards” are no protection against rapid mission creep. The only safeguard against abuse of the most vulnerable and turning the “right to die” into the “duty to die” is the law against the intentional taking of life . . .’
The message of Christmas is that God’s saving truth has come into the world in the Person of his divine Son Jesus Christ. But the forces of evil have a vested interest in propagating the lie that we are autonomous selves who have no need for divine salvation.
The liars may win debates but Matthew’s Gospel shows that they cannot thwart God’s saving purpose. King Herod’s death soon after his failed attempt to have Jesus killed enabled the Saviour of the world to return to Israel:
‘But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead which sought the young child’s life’ (Matthew 2v19-20).
God’s life-giving truth will win. As the Nicene Creed summarises the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ:
‘For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.’
