January 2012

Christmas is over. There is now a baby in a manger. But in the Bible story, things don't stop there. In Matthew's account, three astrologers (that's what the Magi were) from a foreign court have followed stars to Israel, and arrive to ask Herod — the Roman figurehead ruler, who was known as "the King of the Jews" — what it means that another "King of the Jews" has just been born.

Naturally, Herod reacts as all rulers do when their own authority is questioned. He panics and unleashes what we'd call today a "preemptive attack." In an incident that Matthew clearly modeled on Exodus, Herod decides to go look for the child, with a plan to kill him. The astrologers, who were going to be used by Herod for his own ends, simply sneak back out of the country as soon as they pay their respects to the baby Jesus, not wishing to be caught up in Herod's intrigue.

In the 1970s, the Catholic priest Ernesto Cardinal recorded the discussions he had over scripture with Nicaraguan peasants, most of whom were downtrodden and under the spell of an autocratic government like the Israelites under Herod and Rome. When he shared this Matthew passage with these peasants, one of them, a woman Gloria, said the following: "Those common people had hope now. As soon as they found out he’d been born they felt happy. The neighbors all knew. That star, maybe it was townspeople talking, and it got to the wise men."

2011 has been characterized by much upheaval in the world, by movements of all kinds, causing even Time Magazine to give its Person of the Year award to "the Protester." And yet, this is nothing new — even the story of Jesus' birth is full of politics and intrigue and protests. And there's no telling what 2012 will bring. But Gloria was right, and remains right, in her assertion that Jesus' birth means "the common people had (and have) hope now." For Jesus' life is a testament to that hope — that the poor will ultimately inherit the earth, that those who are outcast will surely be brought back inside, and that a new kind of compassion will be more powerful than anything political forces imagine. As we live into this new year, no matter what 2012 looks like, let us remember the lessons of the post-Christmas story and the life it gave rise to in Jesus and his ministry. And let us remember the hope. May we all have a glorious and hopeful new year!

Blessing,
Stephen

The Spire

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