On the fourth day of Christmas (28 December), the traditional calendar of the Church tempers our naive tendencies in celebrating the Nativity of Christ. Matthew 2 tells us about the cruel act of Herod, so-called the Great. Fearing the threat of Christ to his worldly power, the king ordered the execution of male children in Bethlehem under two years of age.
So the Birth of Jesus was not all filled with kindly sentimentality. Despite divine intervention in human history, the forces of evil, destruction, and death were still at work. The Christ Child became the object of hatred, and an attempt to eliminate Him killed His innocent contemporaries. Although God has done much to redeem human beings, our world is still the same. Many people still oppose God and still destroy the innocent to preserve personal power, wealth, comfort, convenience, etc.Nevertheless, the evil acts of Herod and his family did not succeed in destroying God's truth, love, and grace incarnate in Jesus Christ. Herod's kingdom faded away, but the work of redemption in Jesus Christ continued. And so it is to our day. There is much evil and innocent suffering in the world, but the Redeemer and His work are not destroyed. Christ lives and His work continues and will continue to the end of the age and beyond!
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