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Disappointment


When things don't go well. When circumstances turn out badly, we can experience disappointment. It's how I felt this past Tuesday after going through an unsuccessful surgery to correct an issue with my fistula. Now I'm in a place of uncertainty as I wait to hear from my surgeon about next steps. My mind asks the question: what now?


You might ask if I am able to continue trusting in the faithful care of God. My answer is, "yes, I can." But trusting God and feeling disappointed aren't mutually exclusive. One can feel both without being a second-class Christian. God gave us emotions and an outlook where we can choose to make the conscious decision to trust in him.


Honestly, we've all had a challenging year with Covid-19 claiming 308,098 deaths in the United States at this writing. We've lost 1,654,461 globally. (Source) And it's likely that more will succumb before the pandemic officially is ruled under control. Who am I to say to them, "Oh you shouldn't feel bad. You should suck it up and keep moving forward." I would never suggest that. Trusting God is a process, especially in the dark and difficult times.


Disappointment over a failed surgery is minor compared the millions whose lives have been devastated by this scourge. The loss of family, friends and other loved ones has taken a huge toll. We may even ask, "where are you, God?" "Why is this happening to your people?"


Was Christmas just about rejoicing?


My mind goes back to the events of that first Christmas. Most of us recall the joy and celebration of angels, shepherds, parents and an infant child in a manger. But there was also darkness accompanying that miraculous event. In Matthew 2, we read the events after Jesus' birth,


"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem."


The magi appeared before King Herod to confirm the possible location of the one who was born "King of the Jews." Well, I'm sure that King Herod was rattled by the news as he considered himself to be the "King of the Jews." But he allows the magi to meet with priests and scholars of the Old Testament who were able to direct the wise men to the town of Bethlehem. And as a parting comment, Herod suggests the magi return and visit him in order that "I, too, may go and worship him."


After visiting the little family, Matthew 2:12 tells us that the magi were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. Thus they returned to their own country by another route.


Then Joseph, in verse 13, is visited by angel of the Lord in a dream:

“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

So here they were, new parents with a lot of excitement over the birth of their son and the auspicious visitors that they received, presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh to open and enjoy, when suddenly their world was turned upside down! Forced to leave their home, fleeing in the middle of the night, and going to live in Egypt because the king put a death order on the child! This wasn't a happy time. It may have been very discouraging and frightening time for Joseph and Mary.


The angel's message warning Joseph to flee came with good reason as we read in Matthew 2:16, Herod realizes that he had been outwitted by the magi. He was furious and he gave orders to kill all baby boys aged 2 and under, in Bethlehem and vicinity. There is no agony to compare with a mother (and father) who has lost their child. For the mothers of Bethlehem, the event we know as Christmas was not a joyous event.

17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”


This lesser known Christmas narrative presents us with a genocidal attack by a madman who had the power to bring this horrible grief to pass. The question of "why?" is answered in part by the reminder that evil exists in the world. And in the case of the Messiah's birth, we see that a malevolent hand was behind the actions of Herod. That malevolence had its source in Satan himself.


This level of violence in Scripture is nothing new. Think about Pharaoh's command to throw all Hebrew boys under two years of age into the Nile. This is recorded in Exodus 1. We see in Exodus 2 that the infant Moses was saved by the sovereign care of God. He was rescued by Pharaoh's daughter and ultimately given to his own mother to be nursed and cared for.


In 2 Kings 11, we're introduced to a wicked queen named Athalia, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She usurped the throne of Judah and ordered the execution of the entire royal family. What we see in the actions of Pharaoh and in Athaliah is an effort to destroy the messianic line through whom Jesus would come.


Satan was aware of the implications of the messianic prophecy given to Eve in Genesis 3:15 that through her posterity, one would come to destroy him.


"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”


Satan wanted to destroy the seed that would come and eventually crush his head with a death blow.


So we are seeing these nation-wide efforts to destroy the line of the messiah: through Pharaoh, through Athaliah and through King Herod.

Massacre of the innocents recorded in Matthew 2


More than disappointment, this is tragedy.

Some would argue that this event recorded in Matthew didn’t happen because there is no corroborating evidence from outside sources. Wikipedia writes, "A majority of Herod biographers . . . hold the event to be myth, legend, or folklore."


Yet there is reason to believe that this event was, in fact, historical. One must remember the political situation of that time. The overarching, supreme governing authority was Rome. In the eyes of Rome, Judea was nothing more than a small province among the larger sprawl of the Roman Empire. They had placed Judea under the administration of a puppet ruler, Herod.


As far as Rome was concerned, any issues related to this insignificant province were to be cared for by Herod. Unless there was outright insurrection against Rome, the Romans didn't want to hear about it. Rome wouldn’t care about internal politics of this region. If the local ruler enacted a genocidal order, Rome wouldn’t pay much attention nor record it. There were no daily newspapers, no less Facebook or Twitter. Additionally, in a small town such as Bethlehem, it was estimated likely that no more than a dozen or so infants were murdered. This wouldn't catch the eyes of the governmental historian.


It catches the attention of the biblical authors of course, because scripture is recording the circumstances surrounding the people of Israel and especially, the birth of the Messiah.


Despite the circumstances, God remained sovereign over the care of his provision for the world. The messiah, his son, experienced God's protection remaining under the watchful eye of the heavenly Father. You might be tempted to say, "Well sure, that's his kid." But here is the lesson. We who are in Christ are all his children. And we can be assured of God's continued work in our lives even when the circumstances might seem otherwise.


This is where I stand today. Despite the disappointment of a failed surgery, God is still caring for me. And no matter what your own circumstances may be today, one week before Christmas, you can trust that he is caring for you as well.


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