Merry Christmas! On this first Sunday of Christmas, we’re looking at the lives lived by two lesser-known characters in the Christmas story who could not be more different from one another: Joseph & Herod.
One pursues power at all costs, and the other gives of himself to protect another. Although this story of Herod’s massacre of the innocents seems like an abrupt turn from the joy of Christmas, we see in this story the sort of world God chose to enter.
Today’s Scripture readings are Isaiah 63:7-9, Psalm 148, and Matthew 2:13-23.
Here’s the livestream from our joint worship service at Christ the King, as well as the sermon podcast audio:
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Today is the first Sunday of Christmas. We’ve heard the familiar parts of the story. We’ve heard about the angels, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph and the baby born. That’s the Christmas story my kids can tell you. And remember, the Christmas season goes until January 6.
Next week, we’ll celebrate Epiphany and hear the familiar story about Magi from the East bringing their gifts to Jesus. We know those stories.
Each year on this Sunday between Christmas Day and Epiphany, we hear less-familiar parts of the story. Following the lectionary’s plan, one year we hear about the baby Jesus being blessed and dedicated at the temple, another year he’s 12 and ditching his parents to go talk with religious teachers, and then there’s this year.
On Christmas Eve I said something about the “crash from the post-Christmas sugar high when vacation’s over”—well, here we are. We go from the joy of Christmas, the good news of great joy for all the people of a savior born among us, to this awful story known as “the massacre of the innocents.” Merry Christmas.
The New York Times recently had an end of year feature titled The Lives They Lived looking at people whose lives ended in 2025. On the list were people like researcher Jane Goodall, boxer George Foreman, a Holocaust survivor and psychologist named Anna Ornstein. Kennedy Secret Service agent Clint Hill, whose opening line said he was haunted by JFK’s death and his failure to prevent it. Sometimes one moment can define your life.
Reading through those obituaries, I thought about the characters in today’s story, the lives they lived. Joseph and Herod are not the main characters in the Christmas story, but they couldn’t be more different in the way they’re remembered.
There are several King Herod’s in the Bible, but the one in this story is known as Herod the Great. Good start for a legacy, right? His primary legacy is as a builder. During the 33 or so years of his reign, he built fortresses and a harbor, founded cities, and most notably for us, he rebuilt and expanded the Jerusalem temple.
Joseph too was a builder, but of course on a far different scale. In Matthew 13, a crowd asks of Jesus, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” The word there could also mean a stonemason, but either way, Joseph was a laborer, not a king. He built with his own hands, rather than commanding armies of builders.
Joseph is remembered for his righteousness and humility. When he learned his fiancé was pregnant, he rejected the option of publicly disgracing her. When the angel told him the child was from God, he believed and resolved to raise the baby as his own.
In today’s story, Joseph upends his life to care for others. He protects Mary and the baby Jesus, leading them as refugees to safety in Egypt, and then later to a new life in the Galilean town of Nazareth.
That’s the last we hear of Joseph. His legacy is as a loving, righteous protector. That’s the life he lived.
And then there’s Herod.
The overriding goal of Herod’s life was maintaining his power at all costs. He was king, but he was a puppet king under the Roman Empire. The goal of many of his building projects was to increase his popularity with his Jewish subjects, but it doesn’t seem to have worked.
In today’s story, Herod is willing to have babies murdered in order to hold onto his power.
As Wikipedia notes, the Jewish historian Josephus reported Herod “was so concerned that no one would mourn his death that he commanded a large group of distinguished men to come to Jericho, and he gave an order that they should be killed at the time of his death so that the displays of grief that he craved would take place.”
His survivors did not carry out the plan, but what a terrible thing to get to the end of your life and be worried not enough people will mourn for you. What a legacy.
As I said, this story is a rough turn away from Christmas. No one talked about this part of the story in our Advent calendar videos.
One lesson is pretty obvious: Joseph is a much better role model than Herod.
None of you came here this morning to hear about the brutality of a dictator murdering children. But this is the world into which Jesus is born, the world God chooses to enter.
This is the world we live in. Joseph and Herod are both real human beings. We see people acting this way today, wars sustained by rulers afraid of losing power, afraid of backing down. This story is all too believable.
This story invites us to consider how we treat the millions of people who are right now living under rulers who look more like Herod than like Joseph.
The song we’ll sing in a minute (All Creation Sings #1060 Gentle Joseph Heard a Warning) asks God to give us the courage of Joseph, courage to follow God, courage to treat people who bear God’s image the way we would treat Jesus himself.
This part of the Christmas story reminds us God doesn’t only show up on a silent night, when everything is perfectly calm and bright. God comes all the way in. The great joy, the great hope of Christmas encompasses all people. God hears the cries of those who are threatened by violence, even the wails of those weeping for their children. Do not despair, because God enters into the messiness, into the muck and the violence and the sadness. Whatever you might be going through today.
Isaiah says the Lord “became their savior in their distress.” The message of Christmas is that God has entered this broken world, this world of violence and fear where terrible things can and do happen, and God is working to redeem it.
Herod feared Jesus would grow up to be a king. And he does, but Jesus’ reign is far different than Herod’s. Jesus’ reign is peace, justice, and love. He is a king who lays down his life for his people, rather than demanding their lives for his own security. This king empties himself, Philippians 2 says, “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”
A life lived in love, given in sacrifice. This is the king we follow, the life we seek to live.
Christmas—including this part of the story—Christmas is a celebration of God’s love for a broken, imperfect world.
This story shows us how awful this world can be, and how far God is willing to go to redeem it.
And even the most oppressive, most powerful, most evil rulers cannot hinder God’s purposes from being accomplished. God’s kingdom is coming.
Merry Christmas.