The massacre of innocents by Niccolò Bambini early eighteenth century. Public Domain, although banned on Facebook. (Source.)
by Brian Shilhavy
The American Christmas holiday is a huge financial windfall, with Americans spending nearly $1 TRILLION during the Christmas holiday. (Source.)
It is allegedly a religious holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, the promised Jewish Messiah.
Images of Joseph and Mary with the baby Jesus are common, portraying a “family friendly” holiday as most Americans celebrate the holiday with family gatherings, and the overall message is one of “joy” and “good cheer,” and “peace on earth.”
Most Christians will go to Church to celebrate, where the “Christmas Story” will be read from the Bible, which then adds to the “Christmas Spirit”.
However, it is highly unlikely that at these Church Services that the entire Christmas story will be read.
Most include the visit of the “Wise Men” to Bethlehem, shortly after Jesus was born.
These were likely Jewish Persians (Iranians today) following the traditions of Daniel and his associates who studied astrology and other arts that were popular in that ancient kingdom, known as Babylon, and then Persia.
Daniel was recorded as being “chief of the magicians” in this ancient order. (Daniel 4:9)
But the visit of these Persians, referred to as “Magi”, is usually where Christians stop reading on Christmas, and not finishing the story of the visit of those Magi, and the result of their visit.
So to honor what I believe is the true “spirit” of the story about the birth of Jesus Christ, I am going to include the uncensored, full story of the Persians’ visit at the birth of Jesus here.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,
“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph 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.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 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.”
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“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.” (Matthew 2:1-18)
While this part of the Christmas Story will probably never be told by American Christians during Christmas, artists over the centuries have depicted this part of the story about the birth of Jesus Christ, referring to it as “the massacre of innocents,” and I included one of those images as the feature image of this article. (Note: This image is banned on Facebook.)
I haven’t celebrated Christmas for many years now, but if I did, and if I still sent out “Christmas Cards,” they would look like this image of the “massacre of innocents”, because it is the truth, but a truth that few want to admit, and is much more reflective of the truth of our culture today here in the 21st Century, rather than the plethora of “feel good” images and Hallmark Christmas movies people prefer to look at instead.
Satan’s War Against Humanity
The Massacre Of The Innocents – Photo of a 16th Century stained glass window panel. Public Domain.
The miraculous virgin birth of Jesus Christ kicked off a very violent war, a spiritual war between God and Satan, between heaven and earth.
When Jesus began his public ministry around the age of 30, he testified to the fact that he came to earth to begin this war, and that it would be so violent, that it would pit family members against each other.
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)
Jesus’s own family stated publicly that they believed he was “out of his mind”, because he did not respect his own family.
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.
A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
I find it interesting that Satan tried to prevent the birth of Jesus, who ushered in the New Covenant, by having all the male babies murdered in Bethlehem, because he did something very similar in Egypt thousands of years earlier, by trying to prevent God’s chosen man to start the Old Covenant, the Law, by also killing all the newborn baby Hebrew boys living in Egypt.
Moses escaped, however, and eventually delivered God’s people out of Egypt. (Read Exodus Chapter 1 and 2)
So Satan failed twice in his massacre of innocent babies, and his attempt to prevent God’s Kingdom from coming down to Earth.
He failed to prevent Moses from being born, who brought humanity the Law from heaven, and he failed to prevent Jesus Christ from being born, who came from heaven itself, to fulfill the Law.
But Satan’s war against humanity continues today, especially his desire to kill children and prevent them from being born.
The killing of innocent children in Gaza has been going on for over a year now, for example, with many thousands being massacred.
There are no celebrations in the birth place of Jesus today, in Bethlehem. Just as in the days of Herod in the Christmas story, so too today Christian parents grieve the loss of the lives of their children.
I am fairly certain that here in the U.S. and around the world as well, that there are many more people suffering on Christmas, rejected by their families, than there are families meeting together to celebrate, in what is basically a pagan holiday that is not truthful about the real purpose of the birth of Jesus Christ.
I stand with those lonely warriors on this day. We will not celebrate, because we are still at war, and the children are still being massacred.
The time for celebrating is in the future, after this war is over.
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