Christmas Persecution

Matthew 2:1-21

Introduction: Part 2 of my Christmas Series. Last week Christmas prophecy. This week let me look at what I’m calling Christmas Persecution.

Question: That doesn’t sound like a good title or theme, does it?

At the heart of what I want to say or communicate is that Christmas came and comes at a price.

Matthew 2:1-8, 13-21

Biblical narrative[edit]

• Matthew tells how the Magi visit Jerusalem to seek guidance as to where the king of the Jews has been born; King Herod directs them to Bethlehem and asks them to return to him and report, but they are warned in a dream that Herod wishes to find the child and kill him, and do not do so.
  
  
• Matthew continues: ‘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’.

— Matthew 2:16[6]

This is followed by a reference to and quotation from the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:15) (Jeremiah 31:14 in the Hebrew Bible): “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 2:17–18).

The relevance of this to the massacre is not immediately apparent, as Jeremiah’s next verses go on to speak of hope and restoration.[7]

This is what is called The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents.

[2] ‘Modern scholarship’ finds no evidence that it happened outside the passages in Matthew, though it is congruous with Herod’s character.[3][4]

• The story of the massacre is found in no gospel other than Matthew, nor is it mentioned in the surviving works of Nicolaus of Damascus (who was a personal friend of Herod the Great), nor in Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews, despite his recording many of Herod’s misdeeds, including the murder of three of his own sons.[10]

As a result, The Feast of the Holy Innocents, also known as Childermas, is celebrated in the Western Christian Churches on 28 December, the fourth day of Christmastide. In Eastern Christianity, the feast is celebrated on various dates, depending on the denomination.[5]

OT Pharaoh – In the Book of Exodus, as told in an expanded version that was current in the 1st century.[18]

In that expanded story, Pharaoh kills the Hebrew children after his scribes warn him of the impending birth of the threat to his crown (i.e., Moses), but Moses’ father and mother are warned in a dream that the child’s life is in danger and act to save him.[19] Later in life, after Moses has to flee, like Jesus, he returns when those who sought his death are themselves dead.[19]

Application: Whenever a deliverer, saviour or king comes to save a people, there will be resistance, rejection, and persecution.

The birth of Jesus and the persecution was inevitable!

All earthly kingdoms and dominions will put up a huge fight/struggle!

• Whenever God wants to do something in our lives, we can be sure we will face resistance and persecution as well.

People wanting to ‘be right’, ‘get right’, ‘live right’ will struggle.

• Alcoholics don’t usually just walk away without a struggle.
• Drug addictions/dependencies don’t just simply disappear.
• Even spouses who get saved and have a new Lord over them instead of their spouse will have to deal with the old king.
• You leave your prior religious group or affiliation and move into a personal relationship with Jesus and go to another house of worship and watch out.

Christian Persecution in the 21st Century

Christians around the world face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

In 2024, Open Doors’ World Watch List found that more than 365 million Christians, or one in seven, are experiencing persecution. This is an increase from 360 million in 2023.

Some trends in the persecution of Christians include:

Violence

In 2023, more than 14,700 churches and Christian properties were attacked, which is a six-fold increase from the previous year.

Displacement

More Christians were forced to flee their homes in 2023 than in the previous year.

Countries of particular concern

The United States Department of State labels certain countries as “countries of particular concern” due to their governments’ toleration or engagement in severe violations of religious freedom.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Political instability, war, and extremism have created a dangerous situation for Christians in this region.

Middle East and North Africa

Political instability, war, extremism, and natural disasters have driven Christians from their homelands.

China

At least 10,000 churches were closed in China.

Question: What about persecution in the United States?

• When we are told what we can and can not say as Christians, that’s persecution.
• When we’re told we can’t pray in school or recite the pledge of allegiance, that’s persecution.
• When we can’t stand up for Christian Biblical morals and ideals, that’s persecution.
• When Christians are told that they are bigots, and insensitive and cruel, that’s persecution!

Jesus and the Scriptures told/warned us:

2 Timothy 3:12 ‘Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution’. (NLT)

Matthew 13:21, (Parable of seed and sower) “yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles’. (Mat 13:21 NKJ)

Acts 8:1, ‘Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria’. (NLT)

Application: The Persecutor then becomes persecuted! Galatians 5:11 ‘Dear brothers and sisters,1 if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised — as some say I do — why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended’. (NLT)

Acts 11:19, ‘Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews’. (NLT)

Romans 8:35, ‘Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we
have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death’? (NLT)

Galatians 6:12, ‘Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save’. (NLT)

Answer? John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will1 have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (NKJ)

1 Peter 4:12-19, ‘Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you1. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter1. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear1?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator’. (NKJ)

Conclusion: Christmas is about Prophesy, and it is also about Persecution, but worry not, on December 22, the Sunday before Christmas, I will spend time with you speaking on Christmas Presence!