Christmas Swords

Sylvia loves the Hallmark channel on TV. Last night I glanced at the movie playing while going about some other tasks. The story was about a blended family that was having trouble adjusting. Their problems went on for the required two hours before they were wondrously resolved and the family, plus grandparents, sat down for Christmas dinner, filled with thanksgiving and smiles. They thanked the Lord for their First Christmas together.

How nice, I thought.

This same week a friend asked me why Jesus would ever advise someone to sell his cloak and buy a sword. The reference is from Luke 22. Jesus and his disciples were gathered as if they were a family for the Last Supper before he was crucified. It was the Passover.

During the meal the men started quarreling about which among them was considered to be the greatest. Jesus pointedly reminded them they were thinking and acting like the politicians of this world. He was conferring on them a kingdom in which things were quite different. In Jesus' kingdom the greatest are those who serve, even as he, their king, came among them to serve.

Then he turned to Peter who was considered the leader of the group and told him he had prayed for him. Peter, quite unaware of his own vulnerability, promised to follow Jesus even into death. This was a promise he was totally unprepared to keep, as events would soon show.

At this point Jesus changed the topic. He asked them to recall how they never lacked anything while following him. When he sent them on a mission they always had food and shelter. They all agreed. But now it was all to change. No longer would things go so smoothly. With what was to happen to Jesus they would soon be in grave danger. Now they had better take a purse of money and carry a bag with clothing. Moreover they had better be prepared to defend themselves, even if it meant doing so with a sword. And, if they couldn't afford a sword, well, they had better sell their cloaks and buy one.

The reason I quote these two incidents, one from TV-land and the other from the Bible, is to point out that we followers of Christ are advised to ask ourselves what's going on when the world likes us and welcomes with open arms our celebration of the Savior's birth. By the world I refer to all who reject Jesus' claims to being Lord and Savior, God and man in one person. This crowd hates him, because he challenges everything about their way of life, their greed, pride, selfishness and idolatry. He calls them to turn away from all this, admit to it and humbly accept what he and he alone can give them, God's forgiveness and eternal life. Because they cannot and will not, they hate him and all of his followers. World-wide persecution of Christians continues unabated in our day.

Eight days after his birth Jesus' parents brought him to the temple to be circumcised, as the laws of the Covenant required. 33 days later they returned to complete the purification rituals for mothers who had given birth. While there an old man by the name of Simeon came up to them and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, pronounced a blessing upon them and the Child.

Then he said something most peculiar to Mary:

"Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2).

What was this sword? It was the sword wielded by the Romans. Under the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, the government pronounced Jesus guilty of sedition and sentenced him to death upon a cross. This was the sword that pierced Mary's heart, for she was unable to stop the vicious murder of the Son she had born.

The warning in all of this is clear. Let us not get too caught up in the syruppy mess the world around us calls Christmas. This Child whose birth we Christians celebrate is the same One who, a little over thirty years later, was despised, rejected and murdered by the very world he came to rescue from judgment and eternal death.