By Jacob Chen
Christmas did not happen in a vacuum. The context into which we place Christmas shapes how we understand its meaning and application.
Today we often associate Christmas with peace — a Chrismon tree in a sanctuary, or a joyful crowd celebrating the season. But the first Christmas was something different.
A Violent Reaction
In Matthew’s narrative — unlike those who rejoiced at the birth of Jesus — when King Herod heard Christmas news from the Magi, “he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3).
Why disturbed? Because the birth of a new King threatened their political power. In his final years, Herod grew increasingly paranoid, even executing his own sons. His fear led to the massacre of the baby boys of Bethlehem, a futile attempt to destroy the newborn King.
Strangely enough — though understandable from the world’s perspective — the peace of Christmas provoked the world’s violent reaction, as it exposes and unsettles the sinful world.
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“The Christ-child would transform the world, yet by a kind of power the world cannot comprehend.”
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A New Kind of Power
What did the newborn King do? He came in utter vulnerability. Joseph kept fleeing with Jesus and Mary from those who sought the boy’s life.
We see a paradoxical yet profound reality: the vulnerable power of Christmas. The Christ-child would transform the world, yet by a kind of power the world cannot comprehend. He is both the Lion and the Slain Lamb (Revelation 5); His conquest comes not by the sword but by His blood.
Still Relevant?
In some ways, our own situation is not so different from that of the first Christmas. Beyond the quiet of sanctuaries, there is chaos, conflict, violence, even war.
What does Christmas mean in such a world? Is its message no longer relevant?
By no means. Such soil was precisely where the first Christmas took root, and it speaks powerfully to the reality we face. The pale of death seems to swallow the green of life, but ultimately, green will overcome pale — at the cross and in the empty tomb.
But that is a story for Easter.
Prayer
Lord, grant me and Your church the wisdom and strength to embody the vulnerable yet powerful message of Christmas in this world. Amen.
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Jacob Chen is a Ph.D. student in Biblical Studies and a Greek teaching adjunct at Asbury Theological Seminary. He previously served as a pastor of a house church in China and worked as an information engineer. He has published “Multiple Cultures Yet One Witness: Revelation’s Interaction with Surrounding Cultures and Its Implications for the Chinese Mission through the Concept of Tian (Heaven)” and “Paul’s Eschatological Joy in Philippians in Its Jewish Background.”
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