When Christmas comes around there are the classic Christmas movies that come with it. Some variation of the Christmas Carol, a funny Christmas Vacation, Elf or the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” But last night, the wife and I couldn’t come up with an appropriate Christmas movie to watch. The lack of anything on broadcast tv, on streaming services and on DVD made the options both voluminous but limited. Nothing seemed to fit what I was looking for which seemed to be something with some more depth and some history to it.
After scanning all options for a period of time, there were two movies watched this Christmas of 2019 that seemed to hit upon several themes not only for the year but possibly for the decade.
The two movies, “Hotel Mumbai” and “Operation Finale” seem to me to hit on several themes:
Sins of hatred, murder, envy, and other general themes like terrorism, economics, politics, and religion.
Sure, my picking of these films have to do with my love of history, but there seemed to be more and I wondered and prayed about what God may be trying to teach at this moment through Christmas and these films. Then my mind hit on Herod and the Maji:
Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and 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.”
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When 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. 5”In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6’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’.”
7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9After 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. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On 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. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
In this, Herod this politically proclaimed “King of the Jews” by Romans was faced with another King and felt vulnerable, jealous, and wanted to hold on to power no matter the cost.
This made me think of the films. The dictatorial reign of Hitler laid waste to so many lives that it still stretches into history today. Are we learning from history? The religious pains of history in India and Pakistan stain the recent past and present. The Jews of 1st Century A.D. had many issues with their Roman rulers and a Roman ruler had an issue with a new King even if that King’s kingdom was both “now and coming” spiritual and physical. The hatred comes through.
This Christmas, there are many examples of tyrants, want to be tyrants, those holding on to power, those who are fearful of losing power, and those who fear the King of the Jews and the King of kings. We celebrate the birth of God who came inflesh as a baby in a humble settings who came to transform our simple lives and change the life of the world around us. Let us celebrate even as great sin storms through the past and present as that baby died for such sin and evil. Let His life and death
This Christmas among the celebration of Jesus and His birth, God also had me see the great sins of the past in painful history. In that, God says here is my beloved Son who died for such sin and pain. Do not fear the terrorist, the dictator or want to be dictators of this world for I am with you always. And Jesus said to forgive them, love them, and pray for them.
