Jesus Christ is the Answer to Evil

By My Anonymous Friend

Two days ago a most horrific crime was committed in an elementary school in a small town in Connecticut. 26 people were murdered by a mad man. 20 of these were youngsters aged 6 and 7. Many are analyzing, speculating, pontificating, and lecturing us as to what could have caused a young man to kill his own mother and all these innocent children. It is not my intent to try to explain this tragedy. All I can say is that evil is real and very much present in our world.

 

I would like to add a further note which is that part of the biblical Christmas story also involves evil. In fact it also involves the murder of innocent children. Amid the lights, dinners and gift exchanges, let us not forget that a power mad politician viewed the birth of Jesus as a potential political threat. To make sure no newborn baby would ever challenge him for power, Herod ordered all babies aged two and under in Bethlehem and surrounding areas, to be killed. I wonder how many parents grieved then just like the parents in Connecticut do today? Hundreds maybe? Who knows? Both are horrible displays of human evil and depravity.

 

Christmas is a season of joy, celebration, and happiness. After all we wish one another a "Merry" Christmas! I am not suggesting we do anything less. I simply share this sobering reminder that it is precisely because of evil and depravity that the Baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The birth of Jesus meant that the Lamb of God which would serve as the atoning sacrifice for the very depravity we saw on display two days ago and which, to be very sure, resides in each of us as well, entered the human scene.

 

So the joy of this season goes much beyond dinners and concerts and gifts. The fundamental joy consists in the fact that it marks the introduction or public display of God's remedy for depravity. So as we all grieve and hurt for the surviving loved ones in Connecticut, there can also be room in our hearts for joy and celebration. As we pray God's comfort and peace to those in the deepest of sorrows, let us also pray to give thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ! Depravity and evil are only too real! The remedy for sin and evil as well as the provision for redemption are equally real!