"They picked out the right villain-that must mean
something." I had the tradition of reading The Best Christmas Pageant
Ever by Barbara Robinson each Christmas season. I've missed a few years but verses 14-29 in
chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark reminded of this line. (It's on page 50 of my
copy.)
The church's Christmas pageant had been overrun by the
Herdman kids, a pack of mean, ornery siblings from the "wrong side of town." The church people struggled with their
behavior but were taught many lessons by the Herdman's perspectives.
The Herdmans had never heard the story of Jesus' birth and
they were astonished by the facts of the
story. They wanted to get Mary and the
baby out of that barn. They wanted to
know who would be playing the part of Herod because they were going to beat him
up. The mother who directed the pageant
recognized that the Christmas story was having an impact on the Herdmans. They picked out Herod as the villain of the drama.
Herod was indeed the villain in another portion of
scripture. As I am reading through Mark,
pondering Jesus' travels, miracles and teaching, I am struck by the dramatic
interlude recounting the circumstances of John the Baptist's death.
King Herod had married his brother's wife, Herodias. John had pointed out the illegality of the
marriage. Herodias nursed a grudged
against John and plotted for a way to kill John. Her opportunity came at Herod's birthday
party. He gave a banquet for his high
officials, military commanders and leading men of Galilee. Herodias' daughter danced at the party.
It must have been quite the dance because Herod promised her anything
short of half his kingdom. The daughter slipped out to ask her mother what to
request. "The head of John the
Baptist right now on a platter!" Herod wouldn't embarrass himself in front of
his prominent guests so he gave the order for John's execution
.
I jotted several lessons from this episode:
The weak
let circumstances control their actions.
Pride gets
us in trouble.
Sin is
enticing and leads to drama and more sin.
Sin traps
us in a web of poor choices.
Sin is not
private. It will adversely affect
others.
Who is the
real enemy? The messenger of "right
choice" or the conniving temptress?
In today's world we need villains to blame because we don't
want to accept responsibility for our
own actions. Too often we blame the
messenger of right choices. If those
crazy Herdmans can find the real villain than I should be able to identify the
real villain in the dramas of my life. (Too often it is pride.) My sin does not just affect me but those
around me will experience the consequences of my poor choices. My pride cannot guide my choices.
Who is the right villain?
The villain
is not the one who is convicting me to choose wisely.
The villain
is the one who is enticing me to sin which will lead to more sin.
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