InstaPundit theology
InstaPundit has gone a little overboard on the subject of Christmas. The Daily Telegraph reported that the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Keith Sutton (an Anglican bishop) was hard on sentimental views of Christmas. I do not understand why this upsets InstaPundit. The bishop noted correctly that the birth of Jesus was scandalous because Mary became pregnant before marriage. There is an important point here about the sacrifice that Joseph, a respectable carpenter, made. The bishop noted correctly that shepherds were rough men on the margins of their society. Again, there is an important point here about disassociating Jesus from any connection with power and authority in this world. The three wise men were unwitting pawns in an effort by Kind Herod to eliminate a potential rival. The Gospel of Matthew (2:12) claims that the wise men were warned of Herod's plan in a dream, and this sent Jesus and family into exile. The Telegraph story says the bishop described the wise men as part of Herod's plot, but the actual letter shows the Telegraph reported the letter incorrectly. The theological point of the Herod story is at least partly to emphasize the difference between heaven and earth. The wise men said a king had been born, and Herod interpreted that (incorrectly) as a king on earth, not the king of heaven. This is a rebuke to the "pray that you win the big lottery" people. There is nothing in the story that says anything about a Jewish conspiracy; King Herod was probably Jewish, but was an appointee of the Roman emperor, and his career was noted for killing potential rivals. The letter itself strikes me as quite sensible.

But look a little harder into the biblical account of Christmas and you get a different story.

It's a story of a baby born to an unmarried mother from a religious family - with all the cultural and social pressures you can imagine. A pregnant mother who had to travel big distances in the final stage of pregnancy, on the most uncomfortable form of transport available. The shepherds, far from being the lovable characters played by youngsters in nativity plays, were actually then on the fringes of society. And the wise men, arriving with gifts primarily to worship him, were unwittingly being used by Herod to discover the whereabouts of the baby Jesus so he could be killed. Mary and Joseph were forced to flee as refugees seeking asylum in Egypt as Herod oversaw the slaughter of innocent babies in an attempt to ensure the Christ-child was killed.

So how can all this be described as Love coming down? The Love of Christmas is the act of God sending his Son into the world knowing what type of world he would be coming into, and knowing the cruel and painful death that he would face.