There is a downside to the Christmas story--a downside generated by human sinfulness. That downside is personified in the story of the fourth king in the Christmas narrative. We all know about the three kings from the East. Wise men they are some-times called. Our hearts are warmed as we see these three men of stature kneel before the newborn babe and offer their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. A happy ending to the story for sure--if it weren't for the fourth king. That fourth king, of course, is King Herod. "Go and search diligently for the child," Herod said to the wise men. "And when you have found him, come and bring me word, that I may worship him, too."

What a sham! What hypocrisy! Herod had no intention of worshiping the newborn king. He intended, rather, to do him harm. And thus, warned by an angel, Mary and Joseph are forced to flee in the night while the wise men, being warned in a dream, return home by another route. When Herod discovered that the wise men had disregarded his instructions to inform him of the Christ's whereabouts, he flew into a fit of rage and had his soldiers slay all of the boys under two years of age in Bethlehem and the region thereabout. What a tragic intrusion into this beautiful story of Christ's birth. All brought about by this fourth king whose name is Herod.

Ron Newhouse

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