A Pantomime Villain?
“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him…”
Read the story of the Visit of the Wise Men here: Matthew 2.1–12
One of the great traditions at Christmastime is visiting to the pantomime. There we find larger than life characters, abundant jokes, musical numbers, and, of course, the obligatory choc ice in the interval.
But don’t forget that indispensable part of any panto – the evil villain. They come onto the stage with smoke and green lighting, with the crowd hissing and booing. Every pantomime needs a good villain.
In the Christmas story, King Herod is clearly the ‘pantomime villain’. Herod wants to destroy the child Jesus, and so attempts to deceive the Wise Men into revealing the location of the new born King. But God intervenes, the Wise Men slip away, and Herod is thwarted.
It’s a classic story of evil intentions being overcome by the forces of good.
But consider this. What if, rather than seeing Herod as the evil villain, we recognise in him an instinct that we all share? What if Herod symbolises the fear we all have, when the established order of things is challenged to give way to the new?
Or to put it another way, what if we, like Herod, deep down, are actually quite comfortable with the way things are, and don’t really want the next generation to grow up and disrupt everything that we take for granted?
Because make no mistake, the child sleeping peacefully in the manger will grow up to become a thorn in the side of the establishment. He will announce the arrival of something new: the Kingdom of God.
Jesus’s vision of the Kingdom of God is profoundly radical. He speaks of a great reversal. A feast in which the poor, the lame, the cripple are gathered, and the rich and privileged are turned away. A topsy turvy kingdom, one in which sinners are forgiven, prisoners go free, where the first will be last and the last will be first. A Kingdom full of surprises and unexpected outcomes. It was a divisive message: good news to the poor and overlooked; but hated by the religious and political authorities, especially by King Herod.
Herod was right to be threatened by the child Jesus. Jesus is a revolutionary figure. In the Nativity Story, Jesus escapes the clutches of the evil empire – but ultimately, he will need to face down the authorities, and finally defeat death, sin, and evil.
But that is a later part of the story, for a different day.
For now, we remember the paradox of Christmas. In the vulnerability of the Christ Child, we see the gift of new life: children are precious, valuable, and in need of care and protection.
And in the anxiety and fear of Herod, we see the symbol of the old order resisting the new. Because new birth brings with it new dreams, new visions, and a new way of looking at the world.
This Christmas, may you dream dreams, envision new realities, and hear the prophetic voice of God. May your ears be open to the insights of the young, and of the old. And may you be prepared for the unexpected gift of transformation.
If we are open to the challenge of the new, perhaps we will get one step closer to Jesus's radical vision of the Kingdom of God.
Have a Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year,
Revd Andy Burgess
Christmas Eve, 2024