Dreams keep coming. Joseph is instructed to go to the pagan land of Egypt for Herod, true to form, has instituted genocide in Bethlehem. Herod’s set the threat level to “orange”—he can’t handle the presence of the baby in his kingdom. The people and places that should welcome God, do not. The people (Magi) and places (Egypt) that should not welcome God, in fact, do.

Just to make sure no baby was left behind in the larger scheme, Herod had all boys under the age of two murdered. For many mothers, Christmas was not, from their vantage point, good news at all. It was the worst time of their life. One has to wonder if that stayed with some of the mothers throughout Jesus’ lifetime.

As Matthew is retelling the story, I can see him pause, wipe the tear rolling down his face, finding consolation from the words of Jeremiah:  “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” N.T. Wright observes that “before the Prince of Peace can walk, he is a homeless refugee, with a price on his head.”

Despot’s die. They always do. Herod’s time is up. Time to meet the Maker. An angel comes to Joseph in a dream (if you are counting this is the fourth dream in this part of the story) and instructs Joseph to come home. Joseph learns that Herod’s son, Archelaus, is now on the throne. Knowing that the apple usually doesn’t fall far from the tree, even in the first century, Joseph knows Jesus’ future is too big to risk. So he takes him to an insignificant town, he goes to Nazareth. The hope of the entire world, will patiently take root in a backwoods town where the people talk with a twang, looked down upon by Rome and their fellow Jews.

I don’t know a whole lot about God. In fact, the older I get the less sure I am about a lot of things and the more sure I am about a few things. I’m sure that pondering the mystery of God visiting planet earth through Nazareth in these particular ways says more about God than all the books that all the theologians have ever written.

The showdown in Matthew between Jesus and Herod won’t be Jesus’ last clash with the powers. The cross looms over the baby’s crib.“The only thing that Herod and Jesus agree upon is that bloodshed fixes everything,” (Bill Hybels). One would spill the blood of innocent babies, family members, spouses, sons, and fellow countrymen. The other was only willing to allow one person to die: himself.

James Francis wrote: “I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.”

Remember this showdown story and the profound message of the Magi. Bring the best gifts you can. Get to Jesus by whatever route you must take. But get here. Get to the coronation fast as you can.