Something Wicked This Way Comes
“Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
Matthew 2:7–8
In 1962, author Ray Bradbury wrote a fantasy/horror novel titled “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” It opens with two teenage boys who are drawn into the net of a frightening traveling carnival that arrives in their town in the early autumn. The reader is soon introduced to the carnival’s operator, Mr. Dark, and learns he has a tattoo for each human pulled into his ominous fantasies and under his control.
There is obviously more to the story, but suffice it to say, all seems well and good until the arrival of the carnival and Mr. Dark. Such is the case with the Advent story. Up to this point, the story has been beautiful, mystifying, exciting and filled with wonder and hope. There have been some moments of fear and doubt, but those were ultimately wiped away with God’s assurances about the full unfolding of the story.
Yet now, we see things take a crooked turn. Unlike the wise men who are drawn to Jesus as King, Herod fears Him as a threat. He secretly calls the wise men and, with a lie, launches a plan that will ultimately fail, but leads to untold numbers of infant boys’ deaths in Bethlehem.[1] This part of the saga seems like a nasty and putrid wound on an otherwise healthy and strong body, but it is a wound that reminds us there is evil in the world.
Evil, as Christians understand it, has its birthplace in selfishness. The more we turn inward, the more we turn away from God and those whom God has called us to live among and serve. It was Herod’s selfish desire that there be no threats to his little kingdom or his authority that caused him to seek the Christ Child and order the slaughter of the innocents. Notice how a selfish plan, a secret meeting, a so-called little white lie, all snowballed into the horror of infanticide. Herod wanted no lord. He alone wanted to be lord and that is precisely where the trouble began.
We live in a time, not uncommon from others, where even religious people have trouble with the concept of evil. The explanations for darkness that humans choose point to culture, parenting, socialization and even nutrition. Yet, to defeat evil, we must first name it. A doctor does not heal an infection in the knee by treating a sore throat. Good doctors diagnose the location and get to work at the place the infection began.
The Bible tells the story of evil across most of its pages. Jesus counseled against evil thoughts and actions, cast out evil spirits and prayed that He might be “delivered from evil.”[2] In one of His more startling sermons, Jesus said, “For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.” (John 3:20) The remedy? Paul wrote to Christians living in an increasingly evil culture, “Hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” (Romans 12:9), which means recognizing and naming evil when it is seen, turning from it, thereby defeating its power and clinging to what is the ultimate good: God in Christ.
Do you doubt the existence of evil? Read the first few pages of your morning newspaper, watch the evening news, sit through a few hours of primetime television. Do they not whisper of those who have chosen to try and be their own god? Wouldn’t you agree that the stories we read and watch speak of those who foolishly attempt to run their own lives and only end up wreaking havoc on their lives and the lives of others?
Herod reminds us there is a force at work in the world that hates that which is good and righteous, pure and holy. It has but one goal: to keep the sheep of the Great Shepherd out of his care and protection. That is why it is so important to know evil and be able to say, “Something wicked this way comes.” We cannot turn from evil if we do not believe in it or fail to see it. Like Herod, the worst evil sometimes starts small and simply builds until devastation occurs. We see this when a social habit transforms into an addiction, an innocent flirtation blossoms into infidelity, hard work shifts into blind ambition and when a desire to serve becomes an obsession to rule.
An old story about a cowboy and a rattlesnake speaks to us about identifying and dealing with evil. The cowboy begins to bunk down for the night and a rattlesnake slides up next to his sleeping bag. At first the man is frightened, but the snake says, “Don’t be frightened! I won’t hurt you, but it is cold out here. Can I crawl into that sleeping bag with you for the night?”
“If you promise not to hurt me,” says the cowboy.
“Oh, I promise, I promise,” replies the snake.
The cowboy picks up the snake, places him at the opening of the bag, and it slides in, sleeping near his feet, nice and warm throughout the night until morning.
When the cowboy awakes, he stretches, stands and tells the snake, “Time to rise and shine,” at which point the snake curls, rattles his little tail and strikes, biting the man with poisonous fangs.
The cowboy cries, “What did you do that for? You promised you would not hurt me and now I am likely to lose my life.”
The snake just smiles and whispers, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.” Then he slithers away leaving the man to die.
If Herod had pondered his actions long enough, he might have realized where his slippery slope would lead. Have you stepped out onto any slippery slopes?
A Question to Ponder as you Prepare Room for the Christ Child
Jesus once said, “For out of the heart come evil intentions.”[3] That is a rather harsh indictment, but it is true. Is there anything in the rooms of your heart that needs to be named as evil? Dark? Sinful? Selfish? Can you turn it over to God in Christ as a confession, making more room for His grace, mercy and love?
A Prayer
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against thee
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved thee with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in thy will,
and walk in thy ways,
to the glory of thy Name.
Amen.[4]
[1] Matthew 2:16–23.
[2] Matthew 6:13, 17:18; Mark 7:21, 30.
[3] Matthew 15:19.
[4] “The Book of Common Prayer” (New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979), 331.
