13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
— Matthew 2:13-23, ESV

How was your Christmas this year?  Did you get any good gifts?  Did you get any bad gifts?  Maybe your gift was in between good and bad, and you’re not sure whether to keep it or return it.  Well, that’s Christmas!

And, that’s life.  We have good days, bad days, with most days falling somewhere in between.  There are good people in our lives, bad people we have to deal with, and most people are in between to us, because we don’t interact with them very much or know them very well.  

What about God?  Is your relationship with Him good, bad, or somewhere in between?  Circumstances dictate the answer for most people, but not for those with a firm faith in the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

In this post-incarnation story from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is on the run.  He is good, of course, because He is God.  He is running from a very bad man, Herod, one of the worst people in one of the worst families of all time.  A lot of people are caught in between this battle between good and bad, and good and bad things happen.  Let’s unwrap this after Christmas story and see what we can learn from the good, the bad, and the in between.    

There is Good in the World Because of God

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
— Mark 10:18

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
— James 1:17

In New Testament Greek, “great” is generally quantitative and “good” is generally qualitative.  So, “good” is as “great” as a person can be, generally speaking.  Therefore, “good” is the highest term reserved for God, His attributes, His character, and His gifts He gives to man.  

Can you see the “good” of God in this story?  There is a lot of it!  In order of appearance, good comes in the form of the Magi, a holy angel, the Holy Family, and the perfect word of God.  

“They” were the magi, or the wise men, who transition from the previous story to the present.  We do not know there were three, but there were at least three gifts, “gold and frankincense and myrrh” (ref. Matthew 2:11).  Though they were probably pagans, God used the common grace of their curiosity and kindness to sustain the Holy Family during their fugitive years.  That’s right, God can use unbelievers to bless believers, and He often does.

“An angel of the Lord” is always a good thing, and they are part and parcel of the pre and post Christmas story.  Here the angel bore good news and great warnings to Joseph that would serve to protect the life of the young Messiah during His most vulnerable time.  We wish we could see the angels, and though we cannot, I think they are always around, doing us much good.

“Joseph … the child … and his mother” are obviously good, good, and very good.  Joseph and Mary were made good by God’s grace, God’s calling, and God’s blessings in their lives, chief of which was God’s Son and, for a time theirs, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be good, because He was, is, and always will be God.

The tie that binds all of these things good things together is the word of God.  God spoke to the angel and the angel spoke to the magi and Joseph.  God spoke to Joseph and Joseph spoke to Mary.  God spoke to and through the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ still speaks today to and through His living Word and written word.  We do not call it “the good book” for nothing.  In it we will find “the good news,” salvation by grace alone through Christ alone!

If there is anything good in your life, then give God the glory!  
If there is anything bad in your life, well, that’s another story.

There is Bad in the World Because of Man

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
— Genesis 6:5

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
— Romans 3:23

This is predominantly a bad story.  It is about a bad man who did bad things to people, innocent people, small children, boys two years old and under.  I don’t think it could have been any worse.  Can you see the bad in the story?

It starts with a bad man, Herod.  Ironically, he was known as Herod “the Great.”  He may have been great, but he wasn’t any good, not by God’s standards.  

Herod did have great wealth, great power, great ambition, even great intelligence, so much so he  bordered on madness.  This time he crossed the line and did a mad, bad, thing.  

Fearing that the prophesied Messiah, the true King of Israel, had entered the world to take his place, Herod, as he had been known to do before to his own son, murdered his potential rival to the throne.  Bethlehem was a very small town but the trauma was enormous.  Dozens of toddlers and their parents were destroyed, physically and emotionally.  

Herod did not care, because Herod did not care about anyone but Herod.  Herod was selfish, sinful, bad.  Selfishness is at the center of all sin, and sin is at the center of all that is bad in the world.  Bad people do bad things that hurt other people, bad.  

It is best to avoid such people, if you can.  Snakes only strike when they feel threatened, right?  So when you hear the hiss or the rattles, run!  

But, those little boys in Bethlehem had nowhere to run.  Neither did the victims in the senseless shootings in schools, churches, and other public places.  The snakes came crawling to them, without warning, without mercy.  Bad people do bad things that bring bad, or worse, into our world.

Bad Herod did die shortly after this bad event, which I do not believe was a coincidence.  But, there was another Herod to take his place, Archelaus.  When Archelaus proved equally bad and totally incompetent, yet another Herod took his place.  It seems there will always be another Herod, another shooter, another disaster, in this present world.

Why doesn’t God stop them?  He will and He does, eventually and eternally.  But in the present, as in the past, God’s gift of freedom is being abused by bad people who make bad, selfish, sinful choices, destroying lives, families, churches, and other things God meant for good.  But God has a redemptive plan, and it is unfolding, stretching from the past to the future and all points in between.

We Live Our Lives In Between

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
— Genesis 3:15

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
— John 14:8-11

One of my favorite songs about the Lord was written and performed in the 1970’s (where most good music comes from) by a gospel group out of Texas called ZZ Top:

Jesus just left Chicago,
And he’s bound for New Orleans.
Workin’ from one end to the other,
And all points in between.

You might not see Him in person, 
But He’ll see you just the same.
You don’t have to worry,
‘Cause takin’ care of business is His name.

God is always at work, working His redemptive plan.  Sometimes it feels good.  Sometimes it feels bad.  Most times it just feels in between.  

Bethlehem was a point in between for Jesus.  It could be good and bad.  It was good when Christ was born, surrounded by a chorus of angels and shepherds.  It was bad when Jesus left, when the henchmen from Herod came, and the chorus was weeping and wailing in the wake of terrible tragedy.  You cannot see God in the latter incident, but those children are with Him now, and Herod and the killers are not.

“Egypt” was a point in between for Jesus.  It could be bad and good.  It was bad when it enslaved the children of Israel, it was good when it welcomed God’s Son for a season before He was called back into Israel.  They did not see Jesus as God, but God was taking care of business in His name.

“Nazareth” was a point in between for Jesus.  It could be good and bad.   It was good when it provided a childhood home for the Messiah.  It was bad when they tried to throw Him off a cliff and kill Him when He first started His ministry.  They did not see Him as God, but He was taking care of business in His name.

We live life in the in between, like the dash on a tombstone, in between the year of birth and the year of death.  As long as we can see God in our life, it will be good.  If we fail to see God in it, it will be bad at the end.

So how can we see God?  In the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at the prophesies, the virgin birth, the sinless life, the vicarious death, the bodily resurrection, the promised return, “and all points in between.”  Believe in Him.  Trust Him.  Follow Him.

As a follower of Christ, you will realize that everything good in your life comes from God.  You will have hope that every bad thing in your life will be redeemed by God and turned into good.  You will glorify Him in the good, remain faithful in the bad, and worship, serve, and enjoy Him at all points in between.