Not a Silent Night

     It was not a silent night with all calm and bright when Jesus was born. It was a war zone! Picture a woman crying in pain as she is about to give birth, and an enormous red dragon standing there waiting to devour her child. That’s what Jesus’ friend John recorded from a frightening vision that some interpret as the behind-the-scenes nativity story.
     Back to the woman and the dragon: God snatched up the newborn to protect him. Then all hell broke loose in heaven.  An army of angels fought against the dragon - Satan - and his troops and hurled them down to earth.
     Perhaps it was then that a battle-scarred angel ripped open the curtain between heaven and earth and terrified some sleepy shepherds. A platoon of heavenly warriors burst into a victory chant: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
     And that little town of Bethlehem? “How still we see thee lie?” That didn’t last. King Herod feared that a new king had been born to take his throne, so he ordered the slaughter of babies there. Bethlehem wept with grief for a generation. But God had warned Jesus’ family, and they fled to safety in Egypt.
     “Silent night. All is calm. All is bright?” No way! Jesus’ birth and survival were at the front line of a cosmic battle that spilled onto earth. And God won, giving us a savior who is Christ the Lord!