The Coventry Carol

Herod was a political genius, and a madman. 

When good appears in the pages of holy Scripture, we usually see the rupture of Satan's anger. So it was when Jesus was born and the wise men from the Persian Empire heralded him as King of the Jews! This pronouncement - in Herod's own throne of power - drove him furious. So he sent an order for baby boys to be slaughtered in Bethlehem, hoping to extinguish the newly announced reign of the King of Kings. 

His attempt to end Jesus failed, but other Bethlehem children were killed. With the arrival of hope and light tot he world, Satan flailed in violence and fury.

The Coventry Carol, born in the 14th Century, is the only Christmas song that we have that probes the trajedy of a wicked ruler and the madness that is encountered when man if forced off of his own ego-centric throne by a higher power. 

Here are the lyrics:

Refrain:
Lully, lulla,
thou little tiny child,
by by, lully lullay.

1 O sisters too,
how may we do
for to preserve this day
this poor youngling,
for whom we do sing
by by, lully lullay?

2 Herod the king,
in his raging,
charged he hath this day
his men of might,
in his own sight,
all young children to slay.

3 That woe is me,
poor child for thee!
and ever morn and day,
for thy parting
neither say nor sing
by by, lully lullay! 

In this, the mother - unable to sing a lullaby to her lost children - asks us not to forget the wretched event that took their lives. 

The song is a haunting but full melody. It is a real reminder that there is a real enemy in the here-and-now, who wants to steal the joy of our salvation and blind us to the love of the Savior. 

Never forget Matthew 2:16-18:

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. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

“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.”