Why is the Christmas story marked by so much meaningless suffering? After all, it is not fair that an evil king should live at the expense of so many innocent children. What if the wickedness of King Herod would cause God’s people to look beyond him to the coming King? People would be more drawn to King Jesus because King Herod was so evil. People would see how Jesus welcomed children. People would see how Jesus comforted the grieving. People would see how Jesus loved the lonely. We only need hope when we hurt. We only need light when it is dark. A miracle is only amazing because someone is hurting or something is broken. Heroes are only heroes because there is a villain they defeat.