Weeping and Much Grieving

Even at Christmastime.

Matthew 2:1-18 - Holy Innocents’ Day

Today is a day on the Christian calendar set aside to remember the infant boys who were massacred in Bethlehem as told in Matthew 2:18. Sometimes you might hear it called Childermas.¹

Only Matthew includes this story in his gospel - as he does many other allusions to Hebrew stories - perhaps in part to bring Jesus in line with Moses, who was also saved from infanticide. A study in Matthew’s allusions to Hebrew stories in the Old Testament is quite fascinating. In fact, there are others right here in this account of the Magi.

In 1 Kings 10:1-12 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-13, the story is told of a Gentile foreign visitor from the east (the Queen of Sheba) who, having heard about this king in Israel (Solomon), comes to check him out. She brings gifts of gold and spices, among other things.

But Matthew includes notable differences between the stories of the Old Testament and Jesus’ own story. The Magi would find no such king as the well-known and quite wealthy Solomon. Rather, the Magi find a baby, known to few, and certainly not wealthy. This king would not grow up to make the same mistakes as Solomon, but to live into the character of God.

Our nativity scenes and creches can have a way of domesticating and pacifying what is actually a rather tense and dangerous story at points. The massacre of the male infants, however many there were, is an absolutely brutal story. Joseph’s effort to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt to escape is no sentimental account of a nice vacation to the pyramids. Jesus’ birth, as much as we make it a silent night, includes some difficult elements.

You know that the world will continue to respond to the presence of the Christ in not-so-welcoming ways. One thing is for sure: Jesus upsets the status quo in a variety of ways.

Don’t throw out your Christmas traditions, but do consider the whole of the narrative. Today, with brothers and sisters around the world, you are invited to ponder upon the implications of babies killed in Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:1-18

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”

When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
        by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
            because from you will come one who governs,
            who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.

When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much grieving.
        Rachel weeping for her children,
            and she did not want to be comforted,
                because they were no more.

Prayer

God,

Honestly, it’s hard for me not to see parallels between babies killed in Bethlehem in the 1st century or those killed recently in October just miles to the southwest or even more killed more recently further southwest. One way or another, those grasping for power justify their actions based upon their understanding of the greater good.

Herod died, but his spirit seems to live on through leaders who explain that such things must happen.

Meanwhile, there are people fleeing such violence everywhere, just like Joseph, Mary, and the toddler Jesus. When does it end?

That’s all I’ve got today. So help me, God.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.

1. The names of holidays like Christmas and Childermas are simply the combination of words - Christ’s Mass and Children’s Mass. Mass is a term for the gathering of the Church or “gathering around.”