Holy Innocents

Matthew 2:13-23

Pastor Tom Johnson, December 29, 2013

Just a few days ago, we celebrated the birth of the Christ Child. He is born in true innocence. His life is a gift from God to the whole world. Through this child people from all nations will receive forgiveness and eternal life. Today’s Gospel reading is about the Holy Innocents—the massacre of children two years and younger in and around the town of Bethlehem. God’s angel warns Joseph in a dream to flee the country into Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Perhaps they were only able to afford this move because of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh—the gifts of the Magi.

But what about all the children left behind? How could the Roman authorities allow Herod to kill toddlers, infants, and newborns? Why didn’t God send his angels to warn the other fathers and mothers of young children? In a perverse sense of irony, these young babies are the first Christian martyrs of the Church. The blood of innocent babes is shed because of the promise of the Messiah. I wish this was simply a legend or folktale that crept into Scripture. But it isn’t. You can see the bones of these children for yourself in the Cave of the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem today. Perhaps some of you have.

Our Gospel says this was to fulfill the Scripture: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” Parents naturally refused to be consoled for such a tragic loss. No parent should have to mourn the death of their children. It violates the natural order of life and death. How much more those lives cut short by a ruthless despot like Herod? What do you say to a parent who loses a child? What can you say to the grandparents? How do you explain what happened to their older brothers and sisters? How can you console such grief? It seems to me that no explanation, no affection, no Scripture, no theology...nothing could ease the pain of loss of these young families. Rachel refused to be consoled. These parents in Bethlehem refuse to be consoled. And I, too, reject any pat answers or easy remedy for the very difficult path of grief that any of us endure. The Christmas season is difficult for many people for precisely the same reason. The birth of the Messiah can sometimes be overshadowed by tragic loss. The very first Christmas was accompanied by great tragedy.

This story also points back to the sufferings of God’s people who found refuge in Egypt before—when Pharaoh tried to kill all the male Hebrew children. God heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them from 300 hundred years of slavery. God also hears the cries of Rachel and these young families in Bethlehem who lost their children. A new and better Moses will be raised up in Egypt. And he will grow strong and lead his people out of a deeper captivity, slavery, and death. And his name is Jesus. As Matthew tells his Gospel account, he courageously names the pain and loss. He does not sugarcoat it. But he continues to tell the story of Jesus and how this Christ Child will bring life and hope to the world.

He will tell the rest of the story of how the One who was born in true innocence will continue to be tempted in every way that we are, yet, without sin. He will tell how other people in authority will lash out in violence to hold onto their power—the high priest Caiaphas, Herod’s son, and Pontius Pilate. There will be more casualties of war and tragic collateral damage before Jesus himself spills his blood on the cross. There will be more martyrs to follow beginning with Stephen. And, sadly, there are more even today. There are Christians who are persecuted all over the world. Prince Charles just issued a statement a week ago condemning the violence against Christians particularly in North Africa and the Middle East.

This morning we are reminded that these little children are the first to show the way of the cross. Ultimately, their lives and death point to their Savior. In Jesus Christ we have a High Priest who is able to identify with our sufferings. For he too suffered for our sake. He overcame the powers, the principalities, and our captivity to sin and death. In time, Rachel and the other parents will no longer refuse to be comforted. Jesus, the innocent and spotless lamb, will take away our guilt and assure us of eternal life. God the Father will lose his only Son to tragic loss. But in giving his Son for the life of the world, he adopts these holy innocents just as he adopts all of us through Baptism and our faith in him. And like the little ones who have gone before us, he will one day gather us up into his eternal embrace.