Holy Innocents

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable unto Thee, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

From the Gospel: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

A glance at a Church Kalendar will reveal an interesting pattern.

The joyous season of Christmas, always celebrated in white vestments, is punctuated with two feasts celebrated in red, the Feast of Saint Stephen, the first Martyr, on December 26, (also known as “Boxing Day” in England), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents, on December 28th.

Between the two red feasts is the joyous feast of Saint John, on the 27th.

The beginning of the Christmas season is reminiscent of a checkerboard, white, red, white, red.

It seems strange to have these two horrific feasts interrupting the joy of Christmas.

It results in a bit of an emotional whiplash; in many ways it is comparable to Palm Sunday, when we go from “All Glory Laud and Honor” to Crucify Him” in about half an hour.

There is in this perhaps a bit of a lesson to be taken from this pattern of joy and sadness.

It reminds us we should give thanks for the good times, and trust God in the bad times, remembering always neither is a permanent condition.

As the Psalmist put it, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the

morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

Turning to the Gospel Lesson for today, we must see it as a part of the story of the

wisemen.

It begins “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of

Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in

the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these

things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had

gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded

of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem

of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the

land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall

come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had

privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star

appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently

for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I

may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they

departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it

came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they

rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house,

they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and

worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented

unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God

in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own

country another way.”

The wise men came to Jerusalem with the best of intentions.

They had seen a new star in the heavens.

No one is exactly sure what star the wise men followed, or whether it was even a

“star” in the strictest sense at all.

Some have suggested a supernova.

Others have suggested a comet.

Many theories concern a specific conjunction of planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, in a meaningful constellation, like Pisces.

For example, Jupiter and Saturn were planets of rulers, and Pisces was associated with Israel.

When these three came together in 7 B.C., some scholars postulate that this could have been what the magi saw.

At any rate, seeking more information, they came to Jerusalem, to inquire where the “King of the Jews” would be born.

Herod sent for the chief priests and scribes, who told him of the prophecy concerning Bethlehem, “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”

Herod then called the wisemen and related this information to them and asked them when they had first seen the star.

He then sent them out of find the child, and told them when they had found him, to send word to him so that “I may come and worship him also.”

Of course, as we know, Herod had no intention to worship this newborn king; he wanted not to worship him but to kill him as a potential rival for his throne.

It may seem beyond belief anyone would want to murder a baby, but Herod was truly an awful man.

He is known to history as “Herod the Great,” but “Herod the Terrible” would have been closer to the mark.

His greatest fear was of usurpation.

So much so that at various times he had his wife and even some of his sons murdered.

He was right to be worried; the ordinary Jewish people hated him.

Herod was not a Jew, he as an Edomite; he had been put on the throne by the Romans as a puppet ruler.

He had tried to curry favor with the people by adding onto the Temple, which had won him the support of the Sadducees, the temple party.

The Pharisees also begrudgingly supported him, mostly because they wanted to remain on good terms with the Romans.

We need to remember the Jews were permitted a great deal of religious freedom by the Romans, who knew the Jews were very touchy about their religion, as was demonstrated by the Maccabean revolt which led to the Jews gaining their independence from the Seleucids.

The Romans were perfectly willing to let the Jews have their religion, as long as they paid their taxes and kept the peace.

Herod was not at all pleased with this talk of a newborn “King of the Jews.”

Of course, the wisemen followed the star to Bethlehem, where they found Jesus, who is referred to as a “young child,” not a baby, living in his parents’ home, not in a stable.

We must stop a minute and remember we are looking at Matthew’s Christmas story.

In Matthew’s story, there is no journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary lived there, no shepherds, no choirs of angels.

They worshiped Jesus, and gave him their rich gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

But, they did not return to Herod, having been warned in a dream not to do so.

Instead, “they departed into their own country another way.”

This brings us to the beginning of our Gospel Lesson for today.

“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother,

and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

The flight into Egypt, and subsequent return would have been seen by Matthew, and the Jewish readers he was writing for, as Jesus recapitulating the history of the Jewish people.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are now safely in Egypt, but by now Herod has figured out the wisemen had not followed his orders to return with word about the new king.

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16)

It may seem unbelievable a man would order the slaughter of innocent children,

but tyrants truly have no mercy towards anyone who threatens their power.

History is so full of examples of tyrants slaughtering innocent people to preserve their power it is hard to know where to begin.

When we think of our own time, we think of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin, just to mention a few.

Even in our own country, the genocide of the native Americans is a cause for national shame.

The slaughter perhaps most offensive to God is the millions upon millions of His children who have been murdered in His name in mankind’s endless religious wars.

Finally, we cannot close without the mentioning the judicial murder of Jesus of Nazareth.

He, like those children of Bethlehem, was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but He, like them, was seen as a threat by powerful men.

In closing, my greatest fear is this same spirit of willingness to destroy innocent people for political gain is abroad in our land.

What was intended by the founders to be a method of peacefully electing those who would make and enforce our laws has degenerated into political bloodsport.

As Christians, we must stand against this tide of hatred which threatens to overwhelm our institutions.

When we see our political leaders resorting to evil means to win elections at all costs, we must call it out and demand it stop.

Amen.

And now we ascribe, as is most justly due, unto Thee, O Lord, all might, majesty, power, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen.