Matthew
2:13-18: When [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and
his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child
and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the
death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet,
“Out of Egypt I called my son.”
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.”
What, then, are we going to say
about the society where Herod was king? He murders all the children under two
in a small village. Granted, there were probably only a couple hundred people
living in Bethlehem, and his soldiers may have murdered at most only half a
dozen or ten boys in the whole village. But it is the ruthlessness of Herod
that shocks us, not the numbers slain. We can understand that a king would try
to kill an adult rival. We wouldn’t approve, to be sure, but we can at least
understand such an action. But why should an old man like Herod murder
children? Even if one of these children would grow up to be a threat to the
throne, Herod would have been dead by that time.
Of course, Herod didn’t even value
the children in his own family. He had two of his sons put to death because he
feared they were plotting a coup against him. (In all fairness to Herod, they probably
were.) This prompted people to say
that it was safer to be Herod’s swine than his son. You see, he wouldn’t ever
kill his swine because he wouldn’t eat pork, but he did kill two of his own
children. Herod’s killing of children, therefore, showed what he was all about:
he loved power and would hurt anyone, I mean anyone, who got in his way.
What can we say about our society?
How do we treat children today? It may seem that we are a very loving society
because we give our children every sort of gift imaginable. But that may merely
indicate that we have mistaken indulgence for love, or that we are so
incredibly rich that we don’t know what to do with our wealth. Moreover, there
are several facts that indicate that we may not be so loving to our children,
after all, despite our lavish gifts. For example, we suffer far more profoundly
from addictive behavior than much poorer nations that give their children far
less. Addictions are not a sign that one feels very loved. And we see again and
again that parents who are disappointed with their own failures pushing their
children to excel in areas that the kids really do not want to.
And then there are the grimmer
facts: the children who are abused, abducted, and/or murdered; the children who
are forced into prostitution; the children who are harassed or enticed into
joining gangs; and the children who are murdered while still in the womb
because they would be an inconvenience. Every so often we are tempted to shake
our heads in dismay at the way children are exploited in far off countries. But
don’t some of the same things happen here? We are troubled by child soldiers
fighting half a world away. We know that young adults recruit ten to twelve
year olds because they are easily manipulated and can be turned into effective
killing machines. But shouldn’t we be equally troubled by the children being
recruited into the armies of our streets known as gangs? We are troubled by
child prostitutes in such places as Thailand
So what do we do in a world where
children such as the Holy Innocents suffer at the hands of Herod? The only hope
for the world—children and adults like—is found in the Christ child who escaped
the clutches of Herod. He is the Wholly (W-H-O-L-L-Y) Innocent who redeems us
and makes us the beloved children of God, His Holy (H-O-L-Y) Innocents.
Christ, the Wholly Innocent One, was
subjected to the same perils that children too often are. He experienced the
shame of being thought to be the illegitimate child of Mary and Joseph. He was
forced to flee from those who would kill him. He endured profound poverty. He
was a refugee and an exile. But He did more than endure these hardships. He
atoned for those who perpetrate these wicked acts. He died on the cross for
murderous Herod and for all who have been cruel to children. He took upon
Himself all the vileness of humanity that so often appears most cruelly in its
actions toward children.
We are people who have come to know
about that redemption. We know that God forgives our sins and that God has
given us a new life in Christ. We also know that God heals all our hurts from
childhood. But what should we do now? If we take the message seriously, we
should protect those who are the most vulnerable, especially children. Our Lord
Himself has warned that it would be better for people to go swimming with a
giant millstone around their neck than to harm the little ones.
If you have children, love them
deeply and profoundly. I’m not asking you to indulge them or make yourself
broke by getting them the most expensive toys. Love them instead. Seek what is
in their best interest rather than in yours. Protect them from those who would
hurt them, both physically and spiritually. Give of yourself to them and do so
freely. Don’t always expect your children to turn out a certain way since God
gives a variety of temperaments, personalities and abilities to people.
And let us ignore the best thing we
can do for children, and that is to guide them to Jesus. We did this earlier
this morning when we baptized Joseph and Savannah. We didn’t wait until they
might start asking about Jesus. No, we brought them to Christ as early as
possible, for God’s love and mercy extends even to the little ones. Just as
they shared in humanity’s sin, for we are all born selfish, so through the holy
baptism they share in our salvation. Of course, this is just the beginning of
their life with God. They will be instructed further about Christ throughout
their lifetime. But we should love our children enough so that they begin this
rich life with Jesus as early as possible.
Now what about us who do not have
small children? Well, we can still speak up for the children around us. We
should be good uncles and aunts, grandparents and neighbors. When our culture
neglects or harms its children, we have to speak up. Because we are devoted to
the Wholly Innocent One, we look at our young brothers and sisters in the
faith, the Holy Innocents, as ones needing special care and protection.
Moreover, let us not despise the
testimony of these small children. It is common nowadays to say that we might
be going overboard in calling the children slaughtered by Herod “martyrs.”
After all, weren’t the martyrs those who proclaimed in loud voices their faith
in Christ even as the government ordered them to be devoured by lions or burned
at the stake or killed in some other gruesome way? How could a child profess
their faith in God when they could not say much if anything? But Scripture
teaches us that “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” Even
though they could not speak, their life and death testified that there is
someone greater than death and that even those who die helplessly still belong
to the God in whom they believed. In the same way, we may die equally
helplessly. We may become so weak that we will be unable to speak or express
with our mouths the intense faith in Christ our Savior that we have in our
hearts. But our witness is heard even then, just as that of the Holy Innocents
was.
Do not neglect these little ones,
for their angels always behold the face of the Father in heaven. In Jesus’
name. Amen.
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