The Holy Innocents

Now when [the wisemen] 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.” 14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15and 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." 16Then 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. (Matthew 2:13-16)

If I asked you for a Christmas story that is not in line with the theme of Christmas, what tale would come to mind? There are many, many stories that build on the theme of bad actors at Christmas, seeking to swindle, rob, take, or maybe even kill the main character only to experience metamorphosis and become a changed man.

Jimmy Stewart had just finished his tour in World War II as a pilot of a B-24 Liberator when he returned to make "It's a Wonderful Life." The movie did not do well at the box office, and Stewart said it was because it was a "dark" movie that came out after a large war that saw battles that had thousands killed on the American side. People wanted to be cheered up and not reflect and think about dark things that close to the war, he noted. It hasn't been until recently that the movie became a classic and is retold every Christmas.

Our story from the gospel this morning takes us to a cruel event occurring in the middle of our Christmas celebration. Herod, the king, commits a heinous act by killing all boys aged 2 and under upon learning that there is a "new king" that has been born in Bethlehem. This is a classic "juxtaposition," a thought or story to contrast against the main story. Dec 28 is called "The Holy Innocents," in which we as a church observe the story set in the middle of the Christmas story.

This cruel act tells us the weight of the suffering, sin, death and evil that exists in the world and why Christ was brought into this world to redeem us like many characters in other Christmas stories (The Grinch, Scrooge, and even George Bailey needs a redemption of some kind when he learns he may have failed and contemplates taking his own life). The suffering and death of "The Holy Innocents" is one we observe to serve as a reminder of exactly why Christ was brought into this world, to rescue it when it cannot rescue itself.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, Sometimes the cruelty of this world causes me to ask "Why?" Why would you allow such cruelty? Turn me to you to ask this and then to your Word to be reminded that you are a God of love. You love your creation; you had a plan for our redemption and want us to be redeemed through faith in your Son. We, as your disciples, are in your plan to share this story of redemption to the lost sheep. You know no evil and it happens only because of the weight of sin and Satan. Forgive me when I sin and add to this weight. Help me to be a redeemed man of faith daily in my walk. In Christ's name, Amen.