Matthew 2:16-18

Posted by DJL on Jan 10, 2014 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 
“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.”

This is the hard part of the story. Actually, the horrific part.

Herod, discovering that the magi would not serve as his spies and enraged that they had fooled him by returning home by another route, decides to go to ghastly measures by killing all the children in and around Bethlehem two years or younger to make sure he has eliminated his potential rival.

Outside of Matthew’s story, there is no historical record that this happened. Not that it couldn’t have. Herod was notoriously violent and murdered plenty of people, including members of his own family, in order to protect his power. We just have no other record.

So when people ask me whether this story is true, I tell them that while I have no idea if it happened just as it was described, I have no doubt that it is true. For people regularly and relentlessly do awful things to protect their power. And children are far too often the victims of the rage of tyrants and the powerful. Whether it is the lost boys of Sudan, the girls sold into lives of slavery and prostitution, or the students of Columbine or Sandy Hook, we have witnessed too many episodes of violence to have any doubt about the words of the prophet Jeremiah that Rachel wept and is still weeping without consolation because so many children have been taken and are no more.

Prayer: Dear God, your Son came as a child and his life was threatened by those who care nothing for the vulnerable. Grant us courage to stand up for children everywhere, protecting and providing for them and telling them that you love them dearly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.