Sermon - Christmas II 2022 - Matthew 2:13-23

The Triumph of the Innocents, William Holman Hunt, 1883

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is such a joy filled celebration! Jesus is born, God has taken on human flesh, our Lord has been born for us! The shepherds and angels rejoice and all Christians join in that ancient cradle song: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth!” Old Simeon and Anna in the temple sing praises to God and proclaim the Savior’s birth when they meet Jesus as a baby. The magi come from the east to present the little king with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Christmas is such a wonderful thing!

But then, after the Magi returned home, perhaps the most gut wrenching story in the Bible is told. “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.”

Herod the Great was an incredible man in the eyes of the world, living up to his title. He built cities and fortresses, he rebuilt the temple, he gave Jerusalem a facelift, he built a port for Judea, he built theaters and other public facilities. But he was a power hungry, relative killing, mad man with twelve sons vying for his throne when he died. When he heard about a possible king coming to power in Bethlehem, his jealousy and bloodlust was poured out on the Jewish toddler and baby boys.

But interestingly enough, for such a tragic event, it’s recorded nowhere else in history but the Bible. We have tons of history saved about Herod, all sorts of his exploits are known. But this slaughtering of the Holy Innocents isn’t found anywhere else. Aside from the scriptures, no other historians cared enough to remember these infant martyrs. But God does. God remembers His suffering children. He doesn’t forget those forgotten by the world.

Frankly, it’s not terribly surprising that no one else remembers this cruel tragedy. Bethlehem was a small piddly town, about 1,500 residents. There were probably only about a dozen baby boys under two, maybe fewer. Infant mortality rates were terrible in those days, so a dozen babies dying wasn’t shocking. In the scheme of things, Herod murdering a few baby boys wouldn’t have been the biggest news at the time.

It’s also not surprising that infant life would’ve been treated so poorly. Human sacrifice, and especially child sacrifice, has been a component of various religions for thousands of years. God condemns it in Deuteronomy: “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”

Child sacrifice was practiced from ancient times, through the time of the New Testament, up unto our own day. The Aztecs were sacrificing children just 500 years ago. There are still people in countries all over the world practicing voodoo or other pagan religions, and sacrificing children. In first world countries, such as our own, child sacrifice is even legalized, we just call it abortion. 

All over the world, throughout history, every day, children of pagans are sacrificed in hopes that it will give people a better life. Whether it’s to please the “gods”, to end a drought, or to advance your career (Herod did or many do today), it all has the same source: Satan hates babies. 

It’s beautiful then that in contrast to the Satanic practice of child sacrifice, God came into our flesh as a baby. Jesus could have come like Adam, a fully grown man, but instead He came as a baby. Satan hates babies, but God loves babies. Jesus came as a baby in order to redeem babies, and to clearly teach us that babies, those considered the least important, are valued by God.

The world forgets about babies, and the less Christian our nation is, the more our world will hate babies. Countless billions of babies have died as a result of child sacrifice all over the world, and the world remembers hardly any of them. But God remembers.

The dozen or so baby boys who died in Bethlehem at the hands of Herod’s soldiers, God remembers. Their lives are so valued that God even prophesied their deaths through Jeremiah: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” God even gives a promise of comfort to those weeping mothers: “They shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country.” 

God remembers, and does not forget, the children who have gone from us in this life. Those baby boys in Bethlehem were saved by God’s grace through the covenant of circumcision. God remembers the children of Christian parents who are saved by grace through the sacrament of Holy Baptism; or those yet unborn who have heard the Word while in the womb, and whose mothers have received the sacrament of the altar and are so near the body and blood of Christ.

The world forgets and despises, but God remembers and loves. Jesus came as an unborn baby, from zygote, to blastocyst, to fetus; God loves unborn babies and died for them so that they might live with Him. Jesus came as a baby and a toddler, a small child; God loves babies and toddlers, and died for them so that they might live with Him.

Today’s reading may be a difficult reading to hear, and it may make us uncomfortable. But considering how common miscarriages and childhood deaths are, it is such an important reminder that our children who have been taken out of this veil of tears are loved by God and that He always remembers them. There is hope for the future, those children shall come into their own country, the kingdom of Heaven, and we will see them again. 

It’s okay to be Rachel weeping for her children, this is what makes Christians different from the world. The world celebrates abortion and child sacrifice, our government funds it, private companies use fetal cell lines derived from aborted babies to make everything from vaccines to coffee creamer. But Christians who know that our babies were created by God in His image, and are valued and loved by God, mourn and weep like Rachel when those babies are killed.

But we don’t weep as those who are hopeless and despairing, rather we weep knowing that God will rescue us from this veil of tears. Jesus didn’t flee to Egypt and then to Nazareth because He didn’t ever want to die, but He fled the ruler then so that He might be killed by a different ruler later. Jesus came as the One who fulfilled all prophecies in order to be our Savior, in order to be crucified for our redemption, to rescue both us and our babies from sin, death, and Satan.

So when we Christians suffer, our mourning is distinctly different. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” When we Christians suffer we have a cause to rejoice, since we’re sharing in Christ’s sufferings. And if we share in Christ’s sufferings, it’s a reminder that we will also share His glory. “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Be of good cheer, my friends. Entrust your souls to the Lord who is faithful. He will carry you through your trials and bring you at last to your eternal home. Jesus isn’t an earthly king, like Herod was worried about, rather Jesus is the King of heaven, and one day you will be taken from this domain of darkness to live in the kingdom of His eternal light. 

Merry Christmas!