The First Martyrs
I'm afraid this story is victimized by our modernistic need for resolution or closure. It is easy to run through it, only to wipe our brows in relief as we arrive at the end of this account to discover that the Christ-child has been protected and is safely returning to Israel after his Egyptian exile.
But I think that we disrespect real people who suffered tremendously when we approach this narrative (and others like it) this way. I think we need to savor the horror, affliction, and mourning. After all, it's not like this wasn't foreseen long ago. Jeremiah did prophecy about this event in 31:15.
What did he say about it? That there would be many mothers of Israel grieved. We don't know how many, but we must assume that there were a lot. After all, Bethlehem is a suburb of the larger Jerusalem. Certainly, there were many, many families that were tortured by the wicked Herod's devices.
These grieving mothers were so many in number that they are likened to Rachel, Jacob's favored wife, the matriarch of Israel. And she is inconsolable "because they are no more." So what we have in this account are the very first martyrs of the faith. The children, of course, didn't know this, and it's likely that many (if not most) in their families never embraced Christ during his ministry three decades later. But these children, they were killed due to the cause of Christ and that cause alone.
What a peculiar birthday Jesus had. How often did Joseph and Mary recount these horrific happenings as he grew older? This certainly must have sobered Jesus and maybe even helped him focus more on his destiny as the Messiah. "I have come to die. It began with death and will end with death." What else could reinforce this than the haunting memory that for his birthday the ruler of Israel sacrificed the innocents?
Yet, this was necessary. Not in the sense that God likedthese terrible events, but Jesus came to set free a world rendered insane by sin. Death was the default setting of this broken world. And Jesus came to hit the reset button.
So at every turn of his ministry, he was greeted by death. Death of the innocents began his life and death of TheInnocent ended it. Yet, in the midst of so much death, he brought life. His words were life. His love was life. And his church, fueled by the Holy Spirit, continues to bring life. And all this was made possible by the fact that, in the end, death didn't have the last laugh. He was resurrected. And we are made innocent by his blood - faith in his work on the cross. And though we are still besieged by death, at times, one day we will be gloriously resurrected.
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