Now when they 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. (Matthew 2:13–18, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is an interesting, deadly, horrible story. It’s not the kind of thing we want to hear at Christmas time. We want the sweet baby in the manger. We don’t want to be reminded of the blood, the cost of Jesus being born. We don’t what to hear about the vitriol that Satan would wreck, even on innocent children. But his this, his first attempt to stop the Savior would ultimately fail. As would they all.
Here we see a king, Herod, so paranoid, so hungry for power, that he would kill innocent children rather than face the possible threat of being dethroned. He doesn’t understand Jesus at all. He is focused on his power. He fears the loss of his throne, but Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. It isn’t out of character for this evil king, who had his children, wives, friends, not to mention his enemies, killed, to give the order to have a few dozen children slaughtered. It is also reported that Herod gave the order, that upon his death, thousands of city officials were to be escorted into the Jerusalem arena to be killed. The king wanted to be sure that on his death there would be mourning over his death.
After the Magi left for home without betraying the identity of the “newborn king”, Harod was furious. He kills the babies to stop Jesus’ reign. He strikes out against children to prevent Jesus from becoming king. He does his worst. Many of our hymns today talk about Bethlehem. But none of them speak about the pain of the fathers and mothers at Herod’s slaughter or the pure evil of this king.
But the angel warns Joseph. The baby and his mother are spirited away to Egypt in the cover of darkness. It is ironic, but totally in accord of prophecy, that Jesus flees to Egypt, the place where Hebrew children were slaughtered, so that God’s chosen prophet could escape death. Moses escapes that slaughter, Jesus escapes from Bethlehem.
The children’s blood is shed.
Jesus, Herod's intended victim, would later say
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person...” (Matthew 15:19-20a, ESV)This is the evil that we see around us every day. Only a few days ago, a young woman, slaughtered children in a school. We see the ongoing slaughter of innocents as abortion continues. It was heartening to see Roe vs. Wade overturned. But the slaughter continues in many states, including our own. Every day, these children die as sacrifices on the altar of choice, convenience, and financial security. As if somehow, it is right and good that my right to choose is more important than the life of any other person. Now is the time to double down on our efforts to end this scourge.
Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!This is the evil that Jesus was born to bring to an end. But have no illusions, it isn’t just an evil king, bent on power. It is sin. This is massacre reveals the depth of human depravity and the length to which sinful and rebellious will go against God. It is easy to point to this and other big public sins and wag our finger. The truth is sin is much worse than we see here. It is much more prevalent than we know.
How do I know that? Look into the manger. See the Son of God born in human flesh. See the depth of the opposition against him. The innocents slaughtered. See him walk that roads of Israel and the vitriol of the people that spoke against him. See the lengths they will go to end him. False testimony. Blasphemy. “Crucify him!” See the nails driven into his hands and feet, and the crown of thorns on his head. See the mocking and the laughter of his enemies. See him breath out his last with the words “it is finished.”
If sin was a small matter, if sin was something people could deal with on their own, none of this would be necessary.
We act surprised and appalled when this kind of evil shows itself. But there should be no surprise. It is the nature of sin, and how deeply it affects the human person. What should appall us is that the same sin that slaughters children, the same sin that yelled “Crucify him!” Lives in you and me.
“We are by nature sinful and unclean” we confess on Sunday mornings. It isn’t the way we were created but we have been corrupted by sin. We are by that sinful nature, enemies of God, and helpless.
Indeed, if we could deal with it on our own, God would not have sent Jesus to suffer such a fate.
And yet, that is exactly what God did. He came to suffer the effects of sin, all of it, outward and inward. Sin pushes us away from God as our enemy. Our savior reconciles us to God, “while we were still enemies”.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10, ESV)Because Jesus did what he did, his life lived according to God’s will, his death died at God’s will, his perfect life lifted up as our punishment, his death as the reconciling moment, we are declared by God as forgiven. If sin was a small thing, if it was only slightly corrupting, Jesus would not have been necessary.
If you hear the account of Herod’s slaughter, if you read the news hearing about people ramming cars into a crowd, or setting people on fire in the subway, or our own slaughter of the innocents as abortion continues, it should drive you to repentance. Because the very same inclinations to sin reside in you. It is only God’s grace in Jesus Christ that prevents you from the same.
Grace is gifts you don’t deserve. Grace is the forgiveness Jesus won for you. Grace is the Holy Spirit given by God as a counter to your sin. Grace is his acting to prevent your sin from controlling you. Grace is God’s gift of Baptism that marks you as one redeemed by Christ sacrifice on the cross. Grace is God’s declaration of your forgiveness in Christ, despite your sin. Grace is your sin tamped down. Grace is God’s promise that you won’t live with sin forever. Grace is your sinful nature done away with at your death. Grace is you who are “by nature” and enemy of God given the inheritance of a son. Grace is faith given to you as a gift to hold these things true for you. Grace is this congregation, where God blesses you with a place to hear again of all these gifts. Grace is the Holy Supper given here for the fortifying of your gift of faith.
It sounds rather rough to accuse you of your sin, complicit with Harod, complicit with mass murderers, complicit with those who kill children today. But it is true. If you would count your sin as small and Herod’s as great, you are missing the key to the Good News of Jesus. This is exactly what God means when he tells us we are helpless. If you could satisfy God with the things you do, they would have to be perfect, uncorrupted by sin. But your sin, and mine, is inherit in all we think, do and say.
This is the beauty of the Christmas manger, and the baby there. This is the beauty of God born in human flesh. This is the beauty of what Jesus taught us. This is the beauty of the cross. This is the beauty of Jesus. Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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