Dear
Church Family,
TIME Magazine is calling it, "The Massacre of the Innocents" and I was sort of caught off guard last week when I was asked by one of the children after the service about a passage in the Bible that deals with that massacre; the lives of innocent young children snuffed out. He, of course, was troubled by it and asked about it in relation to what happened in Newtown Connecticut.
Matthew
spoke about the massacre of the innocents when he wrote this in his Gospel:
“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 2:16-18).
Bible scholars think that this small village of Bethlehem, based on its population, would have had about 20 infant boys that would have been killed by Herod's evil command. Though Jesus was not among those killed, the weeping was loud and it was very real for those who experienced tremendous loss. And, we know that God grieved with Rachel who wept for her children.
Yet, outside of the Gospel of
Matthew, this massacre gets no mention in the other historical records of the
day. Why? Because such horrors were not uncommon then; this same Herod killed
his own sons. So, 20 deaths were not newsworthy in a world so filled with
death, persecution, and injustice. Yet, it was in that very time, in that
incredibly unjust society, that Jesus called us to be a people of love, grace,
prayer, and forgiveness. He called us to a radically different way.
Yes, murderous evil doesn’t seem
as widespread today, but the evil still happens and it is still here. There
have been roughly 15,300 murders in the US this year. That’s about 42 per day.
Dear
Church Family,
TIME
Magazine is calling it, "The Massacre of the Innocents" and I was
sort of caught off guard last week when I was asked by one of the children
after the service about a passage in the Bible that deals with that massacre;
the lives of innocent young children snuffed out. He, of course, was troubled
by it and asked about it in relation to what happened in Newtown Connecticut.
Matthew
spoke about the massacre of the innocents when he wrote this in his Gospel:
“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 2:16-18).
Bible
scholars think that this small village of Bethlehem, based on its population,
would have had about 20 infant boys that would have been killed by Herod's evil
command. Though Jesus was not among those killed, the weeping was loud and it
was very real for those who experienced tremendous loss. And, we know that God
grieved with Rachel who wept for her children.
Yet,
outside of the Gospel of Matthew, this massacre gets no mention in the other
historical records of the day. Why? Because such horrors were not uncommon
then; this same Herod killed his own sons. So, 20 deaths were not newsworthy in
a world so filled with death, persecution, and injustice. Yet, it was in that
very time, in that incredibly unjust society, that Jesus called us to be a
people of love, grace, prayer, and forgiveness. He called us to a radically
different way.
Yes,
murderous evil doesn’t seem as widespread today, but the evil still happens and
it is still here. There have been roughly 15,300 murders in the US this year.
That’s about 42 per day.
What we
saw in the terrible tragedy in the massacre of the innocents at Sandy Hook
reminds us just how broken this world is. The moral fabric of our society, the
beliefs, and behaviors that result in things like unfair business practices,
racism, extreme poverty, dishonest government, family breakdown, stealing,
oppression of the weak, and so many other injustices tell us that it's not
right; it is broken.
And in
homes and hospitals every day of the week, at courthouses and gravesides
everywhere in the world, people of all ethnicities and backgrounds suffer from a
world that labours along in hopeless dis-repair.
And so,
we weep with those who weep; mourn with those who mourn, and we pray for the
families involved; both the victim’s and the shooter’s.
And, we need
to respond how Jesus would have us respond. How do we best deal with the
brokenness of the world? We look to Jesus to comfort us and trust Him to
eventually set all things right.
In
"Joy to the World," the third verse expresses it well:
No more
let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
The curse
was found in that little town in Connecticut last week. Let's grieve with, and
pray for, the hurting. Let's see, and call, the world what it is; broken. Then,
let's recommit ourselves to living for Jesus and others and declare that good
news of a great joy that is for all the people. “Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
God bless
you as you minister to others this Christmas and throughout the coming year,
Pastor
Anthony