Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Text: Matthew 2: 13-18

Theme: The Infant is Born, the Infant is in Trouble

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 . . . (vs. 16)

Our Gospel for this day presents a lectionary equivalent to the sound of fingernails raking across a black board. It is hard to listen to it . . . and it raises both irritation and consternation. Who invited such a distraction from the warmth and good feelings of the Christmas spirit? Who allowed this interruption of Joy to the World at the birth of the Christ child? Sometimes it seems that our opportunities in this fallen world to just relax and celebrate something good happening are kept to a bare minimum by the news each day of all the rotten and tragic things that have happened during the past 24 hours. And to make matters worse, here even in our Church calendar, we seem not to be able to sit back, relax, and take some time celebrating the arrival of Christ our Savior without dredging up some past atrocities to spoil our celebration and good cheer. While celebrating new life, God seems to think it fitting to rub our noses in awful innocent death.

Can it be that the peace on earth of Christmas is but a sentimental ruse for the gullible rather than something that wise men and women can really believe in? . . . I suppose it all depends on what you mean by the word, peace. For some, the idea of peace simply means the cessation of hostilities. For them, it’s the Rodney King idea of having everyone just get along. Thinking along these lines; if Christmas is about peace on earth, then it would mean that hostilities would be coming to an end. This, however, is not God’s understanding of peace. From Divine perspective, peace is a matter of being connected to His presence and saving work - being on the right side of things in the midst of great hostilities. For instance, In the Supper you are presented the peace of the Lord by the presence of His body and blood as they are united with bread and wine. They are offered to you for your nourishment in the midst of the battles that you must wage against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. In this life, when God’s peace advances and makes significant progress against the powers of darkness, the pitch of battle warfare does not lessen or go away - it increases. To put it another way, when God’s peace reigns supreme . . . someone is going to die.

Nevertheless, lets not loose our first point . . .our expectations of Christmas usually do not have much room for a sad story of innocent infants being butchered by a crazed and power hungry king. It rarely is included in our Christmas pageants, yes? especially when the children are involved. But here it is as it always has been in our lection after Christmas. And, we would be remiss if we did not take to heart what it contributes to our understanding of the Christ child coming into the world. It signals that with the birth of Jesus, evil forces are on the move. The presence and working of none other than the Devil himself is behind Herod and his mad treachery. Satan and all his demons will spare no costs to dispose of Jesus, the peace of God Who has come to us. If some innocent boys get in the way and die, so be it. Such is the character of spiritual warfare that really permeates the events of Christmas. As we have done in past years on this Sunday after Christmas, let’s listen to the alternate telling of the Christmas story - the one from an eternal perspective that is recorded in the 12^th chapter of the Book of Revelation:

The flight into the wilderness of the woman signals the flight of Mary with her husband Joseph and the baby Jesus down to Egypt as Joseph is warned in a dream. The baby Jesus is kept safe from the madness of Herod and the wiles of the Devil. The babies of this world die for the eternal Word of God. They, not Stephen, are the first martyrs in the Church. These horrible events signal the Peace of God heading toward the final climactic battle against the forces of evil that God has set in motion. This baby Jesus will grow in wisdom and stature to eventually stand before another ruler over Judea - the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. At his hands, and Satan behind him, Jesus will not be spared, but as the true holy innocent, He will be slaughtered on Calvary’s cross. And that place, and that event, must be understood as the epicenter of God’s peace in this fallen world.

The innocent babies who were slaughtered by Herod were indeed undeserving of such violent deaths. This was truly a violation of the human right to life that all in and out of authority on earth are to respect. So also when we see the slaughter of the innocents all around us in the horrible practice of abortion on demand, we see even today, yes even during this Christmas season, the signs of spiritual warfare and Satan’s continuing slaughter of God’s children. Nevertheless, we must also realize that God has not forgotten his children - neither those who have been killed as babes or those who have survived - such as each of us here this morning - babies, children, teenagers, and those who are older. But when you think about it, we are not so innocent are we? . . . as we have all been conceived and born in sin and consigned to death because of it. But as this baby Jesus is spared Herod’s wrath, He is not spared the wrath of God, but became the innocent sacrifice in his blood - dying that we might have life. Here was truly the death of the Holy Innocent One. Yet, in his death we are spared and become the innocent ones that God intended to call his children in the first place. In His death and through His gifts, we are delivered to a position of eternal safety from the hands of our enemies. There in the cross, we may see ourselves as God sees us - wrapped in the innocence of His Son . . . and delivered from all that would harm us and be our undoing.

So, during this festive season, as we behold the Babe in Bethlehem and all the wonders of this season with its joy and thanksgiving; let us remember with sober awareness that the arrival of this baby means the outbreak of all-out war. His birth signals the most pivotal event in human history where God executed His plan to rescue us from the diabolical forces of evil that are out to destroy us. This is serious business that God is about. When we must look at tragic events like the slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem and those slaughtered in so many antiseptic clinics today and we are wont to raise the question; Where is God in the midst of such injustices? We must look to the cross, where all the forces of evil are defeated and, ironically, where the innocent become guilty and the guilty become innocent . . . Oh good news! Where we the guilty become innocent! So . . . in, with, and under all the tragedy; Christmas is about the Lord’s gift to you. . . . It was gift-wrapped in swaddling cloths in Bethlehem . . . paid for in Jerusalem . . . and delivered to you with a splash of grace in your baptism . . . Merry Christmas!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men.