Christmas 1a Matthew 2:13-23 Weeping and Comfort

Isaiah 63:7-14 Galatians 4:4-7

Less than a week ago we celebrated the joyous holiday of Christmas! We worshipped by confessing our sins, and receiving forgiveness.  We sang Christmas hymns. We were joyful and triumphant and celebrated the birth of our Savior. We even sang about comfort and joy. Even the world around us shared in the joy of the season. Christmas greetings were even shared with strangers. Christmas is expected to be a time of happiness and laughter, a time for merriment and good cheer, a time for families to get together in peace and joy--at least for a day or two, most people try to put aside all the unpleasant and painful aspects of life.

But now, only a few days later, reality has set back in. Even our Gospel lesson proclaims the harsh realities of the world. Amidst all the joy of our Savior’s birth, news of Herod’s slaughter of the young children of Bethlehem is a tragic story.  

Herod believed that the only way to live is to exercise power, rule over others, manipulate lives, control situations, and always be in charge. You still hear that philosophy today. You do what is in your power to make sure that nothing gets in the way of your happiness. A woman finds herself pregnant. The world tells her that the child will be a burden.  That child will prevent her from continuing her education, from having a career. That child will cause her to be housebound; no longer free to enjoy herself.  She is told she will be poor for the rest of her life and that a child who grows up in poverty is better off having its life cut short.

You can almost hear Satan whispering similar words to Herod, “You hold the power. If anything gets in your way, then take care of it, even if it means killing helpless children.” So He sends his soldiers to terminate this young boy who would be King. But not knowing which boy it may be, He orders all boys less than 2 years old to be slaughtered. There was death on that night so long ago when the cries of children echoed in the little town of Bethlehem. Children died that night because of one man’s selfishness.

This is a crime so unspeakable and heinous, the details are hard even to contemplate, much less to describe. What kind of a monster could do such a thing? What grief is as profound as the grief of parents who can do nothing but helplessly stand and watch their little ones be murdered? Who would not try and stop such an event from happening?  Yet this very event had been foretold.

Scripture had predicted this would happen.  Jeremiah said, “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.” (Jeremiah 31:18) I can tell you that there is no comfort for mothers who have lost a child. There is nothing anyone can say that can ease their pain. All you can do is be there for them.  It is difficult for us to know the incredible sorrow of each mother in Bethlehem as their pain was multiplied by the cries of their sons.

We have seen loved ones go on to their eternal reward. We miss the sound of their voices, the touch of their hands, their company and their friendship. Where there once was someone we loved there is now emptiness and a scar in our life that will never completely heal. We ask, “How can a loving God allow this to happen?” God knew this would happen and yet He did not interfere. “Why didn’t He just kill Herod rather than allow the tragedy to take place?”

The answer gives grieving mothers no comfort. The answer is that there is evil in the world. There was evil in the world at the time of Moses. There was evil in the world at the time of Christ. And it is obvious, that there is evil in the world today. We see it very clearly in evil men like Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler and Osama.

But as we point our fingers at their horrible sins and hideous acts, we remember that we are in no position to accuse. The same sins which drove these men to do such hideous acts, drives you and me as well. 

From our point of view these men are much worse that you or me, but from God’s perspective, you are just as deserving of death as those men. God’s Word tells us that in 1st John (1:8, 10) “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

We all have a certain amount of selfish pride.  We all at times wish we could have enough power to get someone fired or to make sure that they get what they deserve. Well you might not have the power or the resolve to eliminate those who oppose you, but you are just as guilty of sin when you hold a grudge against someone you are called to forgive. Jesus Himself tells you, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”  (Matthew 5:21)

You might not lay awake at night plotting someone’s death, but when you use your tongue as a weapon of gossip, you commit the same crime. The hateful words you send out from your mouth accomplish the same sinful goal. It is easy to see evil in other people but we would be blind not to recognize the sin and evil that dwells in each one of our lives.  Surely there is no comfort knowing that we all deserve eternal death and it would be foolish and cruel to say such a thing to a grieving mother.

Is there any comfort, is there any hope, for grieving mothers? Yes, there is. And that comfort and hope is embodied in the one baby boy who escaped the massacre of Bethlehem.

Jesus, the One whose birth we just celebrated would grow up to be the King of Kings.  Even while He was so young, Satan, the very definition of a hideous, spiteful and selfish monster tried to kill the Savior by enlisting the aid of Herod. Joseph is warned in a dream to take Mary and baby Jesus and flee the country. The little Messiah is carried to safety, He is brought to Egypt.

It had been God’s plan all along for Jesus to come out of Egypt.  That too is spoken by Hosea in our Introit. “When Israel was a child, I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called my Son.” Just as God’s children, the sons of Israel had traveled there, suffering persecution, so God’s Son, being persecuted, did so too. Jesus was following in the footsteps of the great Lawgiver, Moses who led His people out of the bondage of Egypt and into the Promised Land. During that time there was another evil king who wanted to kill the Israelite baby boys. God had protected His chosen deliverer once before. That time, the one who escaped the massacre was baby Moses.

Saint Paul tells you, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Jesus relieved the history of the nation of Israel, but without committing the nation’s sins. When the holy family returned to Israel (vv 19–23), there was no grumbling, no desire to return to the slavery of Egypt, no 40-year punishment of wandering in the wilderness, nor any doubts about their ability to enter the land as God instructed. Christ took the place of Moses but by fulfilling the Law, He completed what Moses could not do.  He took the people of Israel’s place and ours, walking in their shoes and ours, facing the same dangers, temptations and hardships that the evil in this world creates, but Jesus walked through this world free from sin.

Essentially, this history of Christ’s early life shows that even from birth He was fulfilling not only prophecy but also the law for us, completing perfectly what Israel and we today fail to do. 

Yet the one child who was saved would one day become a victim himself, but His death would be different than any other. There would come a time when Jesus would stand before another Herod, and a governor named Pontius Pilate. At that time, brutal soldiers would get their hands on Him. In that place He would indeed be murdered.

He would die on a cross, not for His own sins, but for the sins of others. And because Jesus Christ became the offering, the ransom, and the sacrifice for all our sins, Satan, sin and death were defeated. Now all who believe in Christ shall not really perish but have everlasting life with Him in Heaven.  That is where our comfort comes into the picture.

The prophecy spoken by Jeremiah continues to say, “Thus says the Lord: “keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for you future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country.”” (Jeremiah 31:16-17)

You can be comforted, despite your weeping, because you know a Day is coming when all the strife will cease and all the crying will end. On that Day, the eyes of the mothers of Bethlehem will be dried. On that Day, the tears of those who have suffered because of evil will cease.

On that Day, you and I who mourn because of our earthly sorrows will rejoice forever in our heavenly reward. That is the comfort that carries us through all our days in this world and into our country where Christ is the King. That is the promise that makes Christmas truly merry and bright, and that is the comfort and joy that gives us eternal hope! In Jesus Name, Amen.