Genesis 46:1-7/1 Peter 4:12-19/St Matthew 2:13-23
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
This Christmas-tide has been a bit odd. The date of Easter governs the Church’s calendar. And with the Feast of the Resurrection falling late this year, we have not only a longer Season of Epiphany ahead of us, but also two full Sundays after Christmas in which we hear from the Gospels those readings that are too often ignored or overlooked during Christmas.
For how many of us know that the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord lasts twelve full days? Twelve days filled with joy and wonder! Twelve days of gladness and mirth! Twelve days of celebration and singing!
And yet the first three are filled with bloodshed and death. December 26th, the day after Christmas, the Feast of St Stephen, martyr.; the first Christian put to death for the faith. December 27th, two days after, the Feast of St John, Apostle and Evangelist; who was not a martyr in deed, but in voice. And December 28th, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs; who, as the collect said, “Showed forth [God’s] praise not by speaking, but by dying;” the first martyrs of the New Testament.
And I hear some of your saying, “Boy, you’re being pretty morbid today, Pastor. Christmas is supposed to be about giving and receiving gifts, decorating homes, gathering with family and friends for fellowship and festivity. Christmas sights and sounds include nativity scenes, angels and shepherds, wise men, carols, and trees.”
How remarkable then, that in her wisdom the Church established these three days as a reminder of the reality in which Christmas occurs. The words of our Lord, Wisdom is proven right by her children, are fitting here. He came unto His own and His own would not receive Him. These three days replace the white of Christmas with the red of martyrdom. They are a wise corrective to the world’s corruption of Christmas. These holy martyrs tells us that Christmas does not celebrate our fellowship with family and friends, but it celebrates our fellowship with God.
The truth is that Christmas is for martyrs. Such is the way of faith. For this is how it goes with our Lord. And so it shall be with His followers. Even last Sunday we heard from Simeon and Anna, who rejoiced to see the Lord’s Christ, yet at the same time spoke with sobriety about His impending death; the Cross casts its shadow even over the lowly stable.
And today we hear of these little ones, the first New Testament martyrs. We call them “innocents” not because of their age or their moral disposition. They are “innocents” because of the brutality of their deaths. Had they been but a little older, they would have confessed themselves to be sinners, desperately in need of the righteousness of Another, of the true Holy Innocent; even as David confessed, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me (Ps 51:5).
This is not meant to put a damper on your Christmas celebrations. Rather, this is the radical contradiction of the Gospel, the mystery of the Cross, seen already in our Lord’s infancy. For this Child is God Himself, the Lord of heaven and earth, who fashions men’s hearts according to His good pleasure, who possesses all power; yet He must flee secretly, by night, because a mere man plan to kill Him. Under the cover of darkness the little Infant must leave the land of His fathers and flee because Herod threatens His life. This is the mysterious, inscrutable kingdom of God!
And while the Holy Family fled to Egypt, Herod’s soldiers went to Bethlehem and killed all the male children two year old and younger. Herod the Great was a cruel man. He would rank among the dictators and butchers of our age. He put to death his own son and wife. Caesar once remarked of him, “I would feel safer being Herod’s pig than his child.” It was expedient for him to slay the infants of Bethlehem; he was protecting his throne.
But why did God permit it?, we may wonder. Why must all these parents suffer? It would have been so simple for God to prevent it all. All the mention of angels in the Christmas story, surely God could have sent one to Herod and stopped everything? I will ponder all your work, sang the Psalmist; Your way, O God, is holy (Ps 77:12, 13). These are the mysterious ways of God. Joseph, the son of Jacob, although innocent, spent two years in prison. Moses fled from Pharaoh and hide for forty years. David fled before Saul. Daniel is thrown to the lions because he prays to the true God. St Paul must suffer many things for Christ’s sake.
So it is for you. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings. How contrary this Word is to the false gospel of the false preachers! Those who imagine that all who surrender their lives to the King and are at peace will God should be shielded from all sorrow and freed from affliction. That an omnipotent, loving God should give them only joys and pleasures.
Yet Scripture, and even our experiences, teach us otherwise. To be a Christian means to suffer, to bear the cross; to be a martyr. Indeed without the Cross, one is not a Christian. For as Easter governs the Church’s calendar, so the Cross governs the Christian’s life. Now one does not bear the Cross when suffering the effects of his sin. Rather, you bear the Cross when you suffer for enduring under temptation, when you deny the flesh and its lusts, when you die to self and receive from the Lord’s hand His fatherly discipline.
For this is what He gives us in this Gospel. He lifts the veil and shows us that He has a clearly defined purpose and even what His purpose it. The flight to Egypt and all that surrounds it perplexes us. Yet there is ample evidence for God’s omnipotent hand. His ever watchful eye is on the Christ Child. He supplies the Holy Family with funds for the journey through the rich gifts of the Magi. He sends an angel to warn Joseph. When Herod’s attack begins, the Child is far from danger. In Egypt He has safe haven. He quietly awaits the death of His enemies. After four years an angel commands Joseph to return to Israel.
What was God’s purpose? The flight into Egypt served to proclaim the Christ Child as the Savior, for by it the word of the prophet was fulfilled, Out of Egypt I have called My Son. It would be presumptuous for us to surmise the reasons God permitted the murder of the Innocents. But one reason is sure: that Scripture might be fulfilled. St Augustine said of the infants slain by Herod, “That an enemy with his whole strength and all the resources of his kingdom could not have benefited the children more than by killing them.”
Don’t misunderstand me. Their deaths were a horrible tragedy which brought devastating sorrow and grief to their parents. Yet the removal of the Innocents from this earth was an act of gracious deliverance. They died in the sacramental grace of circumcision and were taken into heaven before they had ever tasted the woes and sorrows of life.
They shared in the sufferings of Christ. For He came among us as the true Holy Innocent. His conception was holy. His birth was innocent. His life was without sin. And He would return from Egypt to ransom His captive Israel. He would grow and mature in Nazareth, being despised and rejected for this association. Yet again, this fulfills the prophets: for He is the Nazar, the Branch from the stump of Jesse.
He would keep all of the Law and the Prophets, enduring every manner of persecution and suffering, even to the point of death, and the most scandalous of deaths - death upon a Cross. And we may wonder, Why does God save the life of His Son as an Infant, only to permit Him to be gruesomely sacrificed as an adult? Oh the mystery of our Lord’s redemption. For by the scandal and suffering of the Cross He achieves the salvation of all His martyrs - of Stephen and John, of the Holy Innocents and you.
St Gregory said, “The ungodly do good to us by doing evil.” That is, “God humbles those who are His in order to exalt them; He kills them to make them alive; He confounds them to glorify them; He makes the subject in order to raise them up” (Luther, AE 6). We never fully understand these things living in the midst of them.
But know this dear Christians, your Father in heaven who permits affliction to befall you and all His saints, does not do so for your punishment. Christ has already suffered all your punishment, God cannot and will not punish the same sins twice. Rather, through affliction, He seeks to correct your faults in love.
For this is what His Word tells you, even as this Gospel reveals. We are told three times that the Word of the Lord was fulfilled by these events. First the flight to Egypt, then the wailing of the mothers over their babies, and last when Joseph settled in Nazareth. God’s Word is important to Him and He will never allow it to go unfulfilled. Not one of His promises ever falls to the ground. Trust His Word. For by it you battle the assaults of the Evil One. In His Word you have the full revelation of God who shows Himself not so much in joy and pleasure, but through suffering and affliction. You have His promises. They are continually before you, preached into your ears, forgiving your sins, giving you a clean conscience and a pure heart.
Here, dear children, His Word of promise touches this bread and wine, which are His Body and Blood given for you for the forgiveness of sins. This is your greatest comfort in time of affliction. For here your faithful Creator delivers to you the Righteousness of the Christ Child, the Holy Innocent, which makes you holy and innocent in His sight. Even in the face of death support yourself with these promises and consolation: you have the only Son of God, out death to life, given for you in the midst of death to bring you with Him to eternal life. It is already prepared for you and shall be yours when He comes again in glory.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
This Christmas-tide has been a bit odd. The date of Easter governs the Church’s calendar. And with the Feast of the Resurrection falling late this year, we have not only a longer Season of Epiphany ahead of us, but also two full Sundays after Christmas in which we hear from the Gospels those readings that are too often ignored or overlooked during Christmas.
For how many of us know that the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord lasts twelve full days? Twelve days filled with joy and wonder! Twelve days of gladness and mirth! Twelve days of celebration and singing!
And yet the first three are filled with bloodshed and death. December 26th, the day after Christmas, the Feast of St Stephen, martyr.; the first Christian put to death for the faith. December 27th, two days after, the Feast of St John, Apostle and Evangelist; who was not a martyr in deed, but in voice. And December 28th, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs; who, as the collect said, “Showed forth [God’s] praise not by speaking, but by dying;” the first martyrs of the New Testament.
And I hear some of your saying, “Boy, you’re being pretty morbid today, Pastor. Christmas is supposed to be about giving and receiving gifts, decorating homes, gathering with family and friends for fellowship and festivity. Christmas sights and sounds include nativity scenes, angels and shepherds, wise men, carols, and trees.”
How remarkable then, that in her wisdom the Church established these three days as a reminder of the reality in which Christmas occurs. The words of our Lord, Wisdom is proven right by her children, are fitting here. He came unto His own and His own would not receive Him. These three days replace the white of Christmas with the red of martyrdom. They are a wise corrective to the world’s corruption of Christmas. These holy martyrs tells us that Christmas does not celebrate our fellowship with family and friends, but it celebrates our fellowship with God.
The truth is that Christmas is for martyrs. Such is the way of faith. For this is how it goes with our Lord. And so it shall be with His followers. Even last Sunday we heard from Simeon and Anna, who rejoiced to see the Lord’s Christ, yet at the same time spoke with sobriety about His impending death; the Cross casts its shadow even over the lowly stable.
And today we hear of these little ones, the first New Testament martyrs. We call them “innocents” not because of their age or their moral disposition. They are “innocents” because of the brutality of their deaths. Had they been but a little older, they would have confessed themselves to be sinners, desperately in need of the righteousness of Another, of the true Holy Innocent; even as David confessed, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me (Ps 51:5).
This is not meant to put a damper on your Christmas celebrations. Rather, this is the radical contradiction of the Gospel, the mystery of the Cross, seen already in our Lord’s infancy. For this Child is God Himself, the Lord of heaven and earth, who fashions men’s hearts according to His good pleasure, who possesses all power; yet He must flee secretly, by night, because a mere man plan to kill Him. Under the cover of darkness the little Infant must leave the land of His fathers and flee because Herod threatens His life. This is the mysterious, inscrutable kingdom of God!
And while the Holy Family fled to Egypt, Herod’s soldiers went to Bethlehem and killed all the male children two year old and younger. Herod the Great was a cruel man. He would rank among the dictators and butchers of our age. He put to death his own son and wife. Caesar once remarked of him, “I would feel safer being Herod’s pig than his child.” It was expedient for him to slay the infants of Bethlehem; he was protecting his throne.
But why did God permit it?, we may wonder. Why must all these parents suffer? It would have been so simple for God to prevent it all. All the mention of angels in the Christmas story, surely God could have sent one to Herod and stopped everything? I will ponder all your work, sang the Psalmist; Your way, O God, is holy (Ps 77:12, 13). These are the mysterious ways of God. Joseph, the son of Jacob, although innocent, spent two years in prison. Moses fled from Pharaoh and hide for forty years. David fled before Saul. Daniel is thrown to the lions because he prays to the true God. St Paul must suffer many things for Christ’s sake.
So it is for you. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings. How contrary this Word is to the false gospel of the false preachers! Those who imagine that all who surrender their lives to the King and are at peace will God should be shielded from all sorrow and freed from affliction. That an omnipotent, loving God should give them only joys and pleasures.
Yet Scripture, and even our experiences, teach us otherwise. To be a Christian means to suffer, to bear the cross; to be a martyr. Indeed without the Cross, one is not a Christian. For as Easter governs the Church’s calendar, so the Cross governs the Christian’s life. Now one does not bear the Cross when suffering the effects of his sin. Rather, you bear the Cross when you suffer for enduring under temptation, when you deny the flesh and its lusts, when you die to self and receive from the Lord’s hand His fatherly discipline.
For this is what He gives us in this Gospel. He lifts the veil and shows us that He has a clearly defined purpose and even what His purpose it. The flight to Egypt and all that surrounds it perplexes us. Yet there is ample evidence for God’s omnipotent hand. His ever watchful eye is on the Christ Child. He supplies the Holy Family with funds for the journey through the rich gifts of the Magi. He sends an angel to warn Joseph. When Herod’s attack begins, the Child is far from danger. In Egypt He has safe haven. He quietly awaits the death of His enemies. After four years an angel commands Joseph to return to Israel.
What was God’s purpose? The flight into Egypt served to proclaim the Christ Child as the Savior, for by it the word of the prophet was fulfilled, Out of Egypt I have called My Son. It would be presumptuous for us to surmise the reasons God permitted the murder of the Innocents. But one reason is sure: that Scripture might be fulfilled. St Augustine said of the infants slain by Herod, “That an enemy with his whole strength and all the resources of his kingdom could not have benefited the children more than by killing them.”
Don’t misunderstand me. Their deaths were a horrible tragedy which brought devastating sorrow and grief to their parents. Yet the removal of the Innocents from this earth was an act of gracious deliverance. They died in the sacramental grace of circumcision and were taken into heaven before they had ever tasted the woes and sorrows of life.
They shared in the sufferings of Christ. For He came among us as the true Holy Innocent. His conception was holy. His birth was innocent. His life was without sin. And He would return from Egypt to ransom His captive Israel. He would grow and mature in Nazareth, being despised and rejected for this association. Yet again, this fulfills the prophets: for He is the Nazar, the Branch from the stump of Jesse.
He would keep all of the Law and the Prophets, enduring every manner of persecution and suffering, even to the point of death, and the most scandalous of deaths - death upon a Cross. And we may wonder, Why does God save the life of His Son as an Infant, only to permit Him to be gruesomely sacrificed as an adult? Oh the mystery of our Lord’s redemption. For by the scandal and suffering of the Cross He achieves the salvation of all His martyrs - of Stephen and John, of the Holy Innocents and you.
St Gregory said, “The ungodly do good to us by doing evil.” That is, “God humbles those who are His in order to exalt them; He kills them to make them alive; He confounds them to glorify them; He makes the subject in order to raise them up” (Luther, AE 6). We never fully understand these things living in the midst of them.
But know this dear Christians, your Father in heaven who permits affliction to befall you and all His saints, does not do so for your punishment. Christ has already suffered all your punishment, God cannot and will not punish the same sins twice. Rather, through affliction, He seeks to correct your faults in love.
For this is what His Word tells you, even as this Gospel reveals. We are told three times that the Word of the Lord was fulfilled by these events. First the flight to Egypt, then the wailing of the mothers over their babies, and last when Joseph settled in Nazareth. God’s Word is important to Him and He will never allow it to go unfulfilled. Not one of His promises ever falls to the ground. Trust His Word. For by it you battle the assaults of the Evil One. In His Word you have the full revelation of God who shows Himself not so much in joy and pleasure, but through suffering and affliction. You have His promises. They are continually before you, preached into your ears, forgiving your sins, giving you a clean conscience and a pure heart.
Here, dear children, His Word of promise touches this bread and wine, which are His Body and Blood given for you for the forgiveness of sins. This is your greatest comfort in time of affliction. For here your faithful Creator delivers to you the Righteousness of the Christ Child, the Holy Innocent, which makes you holy and innocent in His sight. Even in the face of death support yourself with these promises and consolation: you have the only Son of God, out death to life, given for you in the midst of death to bring you with Him to eternal life. It is already prepared for you and shall be yours when He comes again in glory.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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