Festival of the Holy Innocents
Posted on December 28, 2019 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 1:1-17 (NKJV)
1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
Devotion
The beginning of the life of our Lord is marked by the death of the Martyred Innocents at the hand of King Herod. These martyrs testify to whom the Lord Jesus—the Baby born in Bethlehem—truly is. He is the Son of God, begotten before all worlds, and He is true Man born of the Virgin Mary.
Our Lord Jesus, the Christ, is the eternal Only-Begotten Son of God. He is God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God. He is begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father before all worlds, as we confess in our Creeds. He has no beginning and no end, by virtue of His divinity. And yet, the Evangelist St. Matthew begins his Gospel with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.”
How can God have a genealogy? Our Lord Jesus is both God and man, so then, this genealogy given to us by the Evangelist St. Matthew is a testament that the eternal, immutable, Only-Begotten Son of the heavenly Father is not only true God, but He is also true man, born of the Virgin Mary into the lineage of King David, the descendant of the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
St. Matthew begins his Gospel by introducing us to the God who was man—our Lord Jesus. The Holy Innocents are martyred because the devil and all evil does not want us to hear about this man who is God, who brings salvation to all who believe on Him.
We pray: O God, whose Martyred Innocents showed forth Thy praise not by speaking but by dying, mortify all vices within us that our lives may in deed confess Thy faith which our tongue uttereth; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
