Festival of the Holy Innocents
Posted on December 28, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 2:13-18 (NKJV)
2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Devotion
We call the young martyrs of this incident “innocents” because they were not guilty of the thing for which they were murdered. We need to be careful and clear about this so we do not give the impression that we ignore the reality of original sin in everyone who is conceived by human parents. Even though their death was a holy service to God, they were still little sinners in need of the righteousness that He would fulfill in the Son of Mary.
They were not the innocent Christ, but they were killed because evil men hated the promise of the Christ. Satan still encourages people to kill young children out of hatred for God’s Word; our society calls it “abortion”. Selfish hearts hate the 5th and 6th Commandments of God, and they hate the idea that they are sinners who need the Lord’s Word and Spirit to bring them forgiveness and righteousness. Like Herod, they seek to keep their corrupt kingdoms and lifestyles, even by atrocious means.
But the Lord and His Church cannot be silenced by murder. Instead, it is through death that the gracious will of God is most boldly proclaimed. Christ was innocent in every way, and yet He was murdered by evil men who hated His Word. Through that monumental death on the cross God brings forgiveness and everlasting life to all who believe and are made the children of His Church by His Word and Sacraments.
Prayer: 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.
