• "Non-Believing Rulers May Violently Oppose God's Plan, But They Are Unable to Stop It"
• Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Innocents
• December 28, 2003
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

The feast of the Holy Innocents, as St. Matthew explains in the gospel (2:13f), celebrates the male children, two years old and younger, who were killed by Herod. This story comes on the heels of the visit by the Magi. They came to Herod and told him that the appearance of a star had indicated the birth of the King of the Jews. The Magi were directed by the priests to Bethlehem, the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah. Herod asked the Magi to return to him and bring back details of the child.

But the Magi were warned by God in a dream not to go back to Herod. Herod, in his anger, killed all the boys who were two years old and younger-the time frame indicated by the star. Herod was threatened by the prophesy of one "born" king of the Jews. Herod, a mad and violent man, had obtained the title "King of the Jews" by much bloodshed, labor and money. The slaughter of the Holy Innocents was a continuation of his usual policy towards his rivals.

If things had gone Herod's way, only Jesus would have been killed. Jesus escaped because God warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Instead of Jesus, all of the baby boys in Bethlehem were killed. Thus, the church reckons these to be the first to die for Christ because they died literally in his place.

The story of the Holy Innocents has a significant parallel in the life of Moses. Both Jesus and Moses were both miraculously preserved as children. The parallel in the life of Moses is described in Exodus 1 and 2. Pharaoh, being afraid of the burgeoning Hebrew population instituted infanticide as the answer. "Kill every baby boy born to the Jewish women" (Ex 1:22).

But it is an extra-biblical narrative, an account of the birth of Moses by the historian Josephus that gives us the clearest link. Josephus says that an Egyptian sacred scribe, skilled in foretelling events, told the king [Pharaoh] that "there would be a child born to the Israelites, who, if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian dominion low, and would raise the Israelites" (Antiquities, Book 2, Ch. IX 2). Thus, both Moses and Jesus were saved from the evil plans of rulers who wanted to kill them because prophetic word indicated that they were a threat.

These stories are part of a larger biblical theme: non-believing rulers violently opposed to God's plan, but unable to stop it (cf. Psalm 2). In Revelation 12, this conflict is portrayed with archetypical symbols. A woman clothed with the sun gives birth to a male child. But a great fiery dragon, whom we are told represent the devil, "stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born" (12:5). The child is saved from the dragon and caught up into heaven. The dragon then carries on his campaign of persecution against her offspring (the Church).

This story tells us that the hostility of rulers toward God's chosen people is a manifestation of spiritual warfare. The devil opposes what God is doing and seeks to thwart it. But, as the story of Moses and Jesus and the woman and the dragon make clear, the devil cannot thwart God's plan. The devil can kill the Holy Innocents, but he cannot kill their redeemer before his time. He cannot stop God from offering his son as the full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin-the sacrifice that will free the Innocents from the devil's clutches so that they might live with Jesus for eternity.

The devil can wreak a certain amount of havoc in time. He can persecute and martyr; he can threaten and harass; but he cannot thwart God's plan for us and he cannot take eternal life away from us. As Jesus said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).

Because Jesus is able to protect our souls in this manner, he counsels us not to be afraid of death or of those who can cause death: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28).

In addition to the Holy Innocents, we have since Christmas celebrated the feasts of St. Stephen, the first martyr and St. John, who spent much of his life in exile. Tomorrow is the feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury, the famous Becket whose martyrdom is the subject of T.S. Elliot's, "Murder in the Cathedral." The presence of such esteemed martyrs in close proximity to the birth of Christ reminds us that Christ himself was born to die.

Christmas provides the raw material necessary for Good Friday and Easter. God became man so that as man he might face death for us, but also so that as God, death might not hold him. Today, the Holy Innocents die in the place of Jesus; this reminds us that Christmas looks forward to the time when Jesus will die in the place of us all.