Synopsis:

There must have been tears in heaven in this horrific moment following the joy of Christ’s birth at Christmas. Known at the Slaughter of the Innocents, this story harkens back to the Hebrews’ memory of Pharaoh and his tyrannical fear of being overrun by the enslaved Hebrews who began to outnumber the Egyptians. Pharaoh’s attempt to consolidate power is no different than Herod’s. Matthew, who writes to a predominately Jewish audience, highlights these similarities between Moses and Jesus who is depicted as a New Moses (Moses gives Torah from Mt. Sinai while Jesus interprets Torah in the Sermon on the Mount, etc.). We cannot help from wondering why God who allow such a tragedy to occur, but the prophesy was not the plan penned by God’s hand. The tragedy was the work of a mad man who wanted to stay king. The Early Christians scoured the Scriptures to find verses which pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, and so the verses presented here from Jeremiah stir their memory as they grieve this traumatic moment from their past and now in their present. Sin is not God’s plan, but God responds to violent, sinful tragedies to bring healing, peace, and justice for those wronged.

Keywords: Christmastide, Jesus, birth, Herod, Old Testament prophesy, tragedy, grief, lament, comfort, peace, providence, theodicy, doubt,