The accounts of Jesus’ birth in both Matthew and Luke glow
with mysterious light and wonder. But the Slaughter of the Innocents in Matthew
2:13-23 is one of the darkest passages in the New Testament, rivaling Jesus’
crucifixion. We often want to avoid it, which means it has not accumulated as
much extraneous material as the other parts of the Christmas story. It is
observed on December 28 in the Western Church, and December 29 in the Eastern
Church as the Feast of Holy Innocents who are considered in some sense to be
the first Christian martyrs.
I have no way of softening the terror of this event. But I
do believe its contrast with the rest of the nativity narrative can help us
appreciate the hope Jesus brings even as he was born in humble obscurity. So I
suggest, reading all of both Matthew and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ birth to
marvel at this amazement.
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