The Feast of the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents

Even though we count the Days of Christmas as our twelve-day celebration moves on, the Christian Calendar reminds us that the birth of Christ neither takes place in a vacuum nor does it occur without consequences.  I have heard it said, “One lights a candle, but casts a shadow.”  The story moves on, not letting the baby remain in the manger for long.  There are repercussions for the birth of a Savior.

December 28 is the Feast of the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents, alternately known simply as the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  We read their story in Matthew 2:16–18.  In a nutshell, King Herod instructed the Magi, the Wise Men from the East, to bring word back to Herod once they had located the new born king so that Herod himself could “pay him homage.”  This is undoubtedly Herod’s code for “so that I can kill him.”

The Wise Men found the child, gave him gifts, worshiped him, and “being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.” –Matthew 2:12

But when Herod decided that enough time had passed for the Magi to carry out his orders, the king determined that he had been duped.  In an angry rage, he decreed that all male children under two years of age should be killed so that he could make sure and eliminate his rival.

Joseph, father of Jesus, received his own warning in the form of another dream, and he fled with Mary and Jesus and sought refuge in Egypt.  So, while an undetermined number of baby boys died at the hands of Herod’s minions, the target child was spirited away.

This is a dreadful story.  Yet it is not outside our understanding of Herod’s character.  He brutally killed his wife, brother-in-law, three of his sons, 300 military leaders, and many others, as recorded by firsthand sources (notably the Jewish historian Josephus).

It also recalls the story of the Hebrew children in Exodus1:15—2:4. Pharaoh attempted the murder of newborn Israelite boys, but Moses eluded that fate and obviously became the great leader and law-giver of the people.  Matthew portrays the infant Jesus as being in the same peril and experiencing the same deliverance.

The coming of Jesus into the world can have unforeseen fallout.  Sometimes pure evil, in its efforts to combat or eradicate faith, commits acts of unspeakable depravity.  Beyond that we can never fully explain such occurrences.  But this Feast Day reflects our resolve never to forget. 

The calendar reminds us that the consequences of the appearance of Jesus in the world are many and varied.  Some involve deep intentionality.  Others can appear absolutely random.  But Jesus is not a presence that we can ignore.  For good or ill, the world knows that.