Observation: Just a few days into the joyful celebration of Christmas, here is a terribly shocking reminder of the world into which Christ is born. Echoing the cruelty of Pharaoh in the story of Moses' birth, Herod has all the infants and toddlers of Bethlehem murdered, just to be sure this newborn king does not ascend to take his throne. For the second time in Matthew's Gospel, angels come to the rescue by tipping off Joseph ahead of time. The holy family escapes. Not so for dozens or hundreds of children--an entire generation of Jesus' cousins and relatives--who remain.
Application: There's a part of me that feels talking about the Holy Innocents--a senseless avoidable mass murder--during Christmas, is totally wrong. Yet there's another part of me that understands why it could be, and has to be, now. For the joy of Christmas to really mean something, Jesus has to be born into the real world, in all its ugliness. He has to be born among families of Sandy Hook students, who should be starting high school, or for families of students in Oxford, Michigan, facing their first Christmas without a child. If the good news of his presence is only for those untouched by tragedy, it must be good news for some other world; surely not our own. There is no part of Jesus' life, not even the story of his birth, which is untouched by the truth of his cross. If he isn't with us on our darkest day, he's not with us at all. That is the meaning of "Emmanuel."
Prayer: God, be with parents who cry out like Rachel for her children, who refuse to be consoled. Help us to be your presence among them, not just standing there, but in solidarity with them, recognizing their pain, and working with them to rescue other families from it.
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