The Feast of the Holy Innocents
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ, the Feast of the Holy Innocents gives us cause to consider a topic which touches many of us deeply, though it is not something that we speak of much, if at all, in our society. And that topic is the sudden death of a child. Tragically, there are times when the Lord sees fit to take a child away from us at a young age. This can happen when a young child dies from illness or tragedy, it can happen when an infant dies from complications after birth, or it can be a miscarriage or stillbirth. Regardless of how young or old the child dies, it is a tragic loss that is felt especially deeply by parents and family. Death was never a part of God’s plan for humanity. It was brought into the world because of sin, and it is sin’s terrible end. And so, it is tragic when anyone dies. But it is especially tragic when the death is unexpected, and even more so when it is a young child. For the child never had opportunity to live life. And so, in some ways, the younger the child dies the more tragic it is, and the more deeply we feel it. Those who sadly know the pain of losing a child know all too well the pain of Rachel:
A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18).
The sudden death of young children, sadly, is not a modern phenomenon. And today we heard two accounts from Scripture of such unspeakable heartbreak. We will focus upon the slaughter of the Holy Innocents in the Gospel text, but much of what I have to say could be gleaned from the Exodus 1 reading as well. As we do so, I will show you that God allows suffering in order to bring about His good purposes for us.
As we begin considering the Gospel text, allow me to remind you of two key verses from Romans 8:
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The women of Bethlehem would largely have been oblivious to the birth of the Savior on that first Christmas night—that is, until the shepherds came running through town in the middle of the night proclaiming the birth of the Christ. St. Luke tells us that all who heard the shepherd’s report were amazed (Luke 2:18). But every indication seems to be that things went back to relative normalcy—that is, until the Magi from the east came into town. We will hear more about the Magi next week, but for now we simply need to note that they had showed up in Jerusalem and brought to King Herod’s attention the birth of the King of the Jews—whom Herod viewed as a rival. Scripture says that all Jerusalem was greatly disturbed at this news (Matthew 2:3), for they undoubtedly knew Herod’s reputation of volatility. And the innocent children of Bethlehem were about receive the outpouring of Herod’s wrath. When the Magi failed to report back to Herod the location of the King of the Jews, he commanded that all children under the age of two in Bethlehem be slaughtered—just to be thorough in assuring the destruction of the newborn king.
Many of us don’t have to imagine the pain of those mothers and families whose children were taken from them. We know all too well that pain which never goes away. We rehearse the events in our head a thousand times over. What if I had done something differently? Why did God allow this? The questions and that what-ifs never end. And what’s worse for the women of Bethlehem is that God allowed their children to be murdered while He spared His own Son. Truly, the lamentation, weeping, and great mourning were justified.
A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18).
But, dear friends in Christ, Rachel must be rebuked for her refusal to be comforted. For “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32b). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive! And so are Rachel’s children.
The Holy Innocents of Bethlehem were the first martyrs who died in the testimony of Christ. They died so that He could live, just as He would soon die so that they could live. For God did not spare His own Son, but He delivered Him up for us all (cf. Romans 8:32). For now, Christ must live on. He must live so that He can grow up to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He must bear your sin and mine to the cross so that we can be granted the hope of everlasting life. And this everlasting life belongs to the Holy Innocents as well. For they were a part of the covenant people of God. Their mothers received with amazement the Gospel news preached by the shepherds. Their hope was in Christ, just as is yours and mine.
Truly, then, our Epistle from Revelation 14 gives us a beautiful picture of the church’s virgin martyrs praising the Lamb before His throne as they await the restoration of all things. In this company of the 144,000 stand the martyred Holy Innocents. And in this company stand your children who have died in the faith.
And let us be clear what it means to die in the faith. Thanks be to God when we have the comfort of Holy Baptism in which to place our hope when a young child dies. For it is God’s promise that He has made a child His own and has granted that child faith. In the same way, the women of Bethlehem would have comforted themselves with the knowledge that their children were a part of the covenant people of God through circumcision. But what about those cases where a child dies without being baptized—especially when they died in the womb? Where do we find comfort then?
When King David’s son died at seven days old—one day before he could be circumcised—when the King learned of the death of his newborn son, he did not despair but boldly confessed: “Now he is dead…I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). King David understood that he could do nothing to receive his child back from death. But he had great hope—indeed, he had great confidence—that he would see his child again in the resurrection on the other side of death. “I shall go to him.”
Let this be your confidence and hope as well if you have experienced the tragic death of a child. Even when we do not have opportunity to baptize a child before death, we must remember that the sacraments are a rule to which we are bound. God has commanded His Church to baptize, and so we bring our children with eagerness to the font. Or, when necessary, we may administer an emergency baptism in the hospital. But God is not bound to the rules He has given His church. He can choose to apply His grace outside of the normal means for someone who did not have the time to benefit from them, as He did with the thief on the cross. In a Christian family, our unborn children are regularly committed to the hands of Christ through our prayers. And how could the Lord turn away someone who is brought to Him in prayer? Indeed, He has promised:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6:37-39).
And so, let us bring our children to the font quickly when we have opportunity. But when we do not have opportunity, let us pray earnestly for our children while they are with us. For Christ will not cast out one who is brought to Him. And the prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).
This is our hope, dear friends in Christ. That God allows suffering in this life in order to bring about His good purposes for us. The women of Bethlehem did not understand why the Lord took their children. The Israelite women likewise did not understand why the Lord allowed Pharaoh to kill their children. We do not understand why the Lord takes some of our children from us. But we trust that He will bring eternal good from it. The righteous one who is taken from this life is taken away from suffering and evil to the presence of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 57:1). And because God’s Son has gone through death and the grave for us, we have the joyous hope of the resurrection to eternal life and a joyful reunion with our children who have died in the faith.
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
May God the Holy Spirit keep us ever in this faith and hope until the day of that glorious reunion comes.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
