Learning from Tragedy
Holy Innocents
Today we commemorate the Holy Innocents. This horrifying Bible story in Matthew raises questions. Questions that, once addressed, offer invaluable lessons.
The first question raised by this text: is every story in the Bible factual? No, not every story in the Bible describes actual occurrences, but every Bible text contains spiritual lessons that are profitable to our faith. The story about the slaughter of innocent children, found only in the Gospel of Matthew, is one of many in Matthew that demonstrate the fulfillment of God’s promises and predictions. Matthew compiled stories that let readers know God’s communications sent via ancient prophets were fulfilled in Jesus.
The second question posed by this text of terror is more difficult. Why is this a story about infanticide incorporated into the Jesus infancy narrative? This question reflects our tendency to forget or overlook the reality that life and death, health and illness, good and evil, are inextricable bound together on this side of heaven. Even if we exclude King Herod’s execution of toddlers living in and around Bethlehem, the Jesus infancy narrative is not all sweetness and light. If Joseph obeyed religious law he would have reported Mary to the rabbis and Mary would have been stoned to death. Roman laws for tax collection and population counts had no provisions for late payments or remote registration. In the final weeks of Mary’s pregnancy she traveled on foot for days so her family could comply with Roman law. When Mary and Joseph reached their destination not a single inn keeper or patron was willing to offer suitable aid or accommodations for a woman in labor. Mary gave birth to her first child with Joseph as her midwife in a stable surrounded by animals along with the stuff that went in them and the staff that came out of them. King Herod, like leaders before and leaders today, was concerned with preserving his power. If three visiting kings feared Herod, no one was safe around Herod. The slaughter of babies described in Matthew required accomplices. Generals, officers, and frontline soldiers accepted and executed King Herod’s orders. Residents in the towns and villages directed soldiers to neighbors who had children two years and younger. The blood of the Holy Innocents, like the genocides of Jews, Armenians, Rwandans, Palestinians, and countless others in our day, was on the hands of many people.
This text of terror offers important lessons. Will we be life long stewards of our faith? Can we use worship, prayers, reading, reflecting to strengthen and employ our faith? Romanticizing the Bible and overlooking life’s tragedies undermines our ability to address and resist evil. The story of the Holy Innocents beckons us to connect an ancient tragedy with modern-day tragedies — like the sexual exploitation of children, the negligence and arrogance of politicians who deposit their pay checks and utilize quality health insurance while allowing federal workers to go weeks without compensation and the cost for constituents’ health insurance become unaffordable. Extrajudicial killings are no longer the acts of leaders in far away lands, they are taking place in our country and executed by our sons and daughters serving in our military. This text of terror in the Gospel of Matthew, is a reminder that people of faith can and should defend innocent people. We have an obligation to defy illegal orders. We need to challenge unjust policies. We should respond to horrors and tragedies by providing food to the hungry, shelter for the unhoused, protection for children and youth from sexual predators, and sanctuary to people threatened with illegal deportation.
The story of the Holy Innocents reminds us that existence, on this side of heaven, includes life and death, health and illness, good and evil. We not only need to acknowledge this reality, we must respond to it. God bestows on each of us skills and resources to cope with horror and tragedy. Joseph paid attention to his dreams. Joseph used male privileges to help Mary and support God’s plans. Joseph employed his carpentry skills to provide for Mary and Jesus. My brother used skills he acquired in law school and authority accorded to him by the judicial system to block the detention and deportation of a permanent resident alien. Jesus told the disciples, “the poor you will always have with you.” Tragedy, injustice, and evil will (on this side of heaven) always be with us. Are you using your God given skills and resources to protect and provide for the innocent? Just as God bestowed on Joseph the skills and resources to deal with difficulties and disasters, so too has God granted to each of us the skills and resources to address the challenges of life on this side of heaven.
