Matthew 2:7 - 23.
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you've found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him." When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
Escape to Egypt
When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him." Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I have called my son out of Egypt.
Murder of the Bethlehem children
When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and much grieving. Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were no more.
Return from Egypt
After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. "Get up," the angel said, "and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead." Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
Today begins the third week of advent, the week of Joy. It almost seems improper to be joyful today when our hearts are filled with grief over the tragic death of so many innocent children and women. Today's scripture reminds us that murder, death and grief have always been part of the Christmas story - a part that we skip over quickly. But they are not the end of the story. God has provided us a comforter. Today we don't want to be comforted because our children are no more. But Jesus comes to us wherever we are, in whatever state we find ourselves, whether we are filled with joy or sorrow or a confusing mixture of both.
As I have reflected on the events of the past few days, it has occurred to me that thousands of innocent children die every day. They die of violence, of neglect, of starvation, of disease, from accidents and natural causes. Each day, each death is a tragedy for loved ones. They die one by one and do not attract our notice. But when so many are senselessly killed at once we cannot escape tragedy. Their have deaths become personal and we want to make some sense or take some meaning from the events.
I can't make sense of the senseless and will not try. I will not attribute their deaths to some grand scheme of God. I will look into my own heart and life to search for the ways in which I am guilty. I give silent approval to our culture of guns and violence every time I turn on the TV to watch entertainment that glorifies the hero with a gun. I give silent assent when I fail to lobby my elected leaders to take sensible action on gun control. I am a partner when I am more concerned about the cost of my taxes than I am about providing affordable mental health services to those obviously in need.
Reflection Questions for Sunday, Week Three
- Take time for quiet reflection. Respond to the questions below by writing in your journal or quietly reflecting.
- Read Exodus 3:7-8 (see below). Imagine the words written to you, for you. What has God observed in your life? What is your cry? What does God know? How can God come to deliver you? What new land might God bring you to? Try rewriting these verses for yourself.
- Pray these words of Charles Wesley's hymn over and over, listening for God's message to you. "Hasten the joyful day which shall my sins consume, when old things shall be done away, and all things new become." (UMH 388)
Exodus 3:7-8
(7) Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, (8) and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
(The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)
Prayer for Sunday, Week Three
O God of grace and power, deliver us from our shortsightedness, which hides your presence from us. Grant us a clearer vision of your truth, a greater faith in your power, and a more confident assurance of your love. Amen.
