Reflection on Matthew 2:13-23

My Christmas tree is still up.  There I said it.  The tree is still up, and it will proudly stand at least until the end of the 12 days of Christmas.  The only reason I am declaring that so decisively is because this year there seems to be an inordinate amount of shaming of those who do not take the Christmas decorations down the day following Christmas Day.  “My house in finally clean and in order” one friend mentioned.  “How can anyone stand to not have everything cleaned up?” another quipped. 

I know…I know.  The Church’s celebration of a whole 12 days of Christmas starting with worship on Christmas Eve lost the battle of the timing of Christmas a long time ago to the likes of Macy’s, Hallmark, Wal-Mart, and Amazon.com who all entice us to get into the Christmas spirit in plenty of time beforehand to buy things.  But, would it not be nice to linger at least a few more days in the good news that God is with us?  Would it not be nice to just stare at the Christmas tree for a while, reflecting on the fact that the light of the world has come?

As cozy as all of that sounds, the reality is that the world continues to throw life at us; messy and complicated.  Those who clean up the decorations early are simply diving right back into the same old, same old. 

But, I would say to them that the twelve days of Christmas do not allow us to deny the messiness and complications of life; instead the twelve days of Christmas actually force us to deal with the messiness of life as we try to figure out what we are to make of God’s love coming into the world.  And, the 12 days does this by throwing the murder of innocent children right in our faces.

In the tale that immediately follows the birth of Jesus; we are offered the opportunity to revel in the Christmas cheer that Herod the Great brings to the world.  That, my friends, is sarcasm.  

Though others desire to celebrate the coming of a new king with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the current king certainly does not.  Feeling threatened by the existence of “the anointed one,” purported to be in Bethlehem; King Herod embarks on a localized “cleansing” in Bethlehem of all children two years or younger.  And, by cleansing, I mean murder. 

You see, what God desires often does not line up with what governments desire.

Now, it would be easy for us to characterize King Herod as egotistical and plain evil, but the truth of his rule is much more complicated.  Like many other world leaders before him and like many to follow, he did much more than simply embark on selfish political acts.  Herod actually brought greatness and prosperity to his people.  He was given the title “Herod the Great” by the people, and it was not an ironic title. 

Herod was actually considered by many to be a savior to the nation of Israel.  He obtained economic prosperity, brought security, and somehow pulled off the freedom of self-rule for the people of God under the shadow of the Roman Empire.  If kings were elected by the people, he would have had no problem securing another term. 

Surely, some people beyond the tiny region of Bethlehem were horrified by what happened to the children there, causing them to hug their own children even tighter at night.  But, as long as rulers bring about prosperity, governments are usually given the benefit of the doubt in matters such as these.  There must have been a good reason.

As I continue to stare at the lights of my Christmas tree a full four days beyond Christmas Day, the broken, unlit bulbs remind me that not everyone’s light is allowed to shine.  Sometimes, the coming of God’s love into the world brings more problems than it fixes.  Sometimes, the coming of God’s love into the world eventually leads to a cross.

That is precisely why we need the full 12 days of Christmas.  We need time to move beyond the celebration with presents so that we can also reflect on how the world reacts when Jesus comes into contact with it. 

The 12 days of Christmas and the stories that are told in those 12 days help us to wrestle with the fact that the world continues to defy the kingdom of God rather than live within it.   

The 12 days help us to tell the difference between evil and good when the ones causing the evil appear to be good for the nation, and those who are in fact good are running away like criminals. 

Joseph and Mary take their child and flee to Egypt, seeking asylum as if they were criminals in flight.  At the same time, Herod the Great continues to secure the prosperity he brings to the nation by killing all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under.  He fears that one of them might eventually grow up and overthrow all he has done.  To his government, the children are simply “collateral damage” in the fight to secure a prosperous future.

How can we tell evil from good when it is all messed up and complex?  There probably are no clear answers to that.  If there were, there would be no political fighting. 

But, as I stare at my still lit Christmas tree, all these days after Christmas Day, I see the gifts still laying there wrapped and waiting to be opened by the children who could not be there on Christmas Day.  And, those presents, for those beloved and not forgotten children, remind me that the Bible actually does hint that there is a way to tell the good from the evil in a world of messy complexity. 

The Bible says to pay attention to how the children are treated.  Does Rachel need to weep for her children?  Does she refuse to be consoled because her children are no more?  If so, evil is at work.

Joseph and Mary whisk Jesus away from harm to a safe nation.  The government of King Herod kills children in hopes of future security.  When comparing the two, the love of God clearly resides in Joseph and Mary, and evil clearly resides in those who do not protect the innocent children.   

Of course, such a murderous political declaration is easy for King Herod to make.  Rulers of nations never have to see any of these horrors face to face.  The brunt of the soul-crushing turmoil is cast upon those soldiers who carry out the task of slaughtering little hands and little feet.  And, the weight of the evil is equally shared by the shoulders of all those who do not speak up against the injustice.

Do you want to know what is good and what is evil?  Matthew tells us to take a look at the treatment of children.  That will, in part, give us a clue to what is good, and true, and right. 

As I continue to stare at my tree and as the tune of, “What Child Is This” soars through the air; I am led by God to focus of the Christ Child himself.  He is there, lying in the hay on multiple ornaments strewn across the tree.  And, in that baby in the hay I see the necessity of caring for the children, because his all too early loss would have been catastrophic.  Any child’s loss is catastrophic. 

“A little child will lead them” says Isaiah 11:6.  And, as I stare at that child in the straw, I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to follow him and learn the whole story…to learn of the healing, the forgiveness, and the grace that that little baby eventually brings to us; a story that almost was not. 

And, it creates in me a desire to do as Matthew urges: always consider the children. 

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus teaches “and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs” (Matthew 19:14).