First Sunday after Christmas |
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Scripture |
Matthew 2:13-23 13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt , 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel . 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth , so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
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Devotional |
Matthew’s gospel is about a baby who poses a threat to the most powerful man in the country that he kills all the male babies in the village, in order to get rid of him. What would cause a powerful person to fear a small baby? How do societies produce Herods? Herods rule by employing fear as a means to secure power; if you do not like my rule, if you do not obey me, you will like the direct rule of the Romans even less. So “all Jerusalem with him” is fearful, indicating that Herod’s rule is possible because the fear of those he rules makes Herod’s rule seem necessary. 1 Herods know no limit when their power is threatened. Herod killed members of his own family, including his beloved wife along with a son, when he suspected they were scheming against him. This is the same person when he was dying, gave orders to kill the leading citizens of Jericho so people would weep at his funeral. Herods are the types who have no limits when their powers are threatened. We have learned that we must resist the Herods of our world. While challenging those who seek control over us, we must not forget that there is a little Herod in each of us. We might not go as far as to kill in order to gain or retain power but we have a tendency to like power and control. Children can frighten us by pulling us into the unknown future. The good news for the people was that Herod died. The good news from Luke is that Jesus lives and provides us a way out of our desire for power and control of others. The message from this scripture should be that I do not represent myself as a Herod to anyone. 1 Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew. Grand Rapids : Brazos Press. 2006. p. 39
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