The Darkness Following Christmas
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art of the Christmas and New Year calendar we often forget (especially if you aren’t in a tradition that follows the Church calendar) is the Massacre of the Innocents. Depending on your tradition, this day falls somewhere between December 27th and January 10th. This feast day commemorates the infants slaughtered by Herod the Great at the time of Christ’s birth. This reenactment of Pharaoh’s slaughter of the children of Israel in the opening of Exodus smells of desperation, insecurity, a lust for power, and a hatred of the other. Like Pharaoh, Herod the Great felt threatened by a growing force beyond his control. While able to wield considerable power, they both felt small in the face of what they did not understand. Violence awoke in their hearts. In many ways, we haven’t made it much further along some 2,000 years later.
We are still driven by the same desperation and insecurities. Our desire for power and privilege, along with our tendency to avoid those different than us, forces us to confront this feast day as a solemn reminder of what we as humans are capable of if unchecked. We like to think Christmas and the New Year are times of joy, renewal, and festivities. However, we are often lacking in care of the other and the discipline to set aside pride, violence, and the desire for power that can gnaw at each of us.
We read stories like those found in Exodus 1 and Matthew 2 and blush at the cruelty, malice, and outright hatred demonstrated in those passages. Yet, we do little to correct these emotions, thoughts, and actions in our own lives. Part of the problem lies in the reality we are unwilling to name such things in ourselves. We would never murder babies, so surely we don’t carry as much evil or hatred within us. You might not think you hate anyone. Jesus has some interesting words about this line of thinking in Matthew 5.
It invites us to lay our insecurities and desire for power at His cradle.
However, as always, God is merciful and meets us in our weakness. In Matthew 5, Jesus assumes we will battle hatred and animosity towards others. He offers provision by telling us to go and make peace with those we have wronged. Reconciliation is an integral part of our proper worship. When we leave feelings of insecurity, our violent tendencies, and hatred of another unchecked we bring harm to the image of God we and those we hate bear. We do not have to look long in a history book to see stories of men and women who, because of fear, insecurity, and hatred, acted with violence toward others.
The Massacre of the Innocents stands right in the middle of our Christmas festivities and forces us to examine the status of our hearts and minds. It is not a cheerful remembering. Instead, it invites us to let the Christ child heal us from our hatred and violence. It invites us to lay our insecurities and desire for power at His cradle. Amen.
