Martyrdom of St. Stephen on December 26 and Massacre of the Holy Innocent on December 28, there are two bloody memorials during Christmas Octave, which spans from the Nativity of the Lord and to the Circumcision of the Lord. These first eight ways of Christmastide are to be marked with joy, for the long-hoped and long-waited Christ has finally come. Nevertheless, we are reminded of death, not peaceful one, but bloody painful one, being stoned and slaughtered, of the innocent.
Why was St. Stephen stoned to death? Because certain
men’s insecurity. It was those men, who lost their faces in debating with
Stephen, made a false accusation against him, to have him killed (Acts
6:8-7:60). He was falsely accused of blasphemy. But he was innocent. In fact,
he was killed for arguing for the Son of God and defending his teaching.
It was Herod the Great’s insecurity that led to the
massacre of little innocent children of age two and under in Bethlehem and its
vicinity, because this puppet Jewish king of the Roman Empire was threatened by
the presence of the newborn King of the Jews, when the mag from the east inquired
him about the King (Matthew 2:1-8, 16-18). Many innocent babies were
slaughtered one narcissistic man’s paranoia, invoked by the prospect of a
“threat” to his political position, which was given by the Roman Empire, to
rule the Jews.
In fact, the King of the Jews was the title given to
Jesus with a mockery (John 19:19) and it was the criminal charge against him to
be executed by means of crucifixion (John 18:28-19:24). And those who conspired
the Roman authority to kill him in such a way did it out of their envy (Matthew
27:18) and by settling up false accusations (Matthew 26:56-61). To the
Sanhedrin, Jesus’ concocted charge was blasphemy (Matthew 26:62-68). But, it
was switched to being the King of the Jews, in order to let the Roman authority
to kill him (John 18:28-19:19).
Now we see how the title, the King of the Jews, led to
the killing of many innocent children and to Jesus, out of men’s narcissistic
insecurity.
The massacre of the Holy Innocent was how the darkness
of human insecurity reacted to the divine light of salvation. It was certainly
evil that keeps human darkness, for attempting to extinguish the divine light
of salvation, because those who do evil hate the light, for they fear of their
evil being exposed (John 3:20). But, this divine light was not meant to be
extinguished at that time. So it escaped to Egypt and did not return to Israel
until the death of Herod the Great. The darkness of evil eventually covered the
light, for arresting, torturing, and killing Jesus, as the King of the Jews. However,
the invincible divine light rose on the third day. It has been shining ever
since Resurrection of the Lord.
What made Herod the Great infuriated enough to
massacre children of age two and under in Bethlehem and its adjacent areas was
that the magi did not tell him where the newborn King of the Jews was (Matthew
2:17-8, 12, 16). Because Herod could not find where his target was, he decided
to kill any baby who could be him. As for the Newborn King, the angel of the
Lord called Joseph to take Jesus and Mary with him to Egypt, warning Herod’s plan
of the massacre (Matthew 2:13). Joseph acted accordingly and the Holy Family
remained in Egypt until Herod’s death (Matthew 2:14-15). While the Newborn King
was in safety, Herod the Great massacred the children, resulting in laud cries
of their mothers (Matthew 2:16-18).
In describing the Newborn King’s exile to Egypt for a refuge and Herod’s massacre of young children tragic incident, Matthew connects this strain of events to two Old Testament descriptions.
The fact that the Newborn King stayed in Egypt until Herod’s
death (Matthew 2:15) is seen as a possible fulfillment of Hosea 11:1, which
says:
When Israel was a child I loved him, out
of Egypt I called my son.
“My son” in Hosea 11:1 is referred to Moses,
who was called by God to lead Israel go out of Egypt (Exodus 5:1-13:22).
Matthew, on the other hand, applied this to Jesus, in juxtaposing his newborn
status to the relatively newness of Israel at the time of Moses. Israel, a new comer
to Canaan, at the time of Abraham, had to seek a refuge in Egypt because of the
famine in Canaan, at the time of Jacob (Genesis 13:12, 46:1-7; cf. 12:10) and
remained there until God called Moses to lead then out of there (Exodus 13:22).
There is another parallel between Jesus and Moses, for
Jesus can be seen as New Moses, for fulfilling the Law (Matthew 5:17), while Moses
received and implemented the Law (Exodus 19:3-30:38).
The second Old Testament reference made by Matthew was
in regard to the mourning of the mothers whose babies were massacred by Herod
the Great.
In Ramah is heard the sound of sobbing, bitter
weeping! Rachel mourns for her children, she refuses to be consoled for her
children—they are no more (Jeremiah 31:15).
Matthew cites this as such:
A
voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled, since they were no more
(Matthew 2:18).
Bewailing mourning and lamentation of Rachel, who was
Jacob’s favorite wife (Genesis 29:30) and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin
(Genesis 30:23-25; 35:16-19), , in the Book of Jeremiah, is a metaphor for the
massacre of “children of Zion”, residents of Jerusalem, by the Babylonians,
during their seize of the holy city. It also reflects the enmity between Eve’s
offspring and Satan’s (Genesis 3:15). Because the massacre of the children of
Bethlehem and its vicinity were committed by Herod the Great’s attempt to kill
baby Jesus, the lament of Rachel can also symbolically projected to the vision
of the enormous read dragon, the Satan, tried to destroy the child in the womb
of the Queen of Heaven, Mary (Revelation 12:1-17).
Rachel gave birth to Benjamin with great difficulty
and died afterward, as Jacob, her husband, and the rest of his family were
moving from Bethel to Bethlehem (Genesis 35:16-20). Though Rachel’s last son,
born on her way to Bethlehem survived and thrived, innocent children of age two
and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity were massacred, because Satan’s attempt
to kill the Newborn King of the Jews, the incarnated Christ in baby Jesus.
The massacre of the Holy Innocent resulted from
Satan’s reaction to the coming of the incarnated Christ. The Satan acted in
Herod the Great, because of his insecurity, due to his narcissism.
Now, what do we make out of this?
The children massacred by Herod the Great are called
the Holy Innocent. They are made holy because they died for the Newborn King, Jesus
the Christ. Because of their sacrifices, the incarnated Christ, Jesus, was able
to proclaim his Kingdom and the Gospel, then, died and resurrected, to fulfill
the prophecies of God’s servants (Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; and
52:13-53:12), in order to save us from the darkness and to redeem us into his
Kingdom. Therefore, we do need to remember these Holy Innocent, who were
sacrificed, namely, for us. Let us also remember the grief of their mothers,
symbolically represented by Rachel.
The First Reading (1 John 1:5-2:2) calls us to walk in
the light, in fellowship with him, for God is light, and he is the great light
shine to call us out of darkness (Isaiah 9:1-2). And it is his blood that cleanses
us (1 John 1:7; cf. Revelation 1:5; 7:14). But, this cleansing blood might not
have been made available if these innocent children of age two and under in
Bethlehem and its adjacent areas had not been sacrificed, for Jesus could have
been killed by Herod, without making his blood available for our salvific
purification. Then, how could we be saved into Christ’s light?
Christmas Octave and the rest of Christmastide is a
period when we rejoice in the light of Christ, which is growing toward Epiphany
and his public appearance at the Baptism of the Lord. The two bloody incidents
during Christmas Octave, Martyrdom of St. Stephen and the Massacre of the Holy Innocent,
remind us how Satan, whose domain is darkness, attempt to kill Christ the
light. But he failed, though St. Stephen and the Holy Innocent were sacrificed.
Their sacrifices for Christ are reflected in the sacrifice of Christ.
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