First Sunday after Christmas - Video and Sermon Text
First Sunday after Christmas
Galatians 4:4-7
Matthew 2:13-23
O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer.
Today’s Gospel comes as a bit of a shock after the joy of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, we heard the joyous news of God coming down to dwell with us. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. For a brief musical moment, the veil that separates the seen from the unseen was removed and the angels announced the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in highest, and on earth peace upon those with whom he is pleased.”
On Christmas Day, we heard the prologue of the Gospel of John, in the first 18 verses. John uses a different kind of language to describe the mystery of Christ’s presence among us. Jesus is the Word, who is God, and who created the world and without whom nothing was created. He is the Light that cannot be overcome. No darkness can extinguish the light of Christ in the world. Jesus is the Word that bears grace and truth. He is the grace of God in our midst and he is the truth that sets us free.
After hearing Gospel readings like these you cannot help but feel joyful. We feel lighter, freer, for the awareness that God comes down from heaven to earth to dwell with us, and to undo the power of sin, death, and the devil. Our hearts are lighter and we laugh easier. We enjoy our days and nights with family and friends knowing that Christ is here for us and for our salvation. Our battered faith is lifted as is our burdened spirits.
Then, there is today’s Gospel. Our joy is tempered by the harshness, the hardness, the cruelty of humanity. If we have become so immune to bad news that we can turn on the TV or computer and learn of homicides, missile attacks, homelessness, hunger, loss of jobs, and not be brought down, then today’s gospel certainly makes us reel. For the innocent author of our salvation is under attack by a mean-spirited, powerful man with soldiers in his command.
Our beloved Christ child, the sweet baby Jesus, born of Mary and guarded by Joseph, recently beheld with adoration by shepherds and mysterious wise men from the East is in relatively short order made into a refugee. The serenity of their home life is shattered by the murderous jealousy of Herod. Herod’s fearful, dark, heart cannot conceive of a savior. He imagines a competitor. A child who would soon deprive him of his authority, his power, and his throne. This child must die! Death is the only solution. Because he was left in the dark about who exactly the newborn king is, then Bethlehem and its surrounding area must have any potential threat to his reign removed with extreme prejudice. Just to make sure the threat is removed, all boys, two years and younger must die. Such an order and a line of thinking is heinous. Yet no one stops him. No one says no for the sake of humanity. Such are the wicked ways of the world. Herod embodies the wicked wisdom of the world. How many times have we witnessed such evil in our world in history and in the present day? Far, far too many times.
As the church tells the story of its origins and the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ infancy, the church has recognized from the beginning that the boys savagely murdered by Herod’s commands are the church’s first martyrs. Their lives are taken for the sake of Christ. The church understands that they receive life, eternal life, for their death for Christ. Before the Lord these boys are innocent and they are precious. They have the promise of Christ’s everlasting kingdom granted to them. Through their death, Christ Jesus lived, so that he could, in turn, as an adult die for them on the cross. Jesus’ death on the cross brings salvation to the world. His resurrection conquers the power of death. In Christ, these boys live forever. They are among the white robed martyrs that John saw in his vision and that he so vividly describes in The Revelation to John.
The grief of the parents and families of these slain innocents is and must be indescribably immense. Words are inadequate. Matthew instead points us to a remembrance. “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15) Rachel is the wife of the patriarch Jacob. Rachel died in childbirth. She is buried in Ramah, just north of Jerusalem. Centuries later the prophet Jeremiah pictured Rachel weeping for the Israelites who were exiled to Babylon. Jeremiah knew what Israel had lost. The Israelites being forced into slavery and taken to Babylon knew what they had lost. They wailed as they wept bitterly. Matthew’s point is that their suffering anticipated the suffering caused by Herod. What can be done but to weep and wail when we cannot protect those in our care?
Joseph believed the angel of the Lord that told him to continue with the marriage to Mary. Joseph believed the angel of the Lord that told him to flee to Egypt. Joseph believed the angel of the Lord that told him to return to Israel. He believed the warning that he should not settle in Bethlehem or anywhere else under the rule of Herod’s son. Nazareth became home for Jesus. It is there that he grew up, worked, and prepared for his earthly ministry.
In his earthly ministry, Jesus knew suffering. He entered a world filled with suffering. He alleviated a lot of pain that was around him. He healed bodies and minds. He raised people from the dead. He suffered on the cross. He bore the weight of all our sins. He bore the weight of Herod’s sins. He bore the weight of every tyrant’s murderous sin upon his body. Jesus is born for everyone. Jesus dies on the cross for everyone. The gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sins is available to all who receive him with faith. His forgiveness sets us free. We pray that the Holy Spirit continues to lead us deeper into faith so that we are filled with Christ’s peace which passes all understanding.
The suffering that comes because of our ancient enemies of sin, death, and the devil is real and unavoidable. Because of Christ Jesus entering our world and his ministry unto the cross, the effect of these ancient enemies does not last. Christ bore our sin on the cross and gave us his righteousness through faith. On account of his grace and truth, we have hope. In spite of the darkness surrounding our world, the light of Christ prevails. The darkness cannot overcome the light of God. We have a life with God forever. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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