Matthew 2:13–18 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 2:13–18 on biblegateway.com
Verse 13Now 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." Verse 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, Verse 15and 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."
Verse 16When 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. Verse 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: Verse 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."
Devotion
Herod, King of the Jews, ruled Judea and was proud for having rebuilt the Jews' glorious Temple. He wanted no rivalry. So, when the wise men came looking for the baby, “born King of the Jews,” he was enraged. Unable to find and destroy this child, he decreed all infants under two be killed. And mothers wept.
Mothers still weep for children who suffer and die – especially due to war, abuse, injustice, suicide. Our adopted son took his life at 18. Since then I have travelled the country speaking to youth groups and have listened to tearful teens share about how pain and judgment has driven them to the brink of despair.
To often in such cases, “God has been silent,” writes David Weiss in To the Tune of a Welcoming God, p.12, “because I wouldn’t lend God the use of my voice.” How it would change things for these young people if each of us would lend God our voice in advocacy.
Prayer
Bless all the families of the earth and help each of us to be instruments of justice and peace. Amen.