Wise Men, a King, and Wholesale Slaughter

(As may be my new habit, I've asked my husband, Alex, who has his Master's in Divinity from Fuller Seminary to read through before I posted and I have left his comments in green italics)

The story of Herod and the Magi is one that has always bothered me. I mean, a lot about the various Herods bothers me, but this story in particular holds a lot of conflict. How was part of God's plan of salvation to cause the deaths of all the boys under three in Bethlehem? Haven't enough innocent Jewish children died because of the whims of a cruel king? I've wondered about this too. I find it interesting that the feast of the Holy Innocents is 12/28, part of the 12 days of Christmas.

As I read this story this time I felt my anger toward the Magi rise. As a child, I always liked them. They seemed mysterious and I loved the sound of the words "frankincense" and "myrrh." (Come on, myrrh is such an beautiful word!) How could the Magi, these wise men, not realize what they were doing by going to the capital and announcing that the one the Jews believed would overturn Herod and the Roman had been born? Surely they knew that news like that would reach Herod and he would not be pleased.

For the past few years I have been reading through The Wheel of Time. It's a fourteen, massive novel fantasy series on the scope of Lord of the Rings (It is one of Alex's favorite series and we named our son after one of our favorite characters - even though I hadn't finished reading the series when he was born). There is a group of characters - the Brown Ajah of the Aes Sedai - who are characterized as scholarly and unaware of the world around them and ramifications of what they say and do. Could it be that the Magi were so invested in their world of books and astronomy that they did not realize what they were doing?

Or maybe Matthew (who is the only one who records this story) is making a statement about the insignificance of Herod's earthly kingdom. His rule was so unimportant to the Magi in the face of the Kingdom of God (or at least they didn't see this Herod in any sort of meaningful role) that they did not stop to consider the ramification of what they were doing. And, honestly, Herod is a bit unimportant in the geopolitical scheme of things at the time. He is, as Stanley Hauerwas says, "king only because it pleases the Romans...a pawn used by Rome to maintain order useful to Rome." Which again connects to where the genealogy left us.

They also are foreigners. They exist outside the political climate of Israel so they might be unaware that the Jews have been praying for someone to come overthrow Herod and the rule of Rome. They may not realize that they are delivering the one Herod perceives as competition into his hands. After all, if the Son of God is truly on earth in the flesh, is it so hard for them to believe that everyone - including a king in the pocket of Rome - would want to come worship Him? It should be noted - because it's something I personally never realized before - that the wise men do not go directly to Herod. They come to Jerusalem and ask around for the King of the Jews. This causes a stir that reaches Herod's ears. Matthew says that he "was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him." (Why was Jerusalem disturbed? Don't they dislike Herod? Yes, but they fear Rome more. If someone comes and rabble rouses the Romans may unseat Herod and take over rule directly. That would be very bad for the Jews)

After hearing about the wise men, Herod calls them to him and gets all crafty. He is planning to save his own neck and throne by having the Wise Men lead him to the child king so he can snuff out the threat. We all know what happens next: the magi are warned and don't return, Joseph is warned and flees with his little family to Egypt (following the path of Israel's story), and Herod is enraged. Since he does not know for sure which child in Bethlehem is Jesus - or even exactly how old he is - he "sent and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under." (also echoing the book of Exodus, with Herod playing the part of the despotic Pharaoh)

This story crushes my heart every time. As a child I hurt to think of other children dying. As an adult and mother I am also broken for the families that were destroyed. I can almost hear the weeping of the mothers holding their beautiful, broken boys who just moments before were full of life and promise. What were they doing when the soldiers broke down their doors or ran them down in the street? Were they singing? Had they just spoken a new word and been immensely pleased with themselves? I can't imagine how "Bethlehem and all its vicinity" must have sounded when this occurred. The screaming, the keening wails of mothers whose hearts were bleeding out in their arms. This was not a culture that held back in its displays of sorrow.

Photo by Arwan Sutanto on Unsplash

"Jesus is born into a world in which children are killed," says Hauerwas, "and continue to be killed, to protect the power of tyrants." It was Herod's fear that drove him to commit this heinous act. We aren't told how the people of Jerusalem reacted to this slaughter, but when we remember that they were as "troubled" as Herod was about the Wise Men proclaiming the birth of Jesus it isn't too hard to imagine they turned a blind eye. We can pat ourselves on the backs today - we would never turn a blind eye to a ruler harming innocents. Wouldn't we though, especially if it wasn't as overt as wholesale slaughter? And isn't it possible that we would condone or even applaud the actions? I have heard several dear, Christian friends of mine say something to the tune of "well, they shouldn't have crossed the border illegally!"

Friends, this story haunts me, and always has. It's one I generally choose to ignore or gloss over (as we almost all do every Christmas - no one has a dead child in their nativity!) because it's easier. Or at least less painful. I hate that something like this is in the "Good Story."

But, it may be argued, doesn't Jesus' death and resurrection redeem this? No. No, it doesn't. Children were murdered, their potential snuffed out. Families were destroyed. Hearts broken. Likely those families never knew why this happened and may never have known the Savior that their children were killed to protect. Nothing will make up for the blood and tears that flowed in Bethlehem. Nothing. Hauerwas says "[the crucifixion and resurrection] is not a consolation for those whose children were murdered. Rather, those who would follow and worship Jesus are a challenge to those who would kill children."

This ache in my soul - this knot of anger in my stomach - for the untimely end of children who lived thousands of years ago should be a driving force in my life if I truly follow Christ. It should be a rallying cry for the Church to stand in the gap for the children the world casts aside. The orphans, the unloved, the abused, the marginalized, the impoverished, and the abandoned children. We live in an adult-centric society that mostly sees children as an inconvenience. There is little or no room for families to balance work and caring for their children, especially if the parent is single. We as the Body of Christ should be working to fill those holes but, quite frankly, I do not see that happening often. And that hurts my heart and shakes my faith almost as much as knowing that God allowed innocent children to be slaughtered to sate the fear of a king.

I don't have a pretty bow with which to tie up this post. I am still working on how to rectify this story with the image of a loving, benevolent God. A God who, like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, wants to gather us. I would love to hear your thoughts on it. How do you deal with this difficult story?