Dave spoke tonight about ‘the other Christmas’, from Matt 2:16-18. It’s easy to forget Christmas once the New Year starts, but Matthew’s Gospel focuses on what happened next. There is no mention in that gospel of the journey to Bethlehem or the shepherds and angels featured in Luke’s Gospel, but he focuses on the arrival of the Magi and their encounter with Herod.
Herod had a reputation for being merciless and had ordered the death of many, including his own family members. He was adept at hiding his true motives, and so when the wise men appeared at the palace, he pretended to want to worship the newborn king as well. However, his motives were far less pure, and we read in Matthew’s Gospel not only of the wise men being warned not to return to the palace but of the Slaughter of the Innocents which Herod subsequently ordered. Boys aged two and under were murdered because Herod saw in them a threat to his own power, something he could not tolerate.
Jesus was born into a world where death and tragedy were all around. He knew pain and sorrow; this was no fairy tale. Instead, we see Him coming in vulnerability into a tragic world. His parents had to flee as refugees to Egypt; we see today the ongoing flight of people from persecution, seeking refuge. Little has changed, it seems, and yet all has changed because God is now with us.
God sent Jesus to a world of violence and pain to be in the world, suffering alongside us. Jesus is with us every day, sharing in our joys and sorrows, our hopes and disappointments. We need never fear that He does not understand, that He cannot empathise with us. Matthew’s account reminds us of the horrors faced by Jesus and points to the freedom which ultimately He would bring. He is there with us through it all; He knows what it is to be human and to suffer.
