The Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, Martyrs (Remembrance Day December 28)

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you...all these things they will do to you for My name's sake because they do not know Him who sent Me...this happened that the word might be fulfilled,.. 'They hated Me without a cause.'" John 15:18, 21, 25

We often lose sight of the enmity which exists between the world systems and the Kingdom of God. It takes senseless acts of cruelty in the face of God's offered grace and mercy to remind us that the unregenerate heart "is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9), and that left to itself it will trample the Son of God underfoot, count the blood of the covenant as a common thing, and insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29). The beginning of the Church's liturgical year provides us a stark comparison between the gift of divine love offered, and the hatred of sinful man blinded in pride and earthly ambition. Consider the Christmas angel's message of "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," and compare it to the dying screams of toddlers and babies, the broken-hearted wailing of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they were no more. It is no wonder that Paul tells us in II Corinthians 6:14-15 that there can be no covenant between righteousness and lawlessness, between light and darkness, between the temple of God and the idols of Satan. The Church has purposely placed three days of remembrance within the octave of Christmas to remind us that those are truly blessed who "are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10). One of those days is Childermas (in its old form), or as we know it today, the remembrance day of the Holy Innocents.

The story is brief enough and found in the gospel of Matthew 2:1-8, 12-18. Herod the Great was troubled about the announcement of the birth of the Lord's anointed in Bethlehem, Who was prophesied to sit on the throne of His father David. Herod the usurper, Herod the ambitious, Herod the ruthless lied to the wise men who brought news to him of this marvelous, long-awaited birth. "Go and search diligently for the young Child, and when you have found Him bring back word to me that I may come and worship Him also." But God judged the intent of Herod's heart, and sent His angel first to the wise men (warning them not to return to Herod), and then to Joseph (warning him to flee to Egypt because Herod was about to "seek the young Child [Jesus] to destroy Him"). Scripture records that Herod, "when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under." There have been many opinions as to how many gave their lives for the Christ Child that day. The Greek Liturgy sets the number at 14,000. Certain Syrian documents state 64,000. Many medieval interpreters conclude that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14:1-5 are these holy innocents "found without guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." Still others set the number low, pointing out that it did not even warrant a mention by the historian Josephus who certainly chronicled other cruel, hateful acts by Herod the Great during his reign. We may not be able to define the exact extent of the bloodshed, but to illustrate the depth of cruelty and blind ambition in Herod's heart the story concerning Casesar's response to the reports of the massacre may best state it. Augustus Casesar was reported to have remarked that it was "better to be Herod's hog than his son", for at least the Jews prohibited the killing of swine. This quotation was attributed to the report that one of the children under two years of age killed in the Bethlehem slaughter was Herod's own son. This may be an apocryphal application of Augustus' quotation which others believe that he actually said concerning the death of an older son (when Herod was lying on his own death bed he ordered his grown son Antipater to be beheaded because of intrigue against the king). The story's point is illustrative regardless.

It was mentioned earlier that the Church has placed three remembrance days within the octave of Christmas, days set aside to remember the so-called "companions of Christ." These include the remembrance day of St. John the apostle (martyr in will, but not in deed), St. Stephen (martyr in both will and deed), and the Holy Innocents (martyrs in deed, though not in will). In these three instances we see portrayed the full testimony of those who "did not love their life even to death" (Revelation 12:11); from the testimony of the elder father who had known Him from the beginning, to the strength of the young man full of faith and overcoming the devil, and finally to the innocence of babes reflecting the glory of those who inherit the kingdom. The Church, since the time of Irenaeus (2nd century) has ascribed to these holy innocents the title of martyr, for they gave their lives in Christ's stead, giving testimony not by word, but by their blood.

One last piece needs to be added to complete our picture. The evangelist Matthew tells us that the slaughter of the Bethlehem innocents was a fulfillment of the prophecy found in Jeremiah 31:15 "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more." It is at Ramah (north of Bethlehem and Jerusalem) that the tomb of Rachel, ancestress of Israel is found. It was in this region that the remnants of Judah were gathered after the fall of Jerusalem to be led into captivity to Babylon. The prophet said that Rachel wept at the fall of Judah for her lost children, for few would return from judgment. Matthew, under divine inspiration, applies it as well to that time when Herod sought to destroy the Messiah, forcing Him to flee into exile in Egypt for a time. Once more Rachel is said to weep for her sons, once more heartbreak and loss fills the cities of Judah. All of these pieces come together to form this remembrance day which traces its placement in the liturgical calendar of the Church back to the fourth or fifth century when the date for Christmas was also formally established.

We may never be able to explain why the hand of God was not raised to avert this great tragedy. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of when His own Son's blood would be spilled upon a cross in this same vicinity so that the children of Israel might know at last the freedom from their enemies. Perhaps it was to show the depth of human depravity which required the sending of Jesus Christ to earth to redeem it from the hand of Satan. Perhaps the words of the gospel of Matthew 19:13-14 come closest to communicating the deeper significance of this day. It is there that we will close our narrative. "Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."