This year, on the Sunday after Christmas, we mark the feast of the Holy Innocents. It is the part of the Christmas story that tends to be passed over. Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth is a bit darker than Luke’s “shepherds and angels” saga. It highlights the underlying tensions surrounding power and authority that are present in this story of a longed-for Messiah who would bring deliverance from long-standing oppression, disrupt the status quo, and offer a very different kind of leadership as a “prince of peace”.
The story in Matthew describes how the rumors brought by the Magi of a “newborn king” presented a significant political threat for the existing King Herod. He was unsettled enough to take action to ensure that no one was going to challenge his established regime. He gives the horrific order to have all the male children born in Bethlehem within the previous two years put to death- a cruel sweep that was sure to take care of any potential problems. Joseph is warned through an angelic dream that he must take Mary and the infant Jesus and flee the country. The Holy Family become refugees in nearby Egypt.
In this era of ongoing threats against refugees and immigrants in our own country, it should give us pause to remember that Jesus was a refugee, whose very life was threatened by someone in power who took ruthless action. So many of those who flee to the U.S. from their own countries are desperate and afraid for their very lives and the lives of their children- just like Jospeh and Mary. They are victims caught in political power struggles not of their own making.
As we seek to make fair and just policies regarding immigration and asylum for political and economic refugees, let us remember to keep a heart of compassion for desperate families who are only seeking to escape harm and to find a safe place to live. May God’s angels continue to guide us with their wisdom and counsel and watch over all those children of God whose well-being and safety are threatened. May we as disciples of Jesus be bearers of light and courage and compassion.
May the Peace of Christ be with us all, Pastor Annette