Sunday, December 27, 2009

Matthew 2: Massacre of the Innocents/Joseph Brings His Family to Nazareth

16 Then 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, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
18 “ A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”

19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

3 comments:

Elena LaVictoire said...

Every year on December 28 the church reads these verses and commemorates this event at mass. It is called the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Many Catholics also use today for special prayers to end the modern day slaughter of innocents via abortion. It is also a time for families to remember their own innocent children who have died in childhood, stillbirth or miscarriage.

I found a beautiful blessing for father's to give their children on this day. I have read that in some families the youngest (presumably most innocent) child gets special treatment today like picking the dinner menu or desert. My youngest is 4 so maybe I'll let her plan desert today. I also saw some interesting recipes to commemorate the event. This is a very special day for me every year after Christmas and one my husband and I always try to commemorate. Thanks for posting these verses.

Jennie said...

Hi Elena,
Merry Christmas!
I'm enjoying posting all these passages; once I got started I kept finding more; I'm trying to post them in order, more or less. I noticed some of them corresponded to the ones you had posted and linked on certain days. One day one of yours gave me a good idea for a post, too.
One thing I think Baptists are missing is having an orderly way of remembering events of scripture and church history; we've lost that because of the divisions in the church.
Thank you for mentioning the remembrance of babies miscarried or stillborn, and praying for the end of abortion. Again we don't have a special day for that. I had an early miscarriage in May, 1997, and it's good to remember that I have a child in heaven. Maybe it's my boy :)
My youngest is here alone with me (and my husband when he gets home from work) for 3 days, since my two oldest are on a youth trip (first one) and my two younger girls are at Grandma and Papa's. So she's getting special attention today and is happy. Is that father's blessing mentioned on your blog?

Elena LaVictoire said...

Yes, it is near the bottom of the post for the Holy Innocents.