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. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “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” (Matthew 2:16-18).
Herod was the kind of the Jews, but he wasn’t a real Jew. At least, that seems to be the way that his subjects looked at him. It didn’t really matter what he said or did. Herod was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau.[1] The Jews over whom Herod ruled didn’t like being under his authority any more than they liked being ruled by the Romans. Herod, despite the fact that he used the title was, not the king of Israel. He was an Edomite vassal of the gentile pagan Romans. God promised Israel that David would have a descendant on his throne forever. This Servant of the LORD would come form David’s line and He would save His people from their sins.
Herod understood that he was an illegitimate king. This knowledge is the reason he was willing to commit infanticide. He was not righteous; morally right to Herod meant whatever benefited him was good. Based on how he governed and what he did to hold his throne he could not be called just; Herod has been described by many historians as a madman and a murderer. He murdered his own family and was “prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition.”[2] Herod was the kind of guy who wouldn’t bat an eye at murdering all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two years, if he thought it might prevent the true King of Israel from some day deposing him.[3] That’s politics in the ancient world. At least Herod had a concrete political goal in mind when he committed his atrocity. What is our moral justification for the legalized infanticide that is abortion? Indignant, elitist bloviating about over-population or a woman’s choice hardly hold up under any serious scrutiny.
But, Herod was unsuccessful. In his murderous rage he killed the children of Bethlehem, but he missed the King of Israel, Jesus, who came to save His people from their sins. Jesus was taken to Egypt by Mary and Joseph after they were warned by God in a dream. He would, after the threat was gone, return out of Egypt. Jesus’ journey out of Egypt parallels that of the nation of Israel, which was led out of their slavery in Egypt by the LORD and into the Promised Land. He would grow, and go into the desert by the Jordan to be baptized by John: Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles… I, the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold Your hands; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.[4]
It isn’t simple justice which God’s Elect One, Jesus brings. He did not come simply to save the righteous and damn the wicked. He came to bring righteousness and forgiveness to the wicked. To us. He did not come to get even with the Gentiles for their sin and unbelief, but to reconcile them to God the Father, to be a light to them. Christ came to pay for the sins of all people by His death on the cross. All people includes those of Abraham’s bloodline, whether Jacob or Esau; it includes those people not physically related to Abraham at all, like the Gentiles. It includes all people who are corrupted by the sin of their earthy father Adam. God has given Jesus as a covenant to the people. We are joined to him through baptism, by faith worked in us by the Spirit. Forgiven of our sin, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free are clothed with the righteousness of Christ in our baptism and made into one body.[5] It is this righteousness that He graciously and mercifully gives us which makes us able to welcome His justice.
[1] Perowne, Stewart Henry. "Herod." Encyclopædia Britannica. September 27, 2018. Accessed January 19, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea.
[2] "Herod the Great." Wikipedia. January 17, 2019. Accessed January 19, 2019. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great.
[3] France, R. T. "The Gospel of Matthew (Google EBook)." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2013. http://books.google.com/books?id=0ruP6J_XPCEC.
[4] Isaiah 42:1, 6
[5] Galatians 3:26-29
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