Holy Innocents Day - Massacre of the Innocents - December 28th
Posted by Isabel Quinn on
Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
On December 28th we remember those male infants of Bethlehem less than two years of age who the evil King Herod killed, in an attempt to destroy this prophesied King of the Jews, the Savior Jesus Christ.
While the Holy Child flees to Egypt, this event should not give us the impression that Christ would flee from His enemies; for He had come to destroy His enemies of sin, death, and the Devil. Jesus would destroy His enemies through His own death, but the time for His dying had not yet come. First, he must "suffer many things and be rejected by this generation." Christ carries our sins to the cross and atones for them all.
Through Jesus death and resurrection, He has won the victory. Jesus has set us free from our enemies and all that would do us harm!
Jeremiah 31:15-17
15Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more."
16Thus says the LORD: "Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work,
declares the LORD,
and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future,
declares the LORD,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
Revelation 14:1-5
1Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
Matthew 2:13-18
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."