Scripture Daily

Context No. 958 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 2:13-18: in context

13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” 14He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, 15and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. 17Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”

The wise men have gone, and an angel warns Joseph in a dream to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, because Herod will hunt the child to kill him. They leave by night. When Herod realizes the magi have outwitted him, he is enraged and orders every boy in Bethlehem two years old and under to be slaughtered. Matthew sees in it the fulfillment of Jeremiah's words: a voice heard in Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.

This is the bible, and it does not shield us from the horror that trails the birth of Jesus. Real children died, real mothers were left inconsolable, because a paranoid king would not tolerate a rival. It sits only verses after the wonder of the star and the gifts, a reminder that the coming of the light provoked the dark to its worst. Two things are worth holding. First, God warns and preserves the child, but he does not stop Herod's sword falling on the others; the same providence that saved Jesus did not spare Bethlehem, and scripture does not explain that away, it lets Rachel weep. Grief that refuses easy comfort is given a place in the story. Second, Matthew quietly notes that the Son who was rescued was rescued by going down into Egypt and being called back out of it, retracing Israel's own path, so that the child who escaped this slaughter would one day not escape his own death, and by it answer the very grief this passage leaves open. The tears of Ramah are real, and they are not the last word.

When I meet grief that has no easy comfort, can I let it be real, as this passage lets Rachel weep, while still trusting the God who did not spare his own Son to answer it?

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