Matthew 2:13-18: a reflection

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.”

After the wise men leave, an angel warns Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt with the child and his mother, for Herod means to kill the child. They escape by night, and Jesus is preserved. But the passage does not hide the terrible cost of Herod's rage: in his fury, Herod orders the killing of the young boys of Bethlehem, and Matthew records the grief in words from Jeremiah, a voice heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Amid the joy of the Savior's coming, there is also this dark grief.

Notice two things the passage holds together, hard as they are. God providentially protected the child Jesus, warning Joseph, guiding the escape, preserving his Son for the work he came to do. And yet terrible suffering was real; the coming of the Savior did not prevent Herod's cruelty or the grief of Bethlehem's mothers. Scripture does not hide this sorrow; it records the weeping honestly, refusing to pretend the world was not full of such grief.

That honesty speaks to us in a world still full of suffering, including the suffering of the innocent. Scripture does not offer easy answers to such grief; it holds the sorrow honestly, even alongside the joy of Christ's coming. And it shows us that the Savior himself entered this world of suffering as a vulnerable child, a refugee fleeing violence, and would in time bear the world's grief and answer it at the cross and in the resurrection, in the day when God will wipe away every tear. When you face the hard reality of suffering, especially of the innocent, do not pretend it away, and do not despair. Bring your grief honestly to God, as Scripture does, and hold onto the hope that the Christ who entered this world of sorrow will finally answer it, wiping away every tear.

Lord, amid the joy of your Son's coming, this passage does not hide the grief of Bethlehem, the weeping that would not be comforted; and yet you providentially preserved the child Jesus, who entered this world as a vulnerable refugee fleeing violence. In a world still full of suffering, especially of the innocent, I do not understand such grief. Help me not to pretend it away, nor to despair. Teach me to bring my grief honestly to you, as Scripture does, holding the sorrow without easy answers. And hold before me the hope that the Christ who entered this world of suffering will finally answer it, at the cross and in the resurrection, in the day when you wipe away every tear. Meet me, and all who grieve, with that hope, and comfort those who weep.