Matthew
2:16-23
When
Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he
sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old
or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was
fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
There is no evidence
outside the Bible for such a massacre of this kind in this area and time.
However, Herod was notoriously the kind of politician who would do such a
thing, and the story helps the author of this Gospel draw a connection between
the birth of Jesus and the birth of Moses.
Exodus 1:8-22
Now a new king arose over
Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite
people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly
with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and
fight against us and escape from the land.’
They were ruthless in all the tasks
that they imposed on them.
The king of Egypt said to the
Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you
act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a
boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.’ But the midwives feared
God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys
live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have
you done this, and allowed the boys to live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh,
‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are
vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ So God dealt well
with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And
because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded
all his people, ‘Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the
Nile, but you shall let every girl live.’
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Throughout the Bible, the
redemptive purposes of God are most often accomplished through the agency of the powerless. The midwives cannot oppose the
power of Pharaoh, but they can subvert it.
God uses their non-violent resistance to create the circumstances where Moses
can be born, despite the dominance of Pharaoh. Even the ruthlessness of Herod
turns out to be self-subverting, for the wholesale slaughter of young boys in
the vicinity of Bethlehem allows complacency on the part of the powerful… the
Messiah enters the story “under the radar,” while the Kings and Pharaohs are
distracted and falsely reassured.
1.1)
Judeo-Christian ethics emerged (and
are still emerging) from a long process of cultural, social, and spiritual
development. What does become clear is the role models, heroes, and heroines in
this development are people like Shiprah and Puah and Joseph and Mary, people
who risk their own safety and wellbeing in order to frustrate the designs of
the ruthless and protect the lives of the powerless and the small.
22)
Christian history could be
understood as an effort to institutionalize this principle, to create
“Christianized” systems of power that are intended to prevent misuses of power,
restrain evil, and reward positive behavior. The “Holy Roman Empire” could be
understood as an attempt to accomplish this goal, whether in its Western or
Byzantine form. Soviet communism could be understood as a secularized version
of it, and the way many Americans think of our political system could be understood
in this way.
33)
Another way to see it would be to
regard Biblical religion as inherently suspicious of all human institutions and
every use of coercive power. This view acknowledges that the exercise of power
is essential for human life, of course, but the more power one has, the greater
the spiritual peril. The Lord of the
Rings trilogy provides an imaginative reflection on this theme.
44)
There is a way in which an
exaggerated notion of “innocence” distorts ethics and theology. The story of
Adam and Eve can be interpreted as humanity’s renunciation of innocence, stepping out from a pre-conscious state
of instinctive survival, thus distinguishing ourselves from other species.
Unlike the rest of nature, human beings must, in order to be truly human, take
responsibility for themselves and participate in the on-going work of
creation. Deliberate innocence is therefore sinful… “what I don’t know can’t
hurt me,” etc. Of course, the use of knowledge to control and dominate the world is a distortion in the opposite
direction. At Baptism, we are both empowered to “grow into the full stature
(i.e. maturity) of Christ” and to embrace “the gift of joy and wonder” like a
child.
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