Today we observe the massacre of the Holy Innocents. The story is about mass murder. The evil act is described in Matthew 2. It happens as the result of the visit of the Magi to Herod asking where the “King of the Jews” is born. It is a story that leaves a lot of open questions. Why are there no historical records or references to this action? Is it merely a literary device to parallel the story of Moses? How many young male boys ages 12 and under would be in Bethlehem at that time anyway? Sadly, none of these questions are answerable. The would-be Bible teacher has no resources to explain it. We will look at it from the perspective of worship.
Innocents On The Calendar
Holy Innocents is in an odd place on the worship calendar. The narrative has this act take place after Epiphany. However, it is one of the 12 days of Christmas. This is a curious placing. It appears to be a part of the story we should not forget.
St. Stephens’s day and the feast day of St. John the Evangelist/Apostle come before it. After the celebration of Christ’s birth, we have three days of martyrdom. St. Stephen is the first Christian martyr after Jesus. St. John’s life is a continuing martyrdom without an untimely death. St. Stephen is cut down in the prime of life. St. John lives a long life bearing witness through exile and other abuses. The third story is about innocent lives cut short by policy.
Herod orders the destruction of these lives out of fear of losing his dynasty. The parallel from Exodus shows Pharaoh appealing to fear that the Israelites will one day help destroy Egypt. The response in both cases are to destroy those who did nothing wrong.
Pretended Innocence
There is a desire among the more conservative branches of the church that opposing abortion on demand is the only potential application of this story. I don’t debate that point of application. I debate the notion that it is the only one. The reason is complex. The problem of the having only one potential application of a principle means there is no principle involved. It is only a rule.
Once a rule is declared, it is easy to ignore the principle behind the rule. This is why many Christians are perfectly capable of believing the family separation policy regarding refugees is righteous. Allowing children to be born without their mothers having access to appropriate prenatal care falls into this category too. Ignoring a principle is merely attempting to pretend innocence.
Mistaken Innocents
The Fall is often viewed as a story of lost innocence. Eve and Adam naively listen to a serpent who tricks them into eating the forbidden fruit. A story of willful disobedience and an attempt to drag everyone else into the results is turned into something it is not. Ancients did not interpret the story this way. According to the First Letter to Timothy, Adam was not deceived. He is without excuse.
Christians are no less tempted to do the same thing. We drag other people into our failures. Often, we shift blame. Other times, we proclaim our innocence when realizing a statement or joke is racist or sexist. We claim to be innocent bystanders when evil is perpetuated in our name. It is simply not possible. There is no “holy innocence.” There is innocence when we are not responsible for our actions.
Tragedy Not Conspiracy
Evangelicals and Charismatics view History as a struggle between two opposing forces. The forces of Evil conspire to destroy the forces of Good. When people “like us” have problems, “the Enemy” is at work to destroy the good and the innocent. Everyone, it seems, is Job. Such Christians assume their own innocence as holy people.
The Bible does not demonstrate these conspiracies from the forces of evil. The biblical texts, more often, view History as a great tragedy. Adam and Eve is a tragic story. Tragedies have innocents. The characters that act often destroy people who are outside innocents of the plot. Think of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Desdemona in Othello. The Hebrew prophets saw Israel as a holy people. But their was no claim of innocence except for those people who could not act. Israel’s story according to the Prophets is a tragedy.
Holy Innocents
Innocents are everywhere. They are the people who don’t matter to the plot. The Holy Innocents of Matthew and Exodus are children born into the wrong place at the wrong time. The nations that proclaim Christianity have holy innocents. Every one of these countries have homeless children, hungry people, and neglected dependents. Therefore, Christians may not protest we possess holy innocence when we consider the principle behind the story of the Holy Innocents.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In