The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
According to Matthew’s Gospel, the Holy Innocents, children of Bethlehem two years old and under, were massacred by the Idumean, King Herod the Great. The story really begins with the visit of the Magi or astrologers, ‘Wise Men’, arriving in Jerusalem and enquiring about a newborn child who is “king of the Jews”. They said that they had seen his star in the eastern sky and had come to pay him homage. On hearing the news, Herod, the Romans’ client-king in Judaea, immediately became anxious and the whole of Jerusalem with him. He felt his throne was in danger and that could mean a future attack on the city.
Herod then called together the chief priests and scribes, experts in Jewish law, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. They said it would be in Bethlehem of Judaea, a small town not far from Jerusalem. They based their answer on a combination of texts. The first, taken from the prophet Micah reads:
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days. (Mic 5:2)
Micah is writing during a period when the king in Jerusalem is under great threat from the Assyrians. But the tiny and insignificant town and clan of Bethlehem-Ephrathah is the seat of the Davidic dynasty from which will come the Messianic king to rule over Israel.
The second part of the prophecy echoes a passage in the Second Book of Samuel where the tribes of Israel come to David in Hebron, asking him to be their king. They say to him:
The Lord said to you, ‘It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’
(2 Sam 5:2)
These were powerful prophecies that clearly made Herod nervous.
Herod summoned the Magi and asked them the exact time of the star’s appearance. He then sent them off to Bethlehem with the instructions:
Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage. (Matt 2:8)
Herod, of course, had a very different kind of homage in mind.
The Magi again set off, and the star they had seen now reappeared and stopped over the place where the Child was. Overcome with joy, they went into the house and found the baby Jesus with Mary his Mother. They fell prostrate on the ground in homage. Then they brought out the gifts they had carried all this way—gold, frankincense and myrrh—customary gifts in the Orient as signs of homage. On the completion of their visit, they were told in a dream not to return to Herod, but to return home by another route.
Also in a dream, an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to take the child and his mother and find refuge in Egypt until told otherwise. That very night they left for Egypt and did not return until after the death of Herod.
Matthew sees this as the fulfilment of a prophecy in Hosea:
…out of Egypt I called my son. (Hos 11:1)
In this way the prophet relates Jesus to the destiny of Israel. Just as God called Israel out of Egypt to create his own people, so now he will call Jesus out of Egypt into the land of Israel to accomplish his purpose of creating the new Israel, the People of God. The story of the flight into Egypt thus enables this prophecy to be fulfilled in Jesus. Writing as he is for a Christian Jewish audience, Matthew likes to see events in the life of Jesus as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies.
When Herod realised the astrologers had cheated him, he was furious. On the basis of the information the Magi had given him, he ordered that every boy aged two years and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding area should be killed.
How many children actually lost their lives? One Eastern liturgy estimated 14,000 and another list said it was 64,000. A Catholic source in the early 20th century said that in a village of that size the figure could only be between 6 and 20 children. No matter how many, it was still a tragic event.
According to Matthew, the massacre fulfilled a verse of Jeremiah, read as a prophecy of this event:
Thus 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. (Jer 31:15)
The text was originally a description of the tragedy of the Babylonian exile, when large numbers of Jerusalem’s citizens were taken off as slaves to Babylon. In the following verse God asks “Rachel” to stop weeping because her children:
…shall come back from the land of the enemy. (Jer 31:16)
Some commentators believe the purpose of Matthew for including Jeremiah’s words is not to connect the reference to “weeping” with the slaughtered babies, but rather with the Child Jesus, who has gone to a foreign land (like Israel had before him), but who will return.
The Scripture commentator, Fr Raymond Brown, suggests the account in Matthew is based on an earlier story which was modelled on the killing of the Hebrew firstborn by Pharaoh at the birth of Moses. Such a connection would have been easily understood by Jewish readers.
The feast of Holy Innocents has been observed in the Western Church since the 4th century. They were regarded as martyrs because they not only died for Christ, but in place of Christ.
In honouring the Innocents, the Church honours all who die in a state of innocence, especially very young children and babies, and consoles the parents of children who have died with the conviction that they also will share the glory of the infant companions of the Infant Jesus. In England their feast was called Childermas and some English and French churches claim to have their relics.
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The Holy Innocents, Martyrs – Readings
Commentary on 1 John 1:5—2:2; Psalm 123; Matthew 2:13-18
The Gospel reading begins with Joseph taking Mary and the Child into Egypt after a warning from an angel. They are told to stay there until they get further instructions. In fact, they stayed there until the death of Herod, after which they felt it was safe for them to return to their home in Nazareth.
In the meantime, Herod realised that the Magi were not going to come back to him, as he had requested. He now felt the threat to his throne more than ever before. So he ordered the wholesale killing of every male child of two years or under in the village of Bethlehem and in the surrounding area. He was taking no chances.
Sadly, as we know from history, his behaviour was completely in character. He executed his wife Mariamne and two of his sons because he believed they were a threat to his throne. The historian Josephus records a number of examples of Herod’s readiness to protect his power against threats, real or imagined. Says Josephus:
“Herod never stopped avenging and punishing those who had chosen to be of the party of his enemies.”
Another writer, speaking of the massacre of the infants said it was:
“…quite in keeping with the character of Herod, who did not hesitate to put to death any who might be a threat to his power.”
For such a man, the elimination of a handful of villagers’ children would mean nothing.
For us, of course, the event has significance. Because these children died in the place of Jesus, they are regarded as martyrs. Of course, Jesus himself would one day die for them—and for all of us.
The First Reading from the First Letter of John seems less directed at the innocent children whom we are remembering today, than at ourselves, who are far from innocent.
It begins with the statement:
…God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
Would that we could say the same of ourselves! Perhaps we can identify more with the words which follow:
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true…
If asked, I will acknowledge that I am a Christian—but what kind of Christian?
The writer goes on to make an interesting observation:
…but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
One might expect him to say that, if we walk in the light, we will have fellowship with Jesus—but no, we have fellowship with one another.
And that, of course, is a central theme of this Letter. There can be no union with Christ if we do not have union with each other. In fact, it is through union with brothers and sisters that we form our union with Christ—there is no other way.
John goes on to urge us to be honest about our failings. To claim we are totally free from sin is to deceive ourselves, and truth is not in us. Acknowledgement of our shortcomings is part of the truth:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Not to worry, though:
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
All we need to do is to surrender ourselves completely to his compassionate mercy, and with his help, live in fellowship with all our brothers and sisters.
The children we remember today did not have to be concerned about these problems. But we might also remember that neither did they have the opportunity to live lives rich in love and fellowship. Let us use this precious opportunity for every day of life that is given to us.
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