Silent Night, Violent Night

12.28.25 Matthew 2:13–18

13 After the Wise Men were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod will search for the child in order to kill him.”

14 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt. 15 He stayed there until the death of Herod. This happened to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Wise Men, he was furious. He issued orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under. This was in keeping with the exact time he had learned from the Wise Men. 17 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,

and she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

How much of Christmas is a facade? Don’t get me wrong. We have real moments of peace and joy as we contemplate the Incarnation, how the Son of God took on flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. The Christmas story of Jesus’ birth shines out in our hearts as we sing the songs of Jesus, songs like Silent Night by candlelight. We set the stage well with Christmas trees and lights. There’s great joy in seeing your children and grandchildren open their presents.

But there’s stress and pain involved in it all too. Classic movies like “Jingle All the Way” and “Christmas Vacation” have reflected the pressure that can come with wanting to get the right gift and have the “perfect Christmas.” Arnold Schwarzenegger just can’t find the Turbo Man doll, and Clark depends on a Christmas bonus to get a swimming pool. The turkey is burnt to a crisp. There’s some reality behind the humor of the movies. Preparing the music for the services. Credit card bills. The Cousin Eddie of the family. An empty chair at the table this year. It’s not as peaceful as it might appear.

Silent Night, Violent Night

So in today’s text, as the peace and light of humanity comes into our world, darkness raises its ugly head through King Herod. If God is going to come into the world to save the world and be as weak as an infant, you can best bet that evil isn’t going to go quietly into the night. Satan isn’t going to hold back just because Jesus was a weak little baby. He doesn’t want to give up his sinful slaves any more than Pharaoh wanted to let go of the Israelites with their slave labor. You won’t hear the children recite this part of the story. Linus didn’t include it in Charlie Brown’s Christmas. It’s evil personified in the person of Herod. Jesus may have been anywhere for 6 to 18 months at this time. But just to be “safe,” he calls for the slaughter of all boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. If Bethlehem had about 600 people in it, this would have probably been about 20-25 boys. He orders them all dead. The birth of Jesus brought the death of these baby boys. This was prophesied about 600 years beforehand by the prophet Jeremiah.

A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

Rachel was said to have been buried near Bethlehem. Ramah was the place the Israelites were transported to as they awaited the Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C. Just as the children of tribes like Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin were carried into captivity at that time, causing their mothers to weep, so these mothers would weep at the death of their children. Some theologians have referred to these babies as true martyrs, dying in the place of Jesus.

This portion of the story gives you a realistic picture of how wicked our world really is. Herod was so paranoid and jealous of his power that he didn’t want any Israelites thinking that he was going to be usurped from his throne. And remember that he was an Edomite. He wasn’t even Jewish. He bought and politicked his way into his position of power, and he wasn’t going to let it up for nobody, even a baby who was prophesied to be the One. If God Himself stood in His way, and even if this God was going to save the world, well then he was going to kill God, baby or not, salvation or not.