To read the texts click on the texts:1Jn 1:5-2:2; Mt 2:1,3-18
Matthew’s
Gospel is the only one of the four which has the story of the killing of
innocent children by Herod. A king is born, but a king is already here; and
there is room for only one king. The birth of Jesus, the messianic king,
precipitates a conflict with the kingship already present in this world.
It
is not merely with the historical Herod with whom Matthew is concerned,
however, but with Herod as a character in the story, who serves as a foil for
the kingdom of God. When this Herod hears of the birth of the new king, he is
“troubled”. Matthew is not describing Herod’s psychology but the clash of two
claims to kingship that occurs in the advent of Jesus. Herod represents the
resistance of this world to the divine kingship represented by Jesus. When “all
Jerusalem” is troubled with him, this is not mere sympathy with or fear of
Herod. Matthew is again looking ahead to the passion story and implicating
Judaism’s capital city as a whole, not only its king, in the rejection of
Jesus’ messianic claim.
When
Herod asks the magi the chronological question “When?” to determine the time of
Jesus’ birth, he acts hypocritically, claiming that he too wants to worship,
but with murder in his heart.
Herod’s
slaughter of the innocents is in character with the historical Herod the Great,
who was ruthless in maintaining his grasp on power. There is no record of such
an act among the detailed records of Herod’s numerous atrocities, nor is it
reflected elsewhere in or out of the New Testament. The story seems to be part of
Matthew’s Moses typology, with Herod cast in the role of Pharaoh.
Matthew
does not sentimentalize the tragedy of the innocent victims or speculate on how
the other mothers and fathers of Bethlehem might have interpreted the divine
decision to warn one family. His attention is fixed on this event as a
fulfillment of Scripture. Matthew does alter his usual formula in such
citations of Scripture from his usual “in order that”, and thus avoids saying
that the murders happened for the purpose of fulfilling Scripture.
Matthew’s
third formula quotation in 2:18-19 is from Jer 31:15. In the New Testament only
Matthew explicitly mentions Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:15 pictures Rachel, matriarch
of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim (but not of Judah) weeping at Ramah for
her “children,” the Israelites, as they are led away captive to Babylon in
Jeremiah’s time. Ramah (in the area of Benjamin, five miles north of Jerusalem)
was chosen by Jeremiah because one tradition locates Rachel’s tomb there, at
the site where Nebuchadnezzar’s troops assembled captives for deportation (Jer
40:1). Another tradition locates Rachel’s tomb at Bethlehem. Matthew combines
these traditions to achieve the desired effect. The Jeremiah passage is in a
context of hope; it is not clear whether Matthew interprets contextually or
whether lamentation is the only note to be heard in this text. In any case, the
child Jesus recapitulates the experience of Israel.
Like
in Matthew’s day so in ours the war between the two kingdoms continues. Those
who regard power as absolute will continue to massacre the innocent. They will
continue to destroy others for selfish means. Our response has to be one of
courage and hope. Though some will have to suffer because of the selfishness
and egoism of a few, there are many more who live unselfish lives for the
benefit of others. If each of us were to perform one unselfish act every day,
the world becomes a better place for all.
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