Fourth Day of Christmas
December 28, 2009
The Lord be with you
On all liturgical calendars I know of, not just the one used by the LCMS, today is celebrated as the Festival of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. Matthew’s Gospel tells of King Herod’s
vicious plot against the infant Jesus after being “tricked” by the Wise Men. Herod, threatened by the one “born King of the Jews,” murdered all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger (Matthew 2:16-18). These “innocents,” commemorated just three days after the celebration of Jesus’ birth, remind us not only of the terrible brutality of which human beings are capable but more significantly of the persecution Jesus endured from the beginning of His earthly life. Although Jesus’ life was providentially spared at this time, many years later, another ruler, Pontius Pilate, would sentence the innocent Jesus to death.Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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