December: Day 29: Teaching 1: Massacre of the 14,000 Holy Infants Slain for the Sake of Christ

December: Day 29: Teaching 1:
Massacre of the 14,000 Holy Infants Slain for the Sake of Christ
 
(Lessons From This Event:
a. One Must Avoid Being Blinded By Passions, Which Lead To Terrible Crimes;
b. Children Must Value the Tears of Their Parents and Honor Them)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today is the commemoration of the Holy 14,000 Infants slain for Christ's sake. When Herod, the King of Judea, became very angry with the Magi who had come to worship the Divine Child, as indicated by His star which had led them from the east, and who had not returned to Herod with the news of the Child, but had "departed to their own country by another way" according to a revelation they had received in a dream, then he sent to kill all the infants in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had learned from the Magi, and wishing thus to destroy among others the newborn King of the Jews announced to him by the Magi.

And then came true what was spoken through the Prophet Jeremiah, who says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and wailing and great lamentation; Rachel weeps for her children and does not want to be comforted, because they are no more” (Jer. 31:15).

These infants, killed for Christ’s sake, who were the “first fruits of Christian martyrs,” have been glorified by the Holy Church since ancient times.

II. Let us reflect, brethren, on such a sad event and draw from it edifying lessons for ourselves.

a) The first lesson is that in the blindness of passions, to which the cruel and power-hungry Herod was subject and from which one must protect oneself in every possible way, one can commit terrible atrocities.

It would be hard to believe, brethren, that Herod, the King of the Jews, committed such a terrible crime if it were not confirmed not only by the Gospel, but even by pagan history. How could he decide on such an act? The Magi or wise men of the East, guided by a miraculous star, come to Jerusalem and asked: “Where is he who is born the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east” (Matthew 2:2). The question troubles Herod and all of Jerusalem, which was then awaiting the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish high priests and scribes, to whom Herod turned about the place of Christ’s birth, answered that according to the prediction of one of the prophets, Christ should be born in Bethlehem. If Herod could reason at all sensibly, he would have understood that something supernatural was happening here. This extraordinary star, indicating the birth of the Child, this ancient prophecy about the place of His birth clearly testified that God Himself was directly acting here. And what can be done against the Almighty God? But Herod does not reason, Herod is blind: he decides to fight God, decides to destroy the God-child.

Why all this? For one fear that the born Christ might deprive him – Herod – of the royal throne in Judea. But Christ is still a baby, and much time will pass before He grows up; and Herod is already old, and might die much earlier, as actually happened.

Moreover, Judea was then under the rule of the Romans, and Herod reigned there as the viceroy of the Roman emperor. What should Herod fear, even if all of Judea rose up against him, declaring the Infant Christ as their king? What could a handful of Jews do against the then invincible Romans? But Herod does not reason and is blind: he decides to destroy the God-child. How does he plan to fulfill his intention? At first he thought to do it by deception, secretly: he asks the Magi to return to him from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and tell him where they will find Christ, promising himself to go and worship the newborn King of the Jews. But when the Magi, enlightened from above, do not return to Jerusalem, then Herod does not hesitate to act openly. He gives the order to kill all the infants under two years old in Bethlehem and all its environs, hoping in this way to kill the Christ Child. A terrible crime is committed: fourteen thousand innocent victims fall, and Herod's goal is not achieved. The God-child is saved by a miraculous flight to Egypt.

You see, brethren, how passions blind a person and make him reckless, and sometimes even inhuman! Let us learn to conquer our passions or, in the words of the Holy Apostle, “crucify" our “flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Let us not allow them to grow stronger in us to the point that they prevail over us and carry us away according to their blind will. Let us tearfully ask for help from above in hours of temptation. Let us take care that even in moments of grave temptations our reason is preserved and illuminates for us that abyss into which we are ready to rush. We would refrain from many falls and crimes if, in temptations, we knew how to rise in thought, knew how to come to our senses and look around.

b) The second lesson we learn from the Gospel story of the slaughter of the 14,000 Bethlehem infants is that children should value their mothers' tears and, in general, their parents' love for them.

At the command of the cruel Herod, streams of innocent infant blood flow, bitter tears flow. "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and wailing and great lamentation; Rachel weeps for her children and does not want to be comforted, because they are no more" (Matthew 2:18). And the orphaned mothers weep the most!

Who can pity a child as a mother pities? Jairus asked the Lord to heal his dead daughter, and the Lord resurrected her, pitying her father. But the widow of Nain, whose only son was being carried to be buried, no longer asked Him. The Lord resurrected him without a request. "Weep not!" It is evident that a mother's tears are bitter!

And do children love their mothers in the same way, brethren? Do they give their old mother food, drink, dress and caress her as she did when they were helpless babies? It is terrible and shameful to answer this question. True, there are rare but terrible cases when a son barely reaches adulthood, already forgets his father and mother, and does not want to know them. The son gets drunk, he responds to his mother's reprimands with insolence, scolds her with a swear word - this is his parent, his nanny, his wet nurse, his dear, his sweet friend! How can he turn his tongue to this!

It happens, as you can hear, that some drunken monster raises his hand against his mother... And one must marvel at the long-suffering of God, if this hand does not fall off, if the thunder from heaven does not strike, if the earth does not swallow the wicked man alive! But it is clear that the Lord expects repentance from them, although sometimes He terribly punishes the unrepentant, either with a terrible and instantaneous illness, or with sudden death, or with some unexpected disasters.

"Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you," is commanded in the Old Testament. "Whoever curses his father or mother, let him be put to death," prescribes the Holy Prophet Moses. Let us suppose that this is not fulfilled today, but at the Judgment of God everything, everything will be remembered! The Mother of God, the Intercessor of the Christian race, will not stand up for those who have grieved their mother. The Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, Who, even dying on the cross, cared for His Mother, will say to them with anger: "Depart from Me, cursed ones, into everlasting fire."

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.