Matthew 2.13-18
Now after they [the wise men] had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
Reflection
Jesus faced tyranny not only at the end of his life, but at its start also, in the person of King Herod.
When I visited Jericho some years ago, I came across the ‘King Herod Care Home for the Elderly’. Herod’s winter palace was in Jericho, and in modern Israel he is a revered figure, whose political skills gave the Israelites a measure of autonomy and religious freedom within the Roman Empire. Many Biblical scholars – Jewish and Christian – would question the historicity of the events in Matthew 2. Nonetheless, I would still have qualms about living in a care home named after Herod!
Matthew’s Gospel bookends its account of the earthly life of Jesus with these encounters with state power. The Roman Empire was an extremely violent place to live – soldiers could attack civilians with impunity, and its armies were feared across Europe and North Africa. Whereas the people of Israel had been subject to state power in all its horror in Egypt, Jesus escaped from the Israeli-Roman version to Egypt.
This reminds us that all states, even those founded in the name of God, can become dangerous places. Our Protestant forebears fled Britain and went to the Americas to find religious freedom, there suppressing the religion and culture of native Americans, in many cases using slave labour to bolster their own privilege.
In every nation, stories can be told in different ways. This is true of Herod and Israel, of the British Empire and the USA, and even of Wales. For some, devolution of power to Wales has restored a nationhood violently suppressed in 1282. For others, it has installed a new élite who have gained from being in power. We would do well to be open to hearing the standpoints of those with whom we disagree, to understand how others see us.
Prayer
Sovereign God,
I have imbibed a story
that makes me and ‘my people’ heroes
and paints others as dangerous enemies.
When I encounter the ‘others’
I instinctively feel fear and loathing.
But they have learned a different story, –
in which my culture is the enemy
and they are downtrodden.
Help me to be open to the stories of people
of all cultures and creeds,
and to seek for Your image in each.
Amen.