Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs.
Today's readings are Psalm 9:11-14, Isaiah 52:13-54:10, and Matthew 2:13-23.
This is the day when the Church has traditionally celebrated the deaths of innocents - both those who bore sin but were killed in their early youth and the one who bore the sins of the world on our behalf. In this day and age much is made of the abortion debate. And it is a serious debate. There are serious personal, social, and economic issues involved in life issues.
We see in our readings for today that Jesus, the "servant" of Isaiah 52-54, is the one who has borne the sins of the world. He has carried our sorrows. He suffered for us, without complaining, making an effectual offering for sin and guilt. What is the result of that offering? We see that God's covenant of peace will not be removed. His righteous wrath for sin has been satisfied, and it has been satisfied in the person of God the Son.
Does this really mean that God the Father cares for our safety more than he cares for the safety of God the Son? Certainly it means that God the Son loves our safety more than his own safety. And since the Lord is one God, yes, it means that God loves us more than he loves himself. He desires that we should be freed from his anger more than he loves himself. He wishes to love and forgive us because that is his nature. He himself is our redeemer.
What does that mean for those children, probably twenty or so, who were killed in the region around Bethlehem at the time when Joseph was fleeing with Mary and Jesus? It means that our Lord died for those children as well. As they died when Jesus himself was the target of Herod's goon squad, we trust that our Lord had made known the love of God to them as well. What does this mean for those who killed the children, or for those who have killed their own or other people's children today? With abortion being rampant around the world, we have to ask the question about the consequences. This is a major problem with very severe consequences. In Russia more than 50% of conceptions end in abortion now. In this country it is less common, but it has accounted for more loss of life in the past forty years than we saw among all participants in World War 2. Over 90% of babies with Down's Syndrome are aborted. And we see abortion facilities predominating in lower-income, majority African-American neighborhoods. That segment of the population loses ground in a terrible way, with 13% of American women being in those minority categories but accounting for nearly 36% of abortions.
We realize that God has given life as a gift. We confess it. We try to defend it. What will we say about people who are fighting against life? What will we say to those who have stamped out lives of others, even lives of their children? By the time they come to us they are often burdened, heavily burdened, with guilt. What will we say to these people? Just as Jesus died for the people who killed the children as he was fleeing to Egypt, he died for us and for our sin. We do not need to bear that sin and shame, because it has already been carried to death in the person and work of Jesus Christ, dying for us.
As he was put to death for us, may he also put to death our guilt and shame, leading us in repentance to trust in his perfect love for us, moving us beyond the hurtful things we have done into a life which protects life from beginning to end.
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