November 30th

Daily Reading

Hosea 11:1

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.

Matthew 2:14-15

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

Jeremiah 31:15

This is what the Lord says:

“A cry is heard in Ramah—
    deep anguish and bitter weeping.
Rachel weeps for her children,
    refusing to be comforted—
    for her children are gone.”

Matthew 2:16-18

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.  Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

“A cry was heard in Ramah—
    weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
    refusing to be comforted,
    for they are dead.”

(Readings taken from Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/ New Living Translation)

A God like no other

Christmas is a time of joy. Of excitement and gift giving. It fills our hearts with anticipation.

And yet the arrival of Jesus was tarnished by great sorrow.

Thinking about the reading today is overwhelming. Consider the picture. Jewish Mothers, weaved through Bethlehem, gripping their babies. Her one-year-old learning his first words. Her nearly two-year-old, old enough to whisper the cry….

”no mumma!”

Anguished weeping heard in the silence of the night as soldiers tear through the town forcefully removing children from their families.

“Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

This is the grim story of this ancient people.

How could a God of love allow this to happen you might ask? The reality of suffering is one of our biggest struggles as we approach the possibility of the existence of God. It is a question that deserves to be asked. It deserves to be wrestled through. But it is complex and challenging to reconcile.

We recognize in the prophecy of Jeremiah that God knew what was coming. He testified of this infanticide hundreds of years prior.

The mother in me wants a simple answer to a complex problem. Just step in God! Just stop it from happening. Deal with Herod. Remove him from the story.

But deep down I know that one King Herod would be replaced by another. And another. And another. Just like the Pharaohs of the past who had ordered the elimination of this Israelite nation. Because, the depravity of sin is endless.

And so God did step in!

His response to the complexity of sin is simple enough that I can understand but so complex that I never will.

His response is Jesus. A baby that dodges Herod – but does not dodge death.

This God, Emmanuel, is a God like no other.

“Dear God, today my heart is heavy as a grapple with the weight of these scriptures. I know I can’t yet see the whole story. The fulfilment of time, when all of the injustices of the world will be counted and weighed. But I see that your heart, too, is moved by the depravity of our human condition and that you stepped in then and continue to step in today. You intervene in ways we might never understand this side of eternity. Thank you for sending us Jesus.”

Previous
Previous

November 29th

Next
Next

December 1st