The Forgotten Children of Christmas

A popular song we hear after Christmas is about the three wise men following the Star to pay homage to the baby Jesus. The first and second verses get the most attention but the fourth verse sheds a dark light on an otherwise joyful event. The verse talks about myrrh, the gift provided by King Caspar and used in burial rites at the time[1]. It sings of a gathering gloom, of sorrow, sighing, bleeding and dying - not your typical cheery Christmas carol. This verse about myrrh foreshadows the death of Jesus but it also points to a pain experienced much closer to the time of Jesus’ birth than His death - the massacre of the Holy Innocents.

Remembered today, the Holy Innocents are the children in and around Bethlehem who were murdered at the order of King Herod. In chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel, the wise men were supposed to return to Herod after visiting the King but were warned in a dream to return home by another way.  The Innocents were massacred in the resultant fury.

Imagine you are one of the magi recently returned home after the journey. You’re tired but energized by the experience. A star, like none other you've ever seen or studied, radiated for multiple days, traveling across the sky, leading you to a small town in the outskirts of the Roman empire. In that town you found a baby boy with His mom and dad. The experience was nothing like you’ve ever had but it wasn’t what you saw, it was what you felt that stayed with you. You felt the power of this child and the significance of the moment but couldn’t quite put your finger on what it all meant. As you recall the events leading up to this moment, you remember stepping out in faith with 2 of your closest friends on a journey that others in your kingdom dismissed. As you followed the star, you showed respect for each ruler of the territory you crossed – a courtesy you would expect if someone were traveling through your country - which led you to Herod. You reflect on your conversation with him. Something was off. He seemed interested in this baby but not in the same way you were interested. His motives felt dark, mysterious, even evil. You agreed to come back to report what you saw, not because you wanted to or owed him anything but because it seemed like that is what he wanted you to say and you weren’t in a place, both physically or mentally, for a fight. Contrast those feelings with the light of the star that greeted you as you walked out of his palace and back on the road. Bright, also mysterious, but accompanied by wonder, joy and hope. After the encounter with the baby and his family, everything was different. You’ve spent a lifetime learning about the stars, watching them progress across the sky in the various seasons, wondering if there was a message specifically for you hidden in their arrangement.  After all these years, you don't need to wonder anymore because one star broke all the rules and stirred something deep inside urging you to get up and go. As you prepared to leave Bethlehem and return home, you began planning for the return trip but something felt off about returning the same way you came. Something was urging you to go another way but you didn’t want to ask your friends to extend the trip by taking a longer way home. They’ve already been great friends by coming with you this far. But sometimes when you are with your best friends, all it takes is a look to know what someone is thinking. This is what happened the morning you woke up with these thoughts racing through your mind about the return trip. Your heart was beating out of your chest after recalling the vivid dream you just had telling you to go another way. One look on the face of your friends and you knew they had the same dream. This was no coincidence.  No one needed to say a word. Their faces said what your mouth couldn’t – we can’t go back to Herod.

Now you’re home and you hear about the massacre. Your instincts about Herod were right.  But was not staying true to your word also right? Maybe the massacre wouldn't have happened had he seen what you saw or felt what you felt. Did your insult fan the fire of his rage? How was following the advice in the dream the right choice if it led to the death of so many innocent children? But that dream was no ordinary dream. It was as if you were awake. The presence was felt, not just seen and couldn't be ignored. Why would this messenger allow all of those innocent babies to die so that this other innocent baby would live? Those murdered babies, their devastated parents, all because you went back by another way. Myrrh seemed like an odd gift to bring to a newborn baby but now you understand why - it was for those babies too. Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding and dying sealed in a stone-cold tomb.

While this feast and day may seem unsettling and hard to grasp in the middle of celebrating the Octave of Christmas, we believe in faith that those children did not die in vain. In a few weeks, specifically on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, we are going to hear a story that begins the reparation for the pain endured from this massacre. In that Gospel, we will fast forward 33 years and hear about the Sanhedrin convening to decide what to do about Jesus. His miracles have been creating quite a stir and gained Him a reputation and a following that threatens not only the power of the Sanhedrin but the relative peace the Jewish people enjoy under Roman occupation. The people are saying Jesus is the Messiah – the one who will free the Jews. But the Sanhedrin have seen Rome brutally quell rebellions and the miserable conditions endured by the rebels after. The high priest Caiaphas, like Herod, sees his power and way of life threatened and makes a startling claim – “it would be better for one man to die to save the nation(John 11:49-50)”. And we know how the story goes. Instead of the many dying for one, like the case with the Holy Innocents, the One dies for all. He dies for each of those babies. He dies for each of His followers. He dies for each of those who put Him on that cross. He dies for you. He dies for me.

The Innocents teach us that God’s approach is not the utilitarian approach. Remember parables like the Lost sheep or the Lost coin. Consider that Jesus would have chosen to suffer and die all over again if you were the only person on this planet, regardless if you believed in Him. The Innocents died so that He could live and teach us how to love. In a twist that could only be part of God's design, these many babies died so that One could live in order to die and glorify their sacrifice.  Let us live today to honor their sacrifice and the sacrifice of the One who died for us!

[1] Thomas Smith, “Three Wise Men, Three Gifts: Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar”, Ascension Press, January 5, 2020, accessed December 5th, 2025, https://ascensionpress.com/blogs/articles/melchior#:~:text=Finally%2C%20Caspar%20unwrapped%20his%20gift,of%20showing%20mercy%20to%20others.