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.–Matthew 2: 16

The Christmas season ends, at least for Matthew, not with wise men paying homage to the new born King and angels praising God but with the Flight into Egypt and the Slaughter of the Innocents.   How we wish it were not so; how we wish, as Frederick Buechner wrote in one of our Musings posts, we could tame Christmas and reduce “it to an occasion we feel at home with, at best a touching and beautiful occasion, at worst a trite and cloying one.”  But with a clear eye, Buechner warns us that the Incarnation is not tame or beautiful; it is “unthinkable darkness riven with unbearable light…a wrenching and tearing of the very sinews of reality itself.”  With such eyes, we see that “it is the Resurrection and the Life Mary holds in her arms.  It is the bitterness of death he takes at her breast.”

When the wise men ask Herod “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”, Matthew tells us Herod was frightened, and not just Herod but “all Jerusalem with him,” which is to say, all of us with him.  Out of fear and hate, Herod and Jerusalem finally have their way with Jesus on Good Friday.  But by the grace of God, the “unthinkable darkness” does not have the last word.  God raises Jesus from the dead, overcoming sin and death on our behalf and freeing us forever from fear.

We do not have words to explain events like the shootings in Tucson this past weekend or any of the other horrors visited on this world by senseless violence, fear, hate and death.  We can only confess that violence, fear, hate, and death are not the last words; that through our risen Lord, the final words are love, reconciliation, life, and peace.

This truth we confess gives us hope but does not lessen the pain and loss we suffer from these devastating acts.   Heavenly Father, we pray for the victims of this tragedy and for their families.  Give them healing and strength and embrace them in your loving arms.  We pray for healing for our nation and wisdom for our leaders that they may act in ways that unite us rather than divide us in these difficult days.  Make each of us agents of your reconciliation.  With Christians in all times and places, we pray Come, Lord Jesus.  Amen.