Matth. 2, 13-23.
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and tarry there until I tell thee: for it is come to pass, that Herod seeketh the young child to carry him away. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother by night, and fled into Egypt. He remained there until after Herod's death, so that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, he was very angry, and sent and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and all their borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently learned of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Crying was heard in the mountains, and much lamentation, and weeping, and wailing: Rachel wept over her children, and would not be comforted: for they were consumed. And when Herod was dead, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream in the land of Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus was king in the land of Israel instead of his father Herodis, he was afraid to go there. And in a dream he received commandment from God, and went into the east of Galilee, and came and dwelt in the city that is called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: He shall be called Nazarene.
This is a good story that should not be left out of the church, both for the sake of doctrine and then for the comfort it gives us Christians. The teaching is that we see how the devil and the world are hostile to the child Jesus and his kingdom, and how they fiercely fight to suppress, dampen or even destroy it. The consolation is that the world does not succeed in such attempts; it must let Christ, his word and church remain; and although some Christians must lose over it, it must be done without their harm, yes, even with their highest benefit; but the tyrants must go to the ground over it, there it must not help anything.
(2) That Herod had the innocent infants killed at Bethlehem and all along its borders was a great desolation. But let no one doubt: Herod will have made a fine semblance of the matter, so that it was not considered tyranny, but a necessary punishment. For the world is especially capable of such art when it is against the Christians.
as all histories testify, and Christ himself says of his disciples: "Whoever kills you will think he is doing God a service. When Herod's son, Herod Antipas, killed St. John the Baptist, he still brought praise and the name of being a true prince who did not like to swear a false oath. Since the Jews brought Christ to the cross, since they stoned Stephanum, they both, master and servant, had to bear the name, they would have been rebellious and would have blasphemed God. There are plenty of examples in the Scriptures. Therefore, no one doubts that the same thing happened to the innocent children, that Herod and all those who advised and helped him made such a pretense of it that everyone thought they had done a good deed and a necessary good work. But how could this have happened? Thus:
3 Matthew writes how the wise men came to Jerusalem and asked about the newborn child, and about the
He said that the Jews had been told about the miraculous revelation of the star and were not worried that such a message and guests should frighten the Jews; Herod, as soon as he heard this, was terrified, and the whole of Jerusalem with him. Such fright is now the real main cause of this murderous attack and work, that so many poor innocent children are strangled. For Herod thinks: "If you are born king of the Jews, where will you stay, you who are a foreign king and to whom the Jews are hostile? For this Herod's father was an Edomite, and Caesar Julio made him a captain over the Jews; but when he died, this Herod, Antipater's son, became the first king in the Jewish land, by the help of Augustus, the Roman emperor. Therefore Herod was worried that if another king was accepted, he would not have room for long, and he thought how he could avoid the disaster.
4 Without a doubt, the chief priests helped him to do this. For it says here that the whole of Jerusalem was also greatly shocked by this message. Why was this? Because the Romans were lords over the land, and this hurt the Jews very much, and they were always trying to get rid of these lords. But the Romans were too powerful for them, and they beat them with all their might. So the chief priests and rulers of the people thought, "If the cry of the newborn king arises and he brings about an addition, as will soon happen, then we will have the Romans on our necks again; they will not suffer. Therefore, to prevent such unrest and bloodshed, strangle, dear King Herod, wherever you have a suspicion that this child is to be struck. Otherwise, the country and its people will not escape without harm or destruction.
So the dear child Jesus must be still in the cradle with the world in the suspicion that he will take his kingdom from Herod and bring war and bloodshed, rebellion and all misfortune to the Jews in the country. To forestall this, they take counsel and confidently murder; and poor Bethlehem must be used, because the prophet Micah says,
Christ shall be born there. Because Bethlehem was David's city, it is easy to believe that what was left of the same tribe stayed there and had its dwelling place there. Therefore Herod took the whole border in front of him, so that he would not miss the Child, and he made a good show of his intentions: it was necessary to prevent riots and bloodshed; it was better to grieve several hundred fathers and mothers than to lead the whole country into trouble.
(6) To such an appearance they will have led especially the wise men's future. For they were such guests as were not accustomed to Jerusalem. Because they had traveled such a long way to this child, and had promised Herod to come to him again and report on the newborn child, and the angel had told them to go home by another way, Herod, the chief priests and the rulers would have interpreted this secret departure as such: There is a riot going on, the common man will soon be moved, when many of such guests come into the country, and the matter will become loud. In order to prevent such trouble, and so that the common man could see that the authorities did not like it, they used such seriousness and had the children strangled.
Therefore, the Christian Church sings finely: Hostis Herodes impie, Christum venire quid times? Non arripit mortalia regna, qui dat coelestia: You godless tyrant, why are you afraid that Christ is coming? He gives the eternal kingdom, after the temporal he asks nothing etc. But Herod will not be persuaded: the devil has held up a painted glass before his eyes and those of the chief priests, with whose help and counsel he has undoubtedly brought this about, so that they see this child for what it is not, and what it is they do not want to see. Therefore, they draw their swords and become horrible, shameful murderers, even if they color the matter in such a way that everyone must agree with them and believe that what they do is all well done, and the country and its people should enjoy it.
8) As it was for the child Jesus in those days, so it is still today.
the dear Gospel. The pope, the bishop, the bullfighters, the priests, the monks, all of them are in Herodi's company, they agree and approve of his attack. For they consider the gospel to be such a doctrine that causes disunity, turmoil and all kinds of misfortune in the world, and they think that if they accepted such a doctrine and let their country come under their people, it would be the first thing that they would have to let go of their glory, income and good gentle life, one with the other. Just as Herod thinks: If the new king should come in, it is over with you. That is why they go to murder, strangle, execute, drown, burn, and chase away the Christians wherever they can, hoping to preserve their power, wealth, honor, and other things.
(9) If the good gospel is not preached for this reason, it does not teach how to take away what is yours. But this it teaches, that everyone may know God, come to the forgiveness of sins, and become more devout; so that everyone may keep the hope of eternal life, which Christ has purchased for us, and not deprive himself of it. This is the ministry of the Holy Gospel and its own work, that God may be honored and men may be saved. But for this, the pope and bishops think, they do not need the gospel; for most of the people do not believe in eternal life. Because they are concerned that they might have to pay for the Gospel in such a way that they would have to forfeit their power, splendor and income, they would rather be advised of such teachings; indeed, they make every effort to suppress and dampen them, as Herod did. The devil can masterfully encourage them to such murderous thoughts. For just as Herod thinks, "What? if it is a matter of one child or two hundred, there is no more need;" so the papists also think, "If it costs one priest, one citizen, or two, the matter is already taken care of; so that it seems mean that they want to suppress and exterminate them without any effort. But let them try and see where Christ and his gospel remain on one side, and Herod on the other. Then it will be found that they do not want to have it, and from the gospel, from a small mere child, such an immeasurable
The result can be a very heavy load, as they have to go down underneath.
(10) First of all, this history of the Lord Christ and his kingdom teaches us how the world will regard him and what it will regard him for, namely, for such a child, if his neck is not cut in time, that will bring misfortune to the country and its people and cause riots, murder and bloodshed. In such hard and heavy suspicion the innocent child, and still today his dear word, must be stuck; therefore God must be allowed to rule. The infant Jesus himself in the cradle did not have it better; we will not have it better either. Our only hope, effort, work, and diligence is that the world may know God, come to Christ, and be saved; that it may escape the devil, death, and sin. For we preach for no other reason, as you can see. A cathedral provost in a monastery has more income than all the ecclesiastics in a large city and almost in a whole country. This is what we suffer, hunger and sorrow with wife and child, and we do not preach about becoming great lords and rich. That is what we are concerned with, that God may be recognized and honored in Christ, and that poor sinners may be saved. But slowly the world will recognize us for this. It considers us and Christ to be rebels and interprets our teachings as causing all misfortune. One must learn to suffer and be accustomed to this. That is enough of the teaching; now let us also look at the consolation.
(11) Herod and the chief priests mean the Lord Christ very badly, but the devil who drives them means even worse, because he knows what kind of fare is in store for him. But how do they fare? In one case, their attack is going on; for the poor little children cannot defend themselves, they have to stand by, and their innocence before the world does not help them. But in the other case, their plot is completely lacking. For before they start to murder, the child Jesus is already out of the country, in his custody, since Herod cannot do anything to him.
This is very comforting for us Christians in two ways. For here we see, although
God lets his church suffer and acts as if he does not ask about her: we must nevertheless confess that he keeps her well and faithfully and protects her from harm. For since Joseph and Mary would otherwise have stayed longer in Bethlehem with the child, the angel came and warned them that they should leave and stay in Egypt for a while. God had made it so beforehand through the wise men that they should travel such a long way to the child and give him provisions for such a journey; as Matthew says: "They offered him gold, frankincense and myrrh. This will not have been a small gift, but a good treasure, so that the poor people might have helped themselves for a long time and also helped others. Whether the devil, Herod and the chief priests have evil in mind, nothing will come of it. The child, because of which they start such murders, gets away.
(13) So God wants to keep His word and His church for and for, although the tyrants are evil, that they still have to let the church and the word remain, yes, that is even more, their raging and persecuting should give cause for the church to increase and God's word to be spread further. For there is no doubt about it, Mary and Joseph, and perhaps others with them, who knew this child because they were in Egypt, will not have kept silent, but will have preached about the great miracle that happened with this child and brought others to faith and salvation. As especially the wise men in their country were certainly the first preachers of the New Testament and will have diligently taught their people about this child. To this Herod gives cause, although he already knows nothing about it, but even thinks to dampen.
14 Even today, when tyrants rage against the gospel, they do no more than blow into the ashes; the fire becomes greater, and the ashes are poured into their eyes. This is how their tyranny shall come to them. When they shed innocent blood, let such Christian blood be like dung that fertilizes the field, so that it becomes moist and bears well. For it is through persecution that Christianity grows.
where there is peace and tranquility, the Christians become lazy and lax.
(15) Yea, sayest thou, nevertheless it is for the poor little children that they must suffer, though Christ come away. It is true, in the kingdom of Christ it shall not be otherwise. For just as Herods and high priests are found throughout the world, so also innocent little children are found who must endure. But then think: What harm is there to them? They are called innocent children: not only because they come to such death through no fault of their own, but also because they are innocent because of their actions and omissions, and are not yet tainted with real sin; but because they have been accepted by God and entered into the covenant of grace that God made with this people through the promise of Christ and through circumcision, the sign of the same promise. In such innocence they are strangled; this not only brings them no harm, but also double benefit and advantage. For if God had not taken them away in their youth and innocence, they would have fallen into sin. As it is the nature of this life that we cannot remain in it without sin. Therefore, death does not only serve these children to remain in innocence, in God's grace and without an evil conscience; but they are promoted to a different and better life, where the body rests gently and the spirit lives blissfully in the bosom of Abraham.
(16) To this is added the advantage, that without it they should have died; but now it comes to pass with them, that they die not of their nature, or of sins, but for Christ's sake. Of such death the 116th Psalm says: Pretiosa mors sanctorum in conspectu ejus, in the sight of God such death is a noble, comforting thing, God respects it highly and dearly, and for this reason will make ample restitution. So that for this reason death becomes a different thing than it otherwise is in itself. For in itself death is a punishment for sin and comes from the wrath of God. But here it is not a punishment for sin, but an obedience that pleases God, and a high and blessed work. For although these children were born for the sake of such
If they have not been saved because of their death (for their salvation is this alone, that God has accepted them in grace for the sake of the promised Seed, and has attached to them His covenant sign that He will be their God), such death is nevertheless a special honor for them before God and all His angels and saints, and for this reason they will receive their special reward in salvation.
17 This is still the opinion of Christians today, when they have to die for the sake of the gospel. The body is hurt, but there is never any harm, because God is pleased with such death and wants to reward it eternally. Therefore, no one should complain, but thank God that he is promoted to such eternal honor, since otherwise one would have to die once because of nature and sins. For we have no abiding on earth; but the longer we live, the more sin, fear and misery are found from day to day.
18 Therefore, this is a comforting story. The poor little children are murdered, that seems to be a miserable trade in the eyes of the world; but let one open his eyes rightly and look at the word, so it is said, died blessedly and in the best way. For they die for Christ's sake, who also dies for them, and by his death delivers them from sins and eternal death, and moreover will reward such their death to them for eternity. On the other hand, the tyrant does not have to do anything to the infant Jesus, our head, but let him live and have no thanks for it. So, even though the Christians have to forfeit (which, as we have heard, happens without their harm, even with their greatest benefit), the word and the church are not only not to be annihilated, but also to be strengthened and increased by it.
Nineteen: But that such wrath of the fierce Herod should come upon the innocent children: this also is written there for an example, that Christians, when they suffer, should not suffer as murderers, thieves, adulterers, or so as to take hold of another's office. For among Christians such sins shall not go. They are to fear God and beware of all trouble, and yet they shall
The world shall afflict them, and they shall not be satisfied; that their suffering may be even as that of the innocent little children here, who never deserved such death for Herod's sake, and who alone must repay the infant Jesus in such a case. So shall the suffering of Christians be. So the consolation is that Christ suffers with us; as he says to Saul, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Therefore it must finally follow that either bodily help will resist us, or that the tyrants will give cause for us to be delivered from this evil world the sooner and to come to our Lord and Savior Christ.
20 So nothing bad happens to these children, even though they have to lose their lives. And which is still more, Herod must leave the child Jesus content. But how is the tyrant in the end? What reward does he get for strangling the innocent children and persecuting Christ? You may read about it Josephum in the 18th book Antiquitatum, and in the other De bello Judaico. He soon puts an end to the poor innocent children, but God gives him such a terrible disease that no one could stay around him because of the stench and displeasure. For his privates rotted and maggots grew in them, and he swelled from the bottom up terribly, so that he had neither day nor night to rest. He let himself be led to a wild bath, he let himself be bathed in oil; but there was no help. In the end he asked for a knife, as if he wanted to peel an apple, which he stabbed into his own body to end the pain. So it should go to the tyrants. And is still everything a joke against that, that they must suffer in eternity and burn in the hell. For such sin, which is called persecuting God's word and the Christians (where one does not convert and repent), cannot be paid off here on earth; the hellish fire belongs to it.
(21) So your love has the history of the innocent little children, when you learn in them: Whoever wants to be with Christ and remain in his kingdom must keep himself innocent, and yet await all the misfortunes of the world. But there is the consolation: The tyrants should not end up wanting to curb the church and the word; but just like the
The angel here says to Joseph: "They are dead who sought the life of the child"; thus the tyrants shall fall to the ground over it. But God's word shall remain, and shall preserve for eternity all who believe it with true faith.
and suffer for it. May our dear Lord God and Heavenly Father, through His Holy Spirit, grant this to all of us for the sake of Christ, His dear Son, amen, amen.