Verse Matthew 2:16-18
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Devotion
As we read through the book of Matthew together we will come across passages we wouldn’t normally use for “devotional reading” in our personal times with God. This is obviously a horrific passage of unspeakable evil that was perpetrated by Herod. As I read this morning, two things rose to the surface for me.
First, there is terrible evil in the world. It can be easy to go about our lives forgetting that this kind of evil still happens in the world today, but it is true. There is unspeakable evil still happening. When the Holy Spirit inspired the author to write these verses, he could have left this information out. However, this story should remind the reader of another horribly evil act found at the birth of Moses in Exodus 1. Pharaoh ordered infants to be killed at that time as well. Like Moses, Jesus would deliver his people from a horrible evil and bondage and bring them into the promised land. Part of why this story is in here is because the evil in the world is the exact reason Jesus came. He came to free us from sin and shame, and to defeat death and the power of evil in the world. It is beyond difficult to wait for the time when he ends all evil, but this is our hope in which we stand.
Second, when I read this verse, I thought of all the people in our church who have lost children. This is a grief that no parent should ever have to go through. There aren’t enough words to bring comfort. However as I read this passage devotionally, I am reminded that God sees you. He sees those of us who have lost. He too gave his only Son in a fashion that allows him to know our pain and loss. In the Lord you are not alone, you are not invisible, your pain is not brushed aside. And in the church you are not alone either. You are loved. There is space for your pain and your grief. There are people who will stand and sit with you, even when there is nothing to say.
For some people the evil in the world, and the events that cause terrible pain in life, can push them away from Jesus. My hope today is that in reading this you can lean into Jesus. Lean into him in the pain and because of the evil. Let him be both your comfort and your encouragement. There is nothing easy about either of these topics. Thank the Lord that he has not turned a blind eye to them. I am so grateful for his comfort and his plan to permanently deal with evil and suffering once and for all.
Author: Christian Dunn
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