Holy Innocents, Tuesday — 28th December 2021 — Gospel: Matthew 2,13-18
Recalling of Israelites
The Gospel of Matthew is the only gospel which has the story of the killing of innocent children by Herod, the king. This is the conflict story of powerful against the vulnerable that affirms that there is room only for one powerful king. The birth of Jesus, the messianic king, advances the claims of the kingship already present in this world. The death of the innocent infants highlights that they were the first witnesses to the reality of the contradiction of Christ. When Herod hears of the birth of the new king, he is “troubled”. His reaction represents the resistance of this world to the divine kingship represented by Jesus.
In describing the tragedy of the innocent victims, Matthew focuses his attention on this event as a fulfillment of Scripture. The third formula quotation in Mt 2,18-19 is from Jer 31,15, which is mentioned explicitly only by Matthew. Jer 31,15 pictures Rachel, matriarch of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim. She is weeping at Ramah for her “children,” the Israelites, as they are led away captive to Babylon in Jeremiah’s time. Ramah, in the area of Benjamin, is five miles north of Jerusalem. This place was chosen by Jeremiah because one tradition locates Rachel’s tomb there, at the site where Nebuchadnezzar’s troops assembled captives for deportation (Jer 40,1). Another tradition locates Rachel’s tomb at Bethlehem. Matthew combines these traditions to achieve the desired effect. The passage of Jeremiah is in a context of hope. However, it is not clear whether Matthew interprets contextually or only the lamentation is recalled in this context. In any case, the child Jesus recapitulates the experience of Israel.
