By CY Yan
The world is in turmoil!
Political tension is mounting to an all-time high, old and new conflicts are boiling over the edge. There is no end in sight for the heart-wrenching atrocities happening in Israel and the West Bank, Ukraine and Russia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and other places of the world. Innocent blood is being shed every day.
We can no longer find solace in the hollow peace and joy that our glittering tinsel promises to bring, and yet fails to deliver.
Yes, at Christmas, we rightly celebrate our belief that the King of the universe has come into the world, to wage peace and justice, to bring love and kindness to all. But, we often forget that the birth of Christ also released a malignant force, the unbridled power of empire, the jealous strength of a threatened monarch, meted out upon the most vulnerable of all people.
Hear the words of Matthew 2:18, taken, in turn, from the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Matthew 2:18
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
This year, more than ever, we are painfully reminded of the Massacre of the Innocents. Look at this picture by Leon Cogniet:
.jpg){kind=link}
A terrified mother cowers in a darkened corner, muffling the cries of her small infant, while around her the chaos and horror of Herod’s slaughter of the children of Bethlehem rages. The mother knows she is about to lose her child. She envelopes her doomed child, her bare feet revealing how vulnerable they are. There’s no way to run. She is cornered.
Hone in on the woman’s terrified face.
That face!
Staring at… us!
It’s as if we are one of Herod’s agents of death, and we have found her. She glares at us in horror.
Why is she afraid of us? Because: we are culpable as a party to the massacre of the innocents – if we indulge ourselves in the festivities of the Season, and turn a blind eye to her helpless plea.
As ESL ministers, we are often among the first to be in direct contact with those who, like this woman, find themselves in a desperate plight. Many of them have been forcibly displaced from their homeland, now living as strangers on our soil. In making friends with them through our teaching ministry, we bring them to the Christ who Himself was forcibly displaced during His childhood years in order to run away from Herod’s murderous hands. He knows what it’s like to live as an exile. His presence will bring abiding peace and joy to the fearful and distraught that we serve.
Be encouraged!