It’s less than a week since we celebrated Christmas, and in the Gospel lesson from Matthew, the peace and joy and beauty of Christmas is shattered by the violence and ugliness of King Herod who intends to kill the infant Savior, the King of the Jews.

This is one of the most tragic stories in all of Holy Scripture. As an angel directs Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, King Herod sends his troops into Bethlehem to kill all the boys two years old or younger. In Church history, this is called The Holy Innocents. Those children died because King Herod thought one of them was the Christ. They foreshadow all the martyrs who witness to Christ through their death. King Herod was threatened by news of the Messianic Son of King David who the Old Testament promised would come to rule over God’s people and have an eternal Kingdom.