Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents: A Devotional Commentary

Matthew 2:13-18 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more."

Today the church commemorates the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents--the baby boys who were killed in Bethlehem. Our minds immediately focus on the horrors that we see in our own day--the millions of babies aborted, children being treated as property, and all the miscarriages and stillbirths that we see around us. We cry out, "How could a good God allow such things?"

All death is a result of sin. But God's grace and love are far greater than all the evil of mankind. Jeremiah prophesied about these baby boys and tells us what will become of them.

Jeremiah 31:15-17 Thus says the LORD: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more." Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border.

These baby boys are given God's salvation. These baby boys were killed in an attempt to kill Jesus. They died for Jesus. Jesus came to die for them. If the Lamb had not come they may have led a longer earthly existence but would suffer eternal damnation. Because the Lamb came they have been given eternal life. They died for the Lamb, the Lamb died for them.

Collect

Almighty God, the martyred innocents of Bethlehem showed forth Your praise not by speaking but by dying. Put to death in us all that is in conflict with Your will that our lives may bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips; through Lord Jesus, our Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Article XII

And the Life Everlasting.

Amen.

This is the last article of the creed. Biblically, life is more than existence. The anti-Lambians will continue in everlasting existence, but it will be an everlasting death. True life is only to be found in communion with God and the Lamb.

Followers of the Lamb cross themselves during this article as a reminder that it is only through the suffering of the Lamb on the cross that they receive the life everlasting. You cannot obtain the life everlasting any other way. If you follow any other path you will receive the neverlasting life.

Everyone seems to be striving for immortality. Through whatever the diet or drug of the day is, people are always trying to cheat death. Some may extend their earthly existence, but others do not. Jim Fixx helped to start America's fitness revolution and he died from a heart attack after jogging at the age of 52. "Health experts" make claims about foods and then say the exact opposite about them just a few years later. Something which was once thought to kill you is the new miracle food and vice versa. Far more disturbing are the movements that seek out immortality at the expense of the lives of others. Stem cell research kills countless people in order to continue the illusive quest for immortality.

Matthew 10:39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

This is the paradox of the Christian life. If you deny the Lamb in order to save your life you will lose your life and become just another heir of neverlasting life. If the enemies of the Lamb kill you because of your trust in the Lamb, you will receive everlasting life. You will receive everlasting life because you are in union with the everlasting Lamb.

The creed ends with Amen. Amen has been part of the liturgy since the time of the Old Testament and has not been translated. It means, "Yes! Yes! It shall be so!" It is not an expression of wish. It is an expression of confidence. You can have confidence when you say Amen because of the Lamb on the Altar.

Article XI

The Resurrection of the Dead

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Ezekiel 37:12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.

Your life is not such that you live and die and then go on to live in heaven in some eternal spiritual way without a body. Your body is part of who you are and the Lamb has redeemed your body. Your body is important to the Lamb. All men will be resurrected. If you have received he mark of the Lamb, you will be resurrected and live in eternal bliss and communion with the Lamb. If you are an anti-Lamb and bear the mark of the Beast, you will be resurrected in a body that will experience eternal death and suffering.

You receive your body because the Lamb has accomplished your redemption, the Lamb has shed His blood for you. The Lamb has been resurrected for you. Because of your union with the Lamb, you too will be resurrected. If you are still living when the Lord returns He will transform your body, but it will still be your body. If you're reading this and you are already dead and the maggots have eaten your flesh and you have decomposed into the ground, do not fear. The Lamb created you out of the dust of the ground to begin with and He can certainly put you back together.

Perhaps the best place to be when Christ returns would be at a burial in a graveyard. The caskets would burst open and the dead would pop out of the ground. What a sight it will be to see! Praise to the Lamb for being the first-fruits, for conquering death and the devil, and for redeeming our bodies!

Article X

The Forgiveness of Sins

The Nicene Creed says One baptism for the remission of sins.

All forgiveness is through faith. Through Word and Sacrament you receive the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Luke 3:3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

Luke 24:46-47 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:43 "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

John 20:21-23 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Matthew 26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Remission of sins is given to you through the preaching of the Gospel, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and absolution.

Baptism is not some bare symbol. Baptism really does what God tells you it does because of what the Lamb did.

1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Acts 22:16 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

The Lamb is not trying to trick you. The Lamb is not telling you that water baptism is all fine and dandy but doesn't really do anything. The Lamb is not separating water baptism from some sort of mystical spirit baptism. The Lamb is Faithful and True. Baptism is not something you do. Baptism is something God does to you. The Bible does not speak of anyone baptizing himself. You are baptized. You are forgiven. You are adopted. Your sins are forgiven. Faith is not something you do. Faith is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). God can give faith to an embryo. It is His gift. God promises to give faith in baptism. Faith is not based on your cognitive ability. Faith is based on the work of the Lamb.

Treasury of Daily Prayer

I received the Treasury of Daily Prayer as a birthday present. Yes, it is as awesome as everyone says it is. Yes, you must buy it or find someone to buy it for you.

Article IX

The Holy Catholic Church

The Communion of the Saints/In Holy Things

Articles 9-12 are distinguished from the preceding articles in that we do not believe in them. We believe in God the Father and we believe in Jesus Christ and we believe in the Holy Spirit. We believe One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We believe the Communion of the Saints. Do not separate these articles either, as if they are just some sort of ad-on. There would be no Holy Catholic Church and no Communion of the Saints without the Holy Spirit.

This One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is not to be identified with a single institution or denomination. All who believe in the Trinitarian God that the Apostle's Creed speaks of are members of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. That doesn't mean that outward unity is irrelevant. Disunity hinders evangelism. Pray fervently for the unity of the Church and desire maximum outward unity that the world may believe (John 17). Do not seek unity at all costs. Unity must be found in genuine agreement in the truth.

The idea of a single institution containing all members of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church seems very attractive, especially when you see the countless denominations. After all, there are no denominations in the Bible. We don't find Paul setting up his Lutheran church across the street from St. James Catholic Church. But within the institutions which do claim to be the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church there is a great deal of disunity. Nobody knows what kind of nutty thing the American Catholic Bishops might come up with next. Eastern Orthodoxy does a better job at creating the illusion of unity than most but they have their fair share of problems as well. Orthodox monks from various branches of the Orthodox church get in fist-fights in the Holy Land. People from different communions have trouble having their ordination recognized. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox also use a number or loopholes in their own language and acknowledge that there are Christians outside of their own communions.

So we are left with the paradox of the One church that looks like anything but one. The Church is holy because she is washed in the blood of Christ. The Church is Catholic because she contains all believers from all over the world. The Church is Apostolic, not because of some questionable succession (although this is desirable) but because she maintains the Apostolic teachings.

The Creed goes on to say, "I believe the Communion of the Saints" or it could be translated "I believe the Communion in Holy Things." Perhaps more likely, it means both. All who are part of the One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church are part of the Communion of the Saints. You are part of a family and communion that is composed not only of believers who are now in your own church or now alive on the planet earth. You are part of a communion that includes more dead than living. You are part of a communion that includes every believer that ever lived.

You are part of the communion in holy things--the communion in the holy sacraments--especially the Sacrament of the Altar (Eucharist, Mass, Lord's Supper). You are part of the communion that partakes of the Lamb's body and blood. You are connected in communion to all believers because you are connected to the Lamb who shed His blood for you.

None of this should make you think that the visible church on earth is unimportant. The visible church on earth is where God brings us the Gospel and gives us the holy things. When we worship the Lamb in the local visible church, we join in worship with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven!

Book Review: Boomtown

This is the second book I'm reviewing as part of Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger program. Boomtown is by Nowen N. Particular and is intended to be the first book in a series. Boomtown is told in first person from the perspective of a nondenominational pastor who moves into Boomtown with his family to pastor a small church. The people of the town enjoy nothing more than blowing things up. The story takes place between 1949 and 1950 and appears to be the author's vision of some kind of utopia where people of various races and backgrounds live in harmony with one another.

The book appears to be marketed to young boys and I am not part of that target audience but I thought the book was horrible. The main character is almost killed several times and I simply didn't care if he lived or died. The characters lacked the slightest amount of depth. There are photographs scattered throughout the book of the town and its characters and the pictures were the only enjoyable part of the book. Some of the pictures didn't seem to fit but they were still enjoyable.

Theologically the book is horrible. Sin, even in truly ghastly forms such as when people are putting the lives of others in danger, is laughed at. In fact, the book gives the impression that the main character's biggest flaw is his concern for his life and the lives of others. The message of the book is similar to that of many Disney films: parents simply aren't daring enough and set up too many rules.

There was a scene in the book where a man named Xian was put on trial. I thought surely Xian must be code for Christian but it really didn't seem to turn out that way. Xian was declared innocent because the town delighted in exciting sins (and the book seemed to think that this was a good idea). Books like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter show the true evil of sin and teach that some sort of substitutional sacrifice is the only way to defeat evil. Boomtown teaches that if you do something bad it's not a big deal and you should just try do counteract it with some good.